Uncertain Freshman...

[14sakuya]

Hi all,

This is a long story, but I need someone to tell it to, and I really need some advice.

I am a Freshman at UC Berkeley. I am currently majoring in EECS (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science). Given that Berkeley is in the Bay Area, the CS program here is absolutely insane. The average GPA for CS majors is a 2.9. The average starting salary for a Berkeley CS grad is 100K with a 95% employment rate.

Problem is, I absolutely hate what I'm doing. I gave up premed dreams of Bioengineering at UCLA / UCSD to come here. Parental pressure made me come to Berkeley to do CS. I hate coding. The idea of sitting in front of a computer all day making software depresses the hell out of me. The CS program here is so hard. I've literally studied for 40 hours for one test only to get a C on it. I hate what I'm doing. I've put so much effort into getting good grades here, yet I can barely get a couple points above the averages on tests.

This past semester, I got 3 straight B's in my classes, for an overall 3.0 GPA.

My mother wants me to stay in CS given the great salary / job security. I've had times where I just want to switch out of CS and do premed. There is absolutely no way I can do CS while being pre med (people look at you like you're crazy if you want to do that at Berkeley).

The main question here is:
Should I give up almost 100% job security with a great starting salary to do premed at Berkeley?

If I do switch to premed, my GPA is already low as **** to start. Berkeley weeder premed classes are notoriously difficult (however, I am willing to work). My chances of matriculating into a medical school are already at 50% given the national average. If I do get into med school, I'd have to get through another 8 years before I become a doctor. This, I don't mind, however.

Please give me advice....

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[KDoc2020]

Sorry to hear you have a lot of pressure to something you don't want to do. A 3.0 is salvageable but you will have to work hard for sure. As far as advice goes, you are going to have to be the one who loves your life, not your parents. Talk to them in a mature way and with a plan for getting into med school and hopefully they listen

Hi all,

This is a long story, but I need someone to tell it to, and I really need some advice.

I am a Freshman at UC Berkeley. I am currently majoring in EECS (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science). Given that Berkeley is in the Bay Area, the CS program here is absolutely insane. The average GPA for CS majors is a 2.9. The average starting salary for a Berkeley CS grad is 100K with a 95% employment rate.

Problem is, I absolutely hate what I'm doing. I gave up premed dreams of Bioengineering at UCLA / UCSD to come here. Parental pressure made me come to Berkeley to do CS. I hate coding. The idea of sitting in front of a computer all day making software depresses the hell out of me. The CS program here is so hard. I've literally studied for 40 hours for one test only to get a C on it. I hate what I'm doing. I've put so much effort into getting good grades here, yet I can barely get a couple points above the averages on tests.

This past semester, I got 3 straight B's in my classes, for an overall 3.0 GPA.

My mother wants me to stay in CS given the great salary / job security. I've had times where I just want to switch out of CS and do premed. There is absolutely no way I can do CS while being pre med (people look at you like you're crazy if you want to do that at Berkeley).

The main question here is:
Should I give up almost 100% job security with a great starting salary to do premed at Berkeley?

If I do switch to premed, my GPA is already low as **** to start. Berkeley weeder premed classes are notoriously difficult (however, I am willing to work). My chances of matriculating into a medical school are already at 50% given the national average. If I do get into med school, I'd have to get through another 8 years before I become a doctor. This, I don't mind, however.

Please give me advice....

Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[md-2020]

Pre-med sucks, don't glorify it. As you seem to be smart and have alternative options, I wouldn't recommend it. Job environment and school culture are also 100% different. Maybe you'll like CS work better than classes.

 

[waitlistguy]

Hi all,
...Problem is, I absolutely hate what I'm doing. I gave up premed dreams of Bioengineering at UCLA / UCSD to come here. Parental pressure made me come to Berkeley to do CS. I hate coding. The idea of sitting in front of a computer all day making software depresses the hell out of me...

Hopefully you are indeed considering medicine because you can see yourself being happy in medicine (aka "premed dreams"). Make sure you're not going into medicine because you hate CS and medicine is the next thing you can think of.

Have you had any exposure to medicine in the form of clinical volunteering, shadowing, or just talking to doctors? Try Kevinmd.com to read current essays and articles from perspective of practicing physicians.

What are the things you want to do in life, what are your career goals? Do you want to be a academic physician, a clinician, a biomedical engineer?

 

[eteshoe]

I am of the mind that if you hate your major, you're already fighting an uphill battle since a decent GPA isn't only required for med school but for jobs in general. That being said - what is your motivation for wanting to go premed? (I assume that means a bio major?)

 

[Moose A Moose]

 

[orangekid]

Berkeley CS-premed as well here! From my own experience at least, the pre-med courses seem to be more about how hard you work, while the CS courses I've taken tend to be more about how innately talented you are (though of course studying helps). Eh I'm in L&S CS though, so just be aware of things that you'll need to do (eg: Physics 7 series instead of 8), which may or may not be worth it, especially since GPA is a very big factor

 

[Mansamusa]

Pre-med sucks, don't glorify it. As you seem to be smart and have alternative options, I wouldn't recommend it. Job environment and school culture are also 100% different. Maybe you'll like CS work better than classes.

Everyone has alternative options......Those alternative options aren't good if it is something you don't want to do.

OP, do some career exploration- the summer is a perfect time for that. Figure out what will make you happy. I would continue with CS until you decide that medicine is what you want to pursue (unless you have other career path you would want to pursue with a bio degree). You could finish all the pre-med requirements in 2 years, so no need to rush. And the CS stats mean nothing. You may not finish the degree if you don't like it (especially if it depresses you). You may not do well enough to be in the 95%. You may get a $50K/yr job. The stats may be calculated in a way that inflates the values. You may get a fantastic job, hate your life and career, and then quit. Etc. Enter the profession that you think is most likely to keep you interested for the rest of your life. You think medicine may be that field, but, if you are like most freshman, you won't know that until you start getting some exposure.

 

[Sardinia]

@md-2020 I would trade the difficulty of my CS 101-102 class for a level 400 Biochemistry elective in a heart beat. For schools with often "competitive" CS programs they forego teaching you the basics in order to start seeing who can and cannot program by the second week of class. I kid you not, I spent thirty hours on my first homework assignment and was learning to code from whatever relevant wikia I could find. Pre-med classes allow you to test the water to see if your initial touch is too hot or cold. Our CS program was the equivalent of exposing people to the ALS ice bucket challenge and asking if you were man enough to stay with it.

 

[DingoPingo]

what do you actually want to do with your life

 

[yaka]

Recent Cal grad, majored in MCB.
I had a lot of friends in EECS and other engineering majors and they generally are all doing really well, so that part is definitely true. Of course if you can't see yourself doing this for a career, then you should switch, however I'd advise first talking to your parents because this is a big decision, also make sure you know you want to go into medicine.

Also pre-med advising at Berkeley is generally non-existent. I pretty much had to guide myself through the process through SDN or friends who were in the know, but you're already on SDN so you probably don't need an advisor in the first place. As others have mentioned a 3.0 isn't killer, and engineering classes aren't counted towards BCPM GPA as far as I know.

If you have any questions about MCB or pre-med at Cal in general, feel free to PM me.