McFarland explores options

Medicine runs in Craig McFarland's blood.

The influence of his father, a doctor, along with positive experiences in science courses here, led him to major in molecular biology.

Now in his last semester at Princeton, McFarland is faced with the prospect of incorporating his interests into a career path.

Though he plans to attend some type of graduate program in the future and is "leaning towards medical school at the moment," McFarland isn't clear about what career path he wants to pursue.

"It's a little stressful," McFarland said of watching many of his classmates gain acceptances to medical and graduate school programs. "But there's the knowledge that there are others like me who are not really sure yet."

McFarland is already exploring his interests in biology and medicine outside of the classroom. A teaching assistant for organic chemistry, he plans to volunteer this semester at University Medical Center at Princeton in the emergency room or another hospital position.

His parents said they are supportive of his decision to postpone applications to graduate schools so that he can obtain a better sense of his career goals.

"My parents aren't pressuring me much," McFarland said. "They're helping me to try and figure out what it is that I want to do."

"We try to discuss a lot of options," said Pat McFarland, Craig's mother. "He's got so many different areas of interest . . . He's got to figure out what makes him happy."

In addition to medical school, "I'm also considering grad school in biology," he said. "And law school is always a possibility."

To test out career opportunities and determine his future plans, McFarland has applied for a fellowship through Princeton's Project 55, a nonprofit public interest organization established by the Class of 1955.

He hopes to land a yearlong internship in either New York or Chicago working on a number of possible projects, such as AIDS research or environmental policy.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

"They have a lot of variety," McFarland said of the Project 55 program, "and a number of opportunities in environmental and health related fields. That was attractive."

Project 55's application process involves the submission of an essay, recommendations and a transcript as well as a series of interviews which help determine placement at various public interest organizations.

McFarland characterized the interview process for Project 55 as being "pretty laid back thus far."

He will hear about his placement status at the organizations associated with Project 55 in the coming weeks.

If he is not selected to work for a Project 55 organization, McFarland will look into alternative internship and job opportunities for the coming months.

He has applied for a summer internship working on plant conservation with the U.S. Botanical Gardens in Denver, Colorado.

McFarland is also searching for jobs for next year but currently hasn't "found anything great."

Despite the uncertainty surrounding his future plans, McFarland doesn't appear to be anxious about life after Princeton.

"I haven't been really stressed out yet," he said.

"I'm always kind of thinking about [graduate schools], but I haven't really made [any decisions] yet," he said. "Hopefully this next year will help me figure it out."