Approachign a crossroad....unsure of which path to take

[U Turn]

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Hello SDN, new member/lurker here and I've been doing some deep introspection and research the past few weeks. Let me give some of you a glimpse at my current situation and thoughts.

Right now I am 21 years old and in my final semester of community college and will be transfering to either UC Davis, LA or Berkeley next fall as a History major. I've been here for 3 years as opposed to the usual 2 years it takes for most transfers. The reason for this was because I only took one class my first semester and was not really serious about college during the first 2 years. I almost ended up enlisting in the Marine Corps but after talking to family, friends and current/former military members, I decided it was best to stick it out in college and pursue either a top law school or serve as an officer in the military. Right now my cumulative GPA is a 3.88 and assuming I get all A's this final semester, a 3.9. I'm guaranteed admission to Davis and have a really good chance at LA and Berk, UCLA being my dream school ever since I was in high school.

So during December, I interned at a law firm in San Francisco to gain some insight/experience in the legal field. I also did some research on law schools, from the curriculum to the life after graduation. I have to say, after all this, my desire to enter the legal field is all but gone. I knew of the over saturation of lawyers in the US but I didn't think it was THAT bad. My internship also showed me first hand the intense reading and paper pushing lawyers mainly do and the fierce competition of finding a decent paying job if you didn't graduate from a top 20 school. To put it bluntly, I do not see myself doing this for the rest of my life.

So that leads me to my other option, the military officer route. A lot of people know that having a college degree QUALIFIES you to become an officer. However, when it comes to the kind of position or field you want to work in, the degree you have does matter. I always wanted to join as something in the health related field like a medic or clinical assistant but it turns out all those positions are left to the enlisted and the officers in the military health sector are mainly professionals (MDs, RNs, PTs, etc). I give much respect to our troops serving on the front lines and I couldn't see myself doing anything else in the military than working in the medical corp treating the sick and injured.

Right now, I am a bit demoralized and saddened from working hard these past 3 years to find out my career options are limited, but I am also glad I found out all of this right now rather than later down the road. In high school I always thought I wasn't the science-type of person. Looking back on that, it was obvious why my grades were bad, because i never studied and had no drive whatsoever in any subject. In community college I took general physics for engineers and calculus, classes I would have never thought of scoring a C or higher in. From actually attending class, doing homework, and studying (3 things I never did in high school ) I ended up with A's in both classes. Although it may not seem much to you hardcore pre-meds, especially since they are CC courses, it kind of gave me a glimpse on how it might be possible to pursue something in the health field. I always felt limited and held down by my past failures in high school but my work ethic and drive in college is definitely a lot better, especially since I am spending money and these grades will follow me for the rest of my life.

This then brings me to my current dilemma/crossroad. I can either transfer in as a history major or suck it up and do two more years at community college finishing up pre-health courses/pre-reqs and transfer in as a biology/life science related major.

I know many of you are going to say to transfer and to take the pre-health courses at the uni. Although I would LOVE to do that, there are a few problems that I am going to face if I do so. First, there is a high chance that I will be unable to get into those courses due to wait lists or major limitations. Unit caps is another problem and if I take those courses there, along with my upper divisions, I will risk going over the unit cap. Another problem is the graduation time limit. I know at Berkeley and UCLA, transfer students HAVE to graduate in 2 years and the only way to stay longer is to have a waiver from the dean (which isn't likely). The main problem for me though is that I will have to graduate as a history major and I cannot switch to another major after I transfer. If it were possible for me to stay longer and switch/double major in a life science, then I would have no problems transferring.

The other option of staying at community college for another 2 years gives me a lot more room to breathe. I can easily get into the classes I need to, it's cheaper, and I can transfer into a university as a bio or science major. I then can take upper division science courses at the uni to show that I can handle the courses. My main concern about this route is staying at CC for 5 years which may look bad and considered taking the "easy way out". From the way I see things though, if I graduate with my degree in history, chances are I'm going to end up taking these courses after I graduate anyway (at either a CC or a post-bacc program). A science degree would also open a lot more opportunities as well and I would rather spend my money earning that rather than on a history degree in which the courses won't be relevant to my pre-health career goal.

I plan on volunteering at numerous place to see which health field seems the most fit for me. My parents are both nurses and my sister in law is a physical therapist so I can use their connections to get some shadowing done. Right now though, I am still contemplating the road I want to go down. To tell the truth, the stigma of staying at a CC for 5 years really is demoralizing, especially since my other friends in university will be graduating and I have talked about transferring to UCLA or Davis for awhile already. However, I do know that if I transfer this fall, I will be spending a lot more money on tuition/housing and will risk not being able to graduate on time, getting into the classes, and possibly having my GPA destroyed.

I would appreciate some insight/advice on my situation. I know it's not going to be easy journey but nowadays, nothing worth having in life comes easy. I don't want to be in a position 10-20 years from now looking back and having regret "not trying" while I was younger when I have no other obligations like a family to feed/support. And if I ever do become a health professional, I would gladly consider serving in the military and possibly make a career out of it.

Thank you for reading my long rant. Most of the posts here on SDN have been really informative and the diverse community definitely makes this forum astounding.

 

[Morsetlis]

Bullet points please.

 

[Sammich117]

Holy wow long post.

I skimmed, but it seems like you'd prefer to do 2 more years at CC and then transfer.. so why not do that?

 

[Mast Cell]

geez...i apologize for having not read ur entire post. it was toooo much, lol. hopefully i got the gist of it.

as it see it, ur first step is to do some volunteering & shadowing alongside some MD/DOs to determine if u even really want to become a doctor. also, realize that there's this great thing in the pre-med world called a postbac. go to UC-whatever and graduate in 2yrs. be a history major if that's what u love. it doesn't affect ur science classes & that way u can still keep urself open to law & whatnot. get out there & do stuff in each field and really ask urself what's a good fit.

