I want to be an Anesthesiologist.

I want to become an anesthesiologist, but I was wandering what I should focus on in highschool and...?

• ..when I graduate and that sort of stuff. I'm going to be a sophomore in high school and I, so far, have a 4.0 gpa. I want to be an anesthesiologist and I understand that you need a lot of science and math. I go to a small rural school which doesn't offer as many courses as one that is in a large city. I want to go to a good college and I'm willing to work, but I don't know what college should be my number one choice, what I should consider majoring in when I get there, and what classes should I take the rest of my time in high school. My school offers biology 2, chemistry, biotechnology, and physics for science, but in math, it offers everything up to probability and statistics but I won't reach that level. I took geometry as a freshman so I'll only get to calculus, unless there's another way to do it?? I don't know, so that's why I'm asking. Hopefully you guys can give me some advice on colleges, and what to consider majoring in, and what to take for the rest of high school.

• Answer:

  What you do in high school doesn't really matter, as long as you keep your grades up, and keep active in extra-curricular activities. When you get to college--pick one that suits your personality and learning style, first of all; then look for one that has a pre-med program--talk to your advisor about your career goals (med school) and what classes you need to be taking. Science and math will be a big part of it, but as long as you have the grades in the right courses, you can major in anything you want to. When you start looking for colleges in the next couple years, you'll do visits, and you can ask the admissions office about their pre-med programs and see if you can get some time to hang out and talk with a current pre-med student or the faculty member who advises a lot of pre-med students. It's a long road. Good luck!