Hey everyone. I'm currently a rising freshman, accepted as a physics major but having some serious doubts. I've been going back and forth for a while now about which major to choose, getting advice from friends and family, but my indecisive nature has gotten the better of me as pre-registration time is at hand. Obviously, I can change my major later in my college career, but my schedule is packed so tight with pre-med, physics, and advanced math courses that my decision now will really affect my studies down the road.
Anyway, here's the deal: I'm stuck between a major in a foreign language (probably Spanish) or Physics.
I love languages. Like, I really, really love them. In an ideal world, I'd just take the bare-bones pre-med and general studies courses at my college and pack my semesters full of language courses, but that won't work out at my school. I've passed the AP level of Spanish and am, for all intents and purposes, fluent, receiving a 5 on the exam, a 780 on the SAT II, and having spent a few months teaching kindergarten in a rural village in Honduras. A Spanish major would allow me to keep practicing my Spanish, while also allowing me to take some really interesting linguistics classes (the major at my school is mostly linguistics classes about the language, conducted in Spanish). Because I'm coming in with AP credits, I'd only have to take one class per semester in my major to get it, which leaves extra room for studying other languages (Italian and Portuguese, at least, and I've thought about those for majors, as well), doing pre-med reqs, etc. A Spanish major also gives me the option of applying to Mount Sinai Humanities and Medicine (just a thought...I know it's not something to bank on.)
But...I also love physics. The subject really clicked for me from day one, and it truly fascinates me. The Physics Department at my school is really small and tight-nit, giving me lots of opportunities to TA, get good letters of recommendation, and get involved in research starting freshman year. Plus, a physics major sounds really impressive; not to be immature, but I feel proud telling people that I'm a physics major on the pre-med track, whereas to most people a Spanish major comes off as a bit of a joke. Physics, however, seems to get ridiculously hard at the higher levels, and I'd need four more semesters of math (with notoriously tough professors). With physics, I may also have to push chem off till sophomore year, and bio and o. chem off until junior year, which may not be the best idea given that I'm fresh out of AP Bio.
I've grown up around medicine, and am sure that it is what I want to do with my life. Physics would definitely give me better job options (many hedge funds recruit physics majors at my school), but I'm pretty much dead-set on medicine and will keep re-applying if I have to, so the backup plan isn't really an issue.
tl;dr, here's the short version (skip the wall of rambling text if you want):
Physics Major: A small department that I could get to know well for good LORs; lots of early research opportunities; an interesting and impressive subject that would prepare me well for the MCAT and med school; I already have a physics peer adviser and have already registered for the first physics for majors course, and getting out of it would be a pain; it's an interesting subject. BUT it may be too hard for me to handle (I have no idea what to expect from college physics...I've heard horror stories of 20 hour problem sets), requires lots of tough advanced math, pushes bio and o. chem off till junior year, and leaves less room for electives.
Spanish Major: Helps me not lose my Spanish, would separate me from the science pre-med crowd, has some really interesting linguistics classes, allows for more language learning and elective room, gives me the HumMed option, and is just really enjoyable. BUT I don't really need it to achieve or maintain fluency, it may come off as a bit of a joke major (it has to many of my family members..), will be a pain to switch to, keeps me from taking o. chem and physics till junior year (when two years of physics is fresh in my mind), is on a very different level than the courses that I've taken before (I'm not really sure what to expect difficulty-wise now that plain language courses are behind me and lit and linguistics courses in Spanish are here), and may not prepare me all that well academically for med school.
What do you guys think? I'm really sorry for all this text--I've been debating this for a long time with family (and myself), so I have a lot to say... and I've still probably left a lot out. As an added excuse, I just got back from a trip to India and am really jet lagged, so forgive my ramblings
Thanks!
Anyway, here's the deal: I'm stuck between a major in a foreign language (probably Spanish) or Physics.
I love languages. Like, I really, really love them. In an ideal world, I'd just take the bare-bones pre-med and general studies courses at my college and pack my semesters full of language courses, but that won't work out at my school. I've passed the AP level of Spanish and am, for all intents and purposes, fluent, receiving a 5 on the exam, a 780 on the SAT II, and having spent a few months teaching kindergarten in a rural village in Honduras. A Spanish major would allow me to keep practicing my Spanish, while also allowing me to take some really interesting linguistics classes (the major at my school is mostly linguistics classes about the language, conducted in Spanish). Because I'm coming in with AP credits, I'd only have to take one class per semester in my major to get it, which leaves extra room for studying other languages (Italian and Portuguese, at least, and I've thought about those for majors, as well), doing pre-med reqs, etc. A Spanish major also gives me the option of applying to Mount Sinai Humanities and Medicine (just a thought...I know it's not something to bank on.)
But...I also love physics. The subject really clicked for me from day one, and it truly fascinates me. The Physics Department at my school is really small and tight-nit, giving me lots of opportunities to TA, get good letters of recommendation, and get involved in research starting freshman year. Plus, a physics major sounds really impressive; not to be immature, but I feel proud telling people that I'm a physics major on the pre-med track, whereas to most people a Spanish major comes off as a bit of a joke. Physics, however, seems to get ridiculously hard at the higher levels, and I'd need four more semesters of math (with notoriously tough professors). With physics, I may also have to push chem off till sophomore year, and bio and o. chem off until junior year, which may not be the best idea given that I'm fresh out of AP Bio.
I've grown up around medicine, and am sure that it is what I want to do with my life. Physics would definitely give me better job options (many hedge funds recruit physics majors at my school), but I'm pretty much dead-set on medicine and will keep re-applying if I have to, so the backup plan isn't really an issue.
tl;dr, here's the short version (skip the wall of rambling text if you want):
Physics Major: A small department that I could get to know well for good LORs; lots of early research opportunities; an interesting and impressive subject that would prepare me well for the MCAT and med school; I already have a physics peer adviser and have already registered for the first physics for majors course, and getting out of it would be a pain; it's an interesting subject. BUT it may be too hard for me to handle (I have no idea what to expect from college physics...I've heard horror stories of 20 hour problem sets), requires lots of tough advanced math, pushes bio and o. chem off till junior year, and leaves less room for electives.
Spanish Major: Helps me not lose my Spanish, would separate me from the science pre-med crowd, has some really interesting linguistics classes, allows for more language learning and elective room, gives me the HumMed option, and is just really enjoyable. BUT I don't really need it to achieve or maintain fluency, it may come off as a bit of a joke major (it has to many of my family members..), will be a pain to switch to, keeps me from taking o. chem and physics till junior year (when two years of physics is fresh in my mind), is on a very different level than the courses that I've taken before (I'm not really sure what to expect difficulty-wise now that plain language courses are behind me and lit and linguistics courses in Spanish are here), and may not prepare me all that well academically for med school.
What do you guys think? I'm really sorry for all this text--I've been debating this for a long time with family (and myself), so I have a lot to say... and I've still probably left a lot out. As an added excuse, I just got back from a trip to India and am really jet lagged, so forgive my ramblings
Thanks!
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This!
