Should I change my major?

[warriorinthemaking]

Hey all,

I'm wondering if I should change my major. Currently i'm in year 4/5 of undergrad and I'm a health science major at Stony Brook. The way Health Science major works is that the first semester you take :

1. Health Care Issues
2. Communication Skills
3. Professional Ethics
4. Issues in Health Care Informatics
5. Professional Writing

Then the second semester you apply for a concentration. There are clinical ones that train for longer and they get a job after but I would go into Emergency and Critical Care which is meant for students with the intention of applying to med school or pa school or np school or whatever it may be. In this concentration, the following classes are taught:

1. Special Issues in Emergency Care and Resuscitation
2. Cardiac Emergencies
3. Trauma and Trauma Systems
4. Emergency Response to Hazardous Materials and Terrorism
5. Medical Emergencies

This all sounds super great, but my only problem is this. These don't count towards my BCPM gpa and they are incredibly hard to get A's in from what I hear (only 95+ is an A and it's all teacher-biased, more so than you'd expect since the classes are so small).

So is it better to take these classes and "stand out" a little or change my major to bio which I have almost all the requirements for and most likely will still graduate in the same time but with more BCPM upper division science courses bringing up my bcpm?

BCPM as of now is 3.177... If I get straight A's next semester which I intend to, it'll become 3.488. If I take more sci courses after that it will go even higher. My cgpa is 3.13 but the highest it'll ever get is ~3.3 assuming I get all A's. So what's better?

I'm strongly considering changing majors because a) it will be easier for me to get A's in it and increase both my sgpa and cgpa (i'm used to upper division sci courses by now especially) b) i will enjoy the material more. But I don't want to be just another asian with a bio major.

Advice?

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[warriorinthemaking]

bump

 

[AlteredScale]

Hey all,

BCPM as of now is 3.177... If I get straight A's next semester which I intend to, it'll become 3.488. If I take more sci courses after that it will go even higher. My cgpa is 3.13 but the highest it'll ever get is ~3.3 assuming I get all A's. So what's better?

(...) But I don't want to be just another asian with a bio major.

Advice?

As of now you are not competitive for MD and barely competitive for DO medical programs because of your science and cumulative GPA.

So do what you need to get you GPA as high as possible. There's a lot of "assuming I'll get all A's" so put some work behind those words and prove that you can. If that means changing majors to get them then def do it.

Also LOL at the "another asian with a bio major"!!!

Also you should have posted this on pre-allo!

 

[barca4ever]

Nobody really cares what your major is as long as you complete the requirements for medical school. Pick a major that you will do well so that you can bring up your GPA as it's well below average for many medical schools.

 

[warriorinthemaking]

I will definitely do better as a Bio major. I know saying "assuming I get all A's" is a pretty big statement but I just did that this semester with three difficult science courses and two other normal courses (my gpa was worse, believe it or not, but I'm hoping that upwards trend and other parts of my application + SMP will make me shine brighter) so I'm positive I can do it. Thanks guys!

 

[NYDO2014]

Try to take no more than 2 science classes per semester. I might go further, and just take 1 science class, and 3 easy classes for now.

One thing my friends from Stony did was take their science class in a easier college; And that help them bring up their science gpa.

I will definitely do better as a Bio major. I know saying "assuming I get all A's" is a pretty big statement but I just did that this semester with three difficult science courses and two other normal courses (my gpa was worse, believe it or not, but I'm hoping that upwards trend and other parts of my application + SMP will make me shine brighter) so I'm positive I can do it. Thanks guys!

 

[Fedekz]

You're in year 4 of 5 and just now wanting to switch your major? Is there anything your course work will fit into major wise? Seems like all specialized stuff. If you end up switch you have more balls than me, 8 year senior.

I personally would just finish up your major and take the science classes that interest you to boost your sGPA unless you want to be in school for another 3 years.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Switch to easy major.

 

[warriorinthemaking]

I am a Health Science major at the moment and intend to change to Bio. I have most of the requirements for BIO anyway; it was actually my friend who suggested I change to BIO since I have just about all the necessary requirements sans a couple of classes. When I get back on campus I'm going to speak to an advisor on whether or not I can switch and still graduate on time. I really hope I can, since it would do my grades some good.

The thing is with Health Science is that if I go through with their coursework, I am forbidden from taking other coursework offered from the other side of campus.

 

[AlteredScale]

I am a Health Science major at the moment and intend to change to Bio. I have most of the requirements for BIO anyway; it was actually my friend who suggested I change to BIO since I have just about all the necessary requirements sans a couple of classes. When I get back on campus I'm going to speak to an advisor on whether or not I can switch and still graduate on time. I really hope I can, since it would do my grades some good.

The thing is with Health Science is that if I go through with their coursework, I am forbidden from taking other coursework offered from the other side of campus.

So are you saying that all your previous coursework will be discredited? If this is the case then don't switch majors just to be a bio major.