I agree with the first sentence here...always keep your options open when you're starting. Going out and practicing as a "GP" for a few years isn't a good idea in my opinion. You get out of touch with doing externships and having the ability to go visit programs for different specialities while you're in school. If you get out and practice for a few years as a GP...you're more or less going to be doing bread and butter GP procedures...sure you can do some endo, basic oral surgery, some ortho, some implants, etc....but you won't know you want to do as a GP because you aren't getting the training, experience, nor the backing from faculty and staff that you would be if you were.
Not only do you get away from the academic setting going into PP as a GP...you start making decent money and are able to afford things and pay loans back. If you do this for a few years you start to get accustomed to a certain lifestyle, going back to being a resident if you do make a salary its going to be a fraction of what you're making as a GP in PP and your work hours could be drastically different depending on the specialty you choose.
I think you should work as hard as you can to keep your grades up, maintain a high rank in your class, and learn as much as you can. You should gravitate towards a specialty if you love it enough. You honestly may find yourself liking many different procedures and stick to doing general. Keep asking questions, reaching out to faculty and get as much experience as you can. Thats how you will figure out what you really want to do.
Good luck!
