Hey guys, I'm graduated from HS in 2007 and I'm currently in a community college trying to transfer to a UC. For the past year, and this fall semester, I've been trying to follow the Bio/Pre-med major and its been ****ing rough. I never took any AP's, never took Calc, never took Physics, and sucked in Chem. I know its good to have big dreams and have high goals, but I honestly think I'm setting myself up for failure. I just don't think I have what it takes go to through all the pre-reqs(ochem!), MCATS, med school, etc. Gives me a headache just thinking about it.

I've been here since '04 so I'm no random noob, and I ask for your help guys. What would you do if you were in my situation? Stick with it and keep working or choose a different major? If I choose another major which major would you guys suggest? After reading the countless "Lay offs" threads recently, it made me realize if I choose a new major, it has to make economical sense. (money)

My future depends on this decision I make. Please leave any info or tips you've learned in college. I appreciate it guys.


TIA

 

if you are having trouble right now, it's only going to get harder when you do upper division classes once you transfer.

 

I don't know you so its hard to say, what do you like doing? Are there any subjects in school that you feel like you might have an easier time with than say- ochem (yikes!)

I managed to have a knack for math which made an engineering program viable, but I took a year off to figure that out before going to back to school, somethimes working for a year or so can help put the value of education in perspective.
If you are spending the money on an education, you really owe it to yourself to pick a field of study that you enjoy doing.

Also consider that probably 80% of the college educated people working in the US are doing stuff almost entirely unrelated to their degree subjects, so don't feel like you need to pick an undergrad track that will guide your entire career, unless you find a subject that you are that passionate about and have the aptitude for.

Instead try to focus on things that genuinely interest you and that you feel like you are good at.

 

dezt: thats what made me realize this wasn't the path I wanted to take anymore. My main concern now is, what other major can I choose? Do you guys have any suggestions?

psoper: sometimes I feel like i'm the only person that wasn't really passionate about anything in HS. I mean I was interested in history when we went over stuff about WWII, but which guy wasn't, right? I'm so lost. I think I just need to give myself time to think.

 

Very true. I'm still doing CSR work, but getting paid highly for it cause of my service background and my hobbies (Audio/Video).

I think you owe it to yourself to major it something that interests you. You have to do this. I did MIS at SJSU, and I loved the business side of it, and hated the computer side of it, mostly cause it was programming and very light programming at that. Personally, I didn't find it useful, and I hate programming. Probably a mistake for me, since I would've done better with a business focus.

But I'm not doing any of that really.

Also, don't expect to have X job and making Y money fresh out of school. That **** doesn't really happen to most folks. Keep an open mind!

Honestly, you want recession proof... stick to becoming an MD! , The medical field is still growing, and will grow for a LONG, LONG time. More and more people need medical help, our population is getting bigger and older. Think it over. It's going to be hard work, but it pays off in the end. I could do it, but it's just not something I wanted to do.

 

My opinion: If you're struggling right now, it will only get worse.
I'm personally finishing an M.A. with a 3.96 GPA in a pretty math heavy major, and I could NEVER do what I see those crazy pre-med people doing. Plain and simple, their classes are EXTREMELY hard. (this is coming from someone who has taken a lot of bio, neuroscience, research methods, and stats). You're talking about getting into a very competitive field, basically the most competitive field you can get into. Thus you need to be competitive, if that makes any sense.
Now, with all this being said, why do you want to be a doctor? Based on your last comment, it sounds like you're not really too passionate about becoming a doctor. (Not that it needs to be your life-long dream, but to drop it as quickly as you just did says something).
Have you thought about getting involved with a psychology department instead? If you are very interested in studying the brain, body, running experiments, spending long hours in labs, dissecting stuff, etc. this could be a good route for you. If you want the human interaction and if you'd like to see patients, why not try out clinical psychology, or clinical social work? Something to think about is this: do you only want a B.A., or do you see yourself pursuing a post-graduate education? Choose the major for your B.A. based on this, because there are simply some majors that just require you to go on after. Keep in mind that from here on in, you will need to be EXTREMELY COMPETITIVE if you are considering post-graduate studies. You will have to push yourself very hard, and give up a lot...are you up for that?
In the end, whatever you end up doing, you will end up having to deal with some math and some science. If I were you, I'd take a year to brush up on my maths and sciences, and then apply to UC's at that point (plus taking a year off may give you a better sense of what you want to do in the future).

 

My father wanted me to be an architect. I took architecture classes in both HS and college. Got turned off the by the second one, realized "this is not for me." Did the same thing your doing now, reassessing my interests and my future. Realized that I am a strong critical thinker and like problem solving. Went into IT which is 90% break/fix issues and I enjoy resolving problems, the harder they are the more gratifying.

Gotta find your calling...I think that this is what it all boils down to. I think the recession proof idea should be secondary. Primary should be finding something you enjoy doing. Good luck!

 

Not necessarily true. I am in my last year of law school, and I did not need any math or science whatsoever.

However, the part about grad school being extremely competitive is very true. When I was doing my undergrad, it didn't seem like anyone cared what grades they got, what percentile they were in, etc. In law school, that's ALL anyone cares about. Applying for law school, it was all about grades, LSAT scores, etc.

It's a very different feeling/environment than undergrad. Like Marit said, if you think, even remotely, that you'll be doing post-graduate work, work like a madman to get the best grades you can in undergrad. You only go through college once, so your transcript is basically written in stone. People will see it. They will judge you by it. All the extra-curriculars/experience/etc. in the world won't make up for a lousy GPA. It sounds harsh, but that's just the way it is.

Don't force yourself to do something you don't like - you will only make yourself miserable and your grades will suffer as a result. You must have taken some general education classes by now, right? Or, if you haven't, sign up for some next semester. Branch out - try psychology, political science, economics, etc. You might be surprised to learn you really like something you never would've given a second thought to in the past.
________
FRIEND ADVICE FORUM

 

i graduated in 07 too, went to ucsc thinkin to be a health science major, started takin classes and realized it was too hard for me...like you i had no interests in high school career wise...still dont..

like psoper said, most people dont have a career directly related to their major...my dad was a marine bio major and now hes a finance manager...

im an econ major now because its simple and practical...i still have no idea what i want to do but i know having a solid foundation with business econ major would help me farther on in life than a health science major...

good luck

 

Thanks for the advice everyone. I think the fact that my Mom has an MD and my dad has PhD made me want to follow in their path. And on paper, it made sense, but in the end it just didn't make any sense for ME. I'm not that competitive type that Marit mentioned. Thing is, I've pretty much filled up all of my IGETC, which is my general education classes, and I still haven't found anything I really found interesting.

In the past, I did give Poli Sci a thought, but I've never taken any of the classes. I do plan to take Political Science 1, and Sociology 1 in winter and spring, and then I'll be done with my IGETC. I'll see how much I like it, and if that doesn't work, I might give Econ Major, or business management a try.

Thanks for the help guys. It made me realize that by changing majors, I wasn't just giving up,but instead was the most sensible thing to do.

BAIC, you have yet to let me down. =)

 

This is probably the most realistic advice. I actually go to UCSC too with slugrx, and if you really don't know what you want to do, your best bet is to do something that is simple, not too difficult, and practical. A business major for instance can lead you to many different fields, since the business world is incredibly huge.

And as everyone has said, things will only get tougher. I was originally a Business Major, but thought that it was too bland, and I've always had a knack for computers, so I thought I'd give Computer Science a try, programming was a *****, so I thought that maybe I should do something that I like (computers) and something that I believe is sensible and practical (Business), now, I'm a Information Systems Management. I guess, what I'm trying to get at is try to find something you like, and find something you think is useful in the working world and try to find something between the two.

But seriously, if you want to go ahead with your Pre-med degree, then by all means, go ahead. But just understand that you better study your *** off. Pre-med for any school is going to be hard no matter what.

EDIT:
LOL I didn't realize that this was Winston. You should transfer to UCSC where DK is at.

 

What do you enjoy doing in life, not in school. Not the subjects you were interested in, but the subjects you enjoy doing as hobbies. When the classes have something to do with what you like to do, you tend to pay more attention and are willing to give it more effort.

Also, don't think everyone is meant for a 4-year college. There are plenty of people who never went to a "normal" college, who are living fulfilling lives.

 

shoulda mentioned this before..but what i did was i went to ucsc major list and just read all the majors and what they deal with, classes to take, what people who took this major are doing now, etc...just read around at schools you are interested in going to and read up...

 

Let me set some stuff straight for you. No fluff here:

Med school is hard to get into - it's not like law school where everybody can go because it's unregulated and thus this is why there's so many guys with JD's making 50k a year doing clerk work instead of being a lawyer. There's a governing body limiting the amount of medical schools and there are a LOT, in fact a high percentage of "pre-med" students who can't get into med school.

Second, look man the MCAT is HARD. It's not hard like the SAT is hard but you could take a bunch of prep classes and do better - you can study for YEARS and still get an MCAT score in the 20's. If you are not confident in your science abilities at community college level I would seriously rethink going down a pre-med path at university.




I can't tell you what to do because I'm not some expert life coach (and you should never trust those anyways) but I'll tell you that people who do business/marketing/accounting/econ/etc. degrees have skills that translate to immediate earning potential. Majors like poly sci, anthro, philosophy etc. do not directly translate but in the real world, anyone can learn to do anything. A lot of companies aren't going to hire you strictly based on what you did in college but rather how you solve problems and interact during the interview. Engineering majors have a high earning potential but again, the science aspect.

Then there's IT and network engineering. IT has the highest "rags to riches" earning potential IMHO. You don't even need a college degree really to be in IT or be a network engineer. I have coworkers on my team, and I know other guys who started out installing software doing desktop support for $10/hour, picked up some certs like CCNA/MCSE/RHCE and started doing $60-90k a year, eventually getting something like a CCIE and/or lots of experience and doing $100+k without ever going to college, and also doing it in their 20s BUT they worked REALLY hard and put in a LOT of time to collect the combination of IT experience and certifications

 

search for a major that you will enjoy doing, not just one that'll make a ton of money. It'll always be easier to learn something you are interested in.

And be prepared for your plans to change.