...and about the postbac thing. if u don't finish ur premed coursework at UC Davis (or wherever u end up) just go to a postbaccalaureate program. I know there have to be a ton of official postbac programs in California. And no matter what, it'll probably be better to take a few upper-level bio courses before u apply to med school anyway.

lastly, don't worry about the loans. as someone who went to a private university for undergrad and also got a masters, i'm just pissed about how much i have in loans and i know u can't have it THAT bad lol. it's just money, right? ...unless of course, for some reason, u pay out of pocket haha

g'luck with ur decision!

 

[flip26]

One thing that jumps out at me is doing 5 years at a 2 year CC sounds very fishy to me, especially since you will need 2 more years at a 4 year to get a degree...are you on the Tommy Boy degree path? You need to get on with your life and go to a 4 year, no matter what you decide to major in, or what you intend to do post college. Get a 4 year degree, and if you need to do some post bacc work to finish up the pre med reqs, then do that...

Your post is otherwise too dense to read. Boil it down to something more easy to read.

 

[Catalystik]

A college degree, BTW, doesn't guarantee a military officership unless you're in ROTC and get commissioned when you graduate. My sister found this out the hard way. But if you completed ROTC and were commissioned as a history major, they'd find something for you to do as an officer. Is there no other other military job that appeals to you? Assuming not:

I think you have already thoughtfully considered your options and are making the right moves. As it seems to be mainly some California schools and the most-selective med schools elsewhere that might discourage CC credits, so long as you keep your GPA high and score well on the MCAT, there are many med schools that will be happy to consider your application. And happily, your GPA is fine, so far, though I'm not clear on how it could be so high when you were "not really serious about college during the first 2 years." Your friends' opinions hardly matter, but I'd hope that your family will encourage your U-Turn pathway, at least.

A very good first move, though (like before the end of this semester), is to shadow a doc and start volunteering in a clinical environment, to be sure medicine is still what you want once you're faced with vomit, blood, germs, odors, and pain.

You've probably gotten most of your general education credits done by now, so couldn't you start the med school prerequisites at the CC and still be part-time enough to work and help offset your school fees? Maybe you could get some clinical experience through the workplace, rather than as a volunteer (though you'd still want to do something providing a community service). I'm less concerned about the fishiness of spending many years at a CC (some of them would be part time) than perhaps a credit hour cap, but there's other CCs you could attend, right? The above two posters have a better grasp of the practicalities of going to school in California than I, so they may be more correct about going the postbac route.

 

[nisarg2010]

I think you should transfer to 4 year school ASAP. Major in history if you want, but do postbac and finish your med school prereqs. I have a question. Why dont you transfer to 4 year school as a science major? If your sure about med school, then that would be better then history major. That way you could also avoid the Unit cap.

Good luck to you 👍

 

[Practitioner]

OP:

You're still 21, so don't let things feel like they were wasted or you're "behind", or whatever. I know people who finished college over 10 years because they couldn't decide what they wanted. Then I also have a friend who finished his undergrad and MD in 8 years straight, did his first couple of years of residency before realizing medicine wasn't right for him. He's stuck with the loans and trying to figure out what to do with his life at 32! Another 2-3 years to get something you want won't matter down the line, and you're lucky to have realized it so soon.

In addition to what's already been said, here's what I think: If shifting to a science degree is also about having more options versus a history major, then a postbac will give you that (more options) as well. From my research, if you can get into a postbac, they typically offer doors into MS and PHD programs as well as MD.

Ultimately, the way I perceive continuing an education past a BS degree is that the major you have doesn't matter in a defining way. No one asks what your BS was past the application to higher degree program and in as much as it matters to the application, the courses you took and training you received seem to replace an odd unrelated major. So, if you're confident you can get enough science background to be pre-med and to get into a postbac program, the program will do the rest of giving you options (without having to switch majors or spend an extra 2-3 years at CC). IMO. The history degree might even make you more interesting a candidate.

And before you decide on anything, maybe you should consider shadowing a doctor or two first. You might find the experience not to your liking either.

Good luck!

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Major in history.. Spend 2 or 3 more years at UC and take all the pre-med classes you need and a few upper levels. You'll be fine and you'll enter medical school at the average age.

 

[Velocity]

I read the whole post (c'mon guys, what's a little reading?) but there's no clear question that you pose.

You're unsure of what health specialty you'd like to be. That can probably be clarified by volunteering at a hospital. Many hospitals have a volunteering office - go through that, don't use your parents' connections for this. Doing it on your own this way will give you a better idea of how things are. Just be aware that the experiences and duties of a particular position may be different between different units, and especially between different hospitals. Go in with an open mind, make friends with staff, and when you've established yourself try asking if you can shadow different positions within the unit.

Regarding your degree, this one is a bit tricky since you're not sure what you want to do. As far as medical school goes, being a history major is fine as long as you can complete the science prereqs and maintain a high GPA. I don't know if any other health field specialties have a certain major requirement.

Lastly, try not to feel too put out. You're in good company in terms of not following the traditional education/career pathway, and your situation is actually pretty good (even though it may not seem that way to you). If we could bet on people we thought would be successful in achieving their dreams, I'd put money on you. Just keep working hard, even if things get rough.

Good luck in finding what it is you want to do, and in getting there.

 

[BBender716]

Ask Robert Frost, he may have some valuable input.

 

[Kickback]

All you have to do to get into medical school is to complete the pre-reqs. Seriously. The only question is, will you be motivated in your history studies at a higher-caliber university? I know some history majors, and they work their a s s e s off reading and writing for their courses.

If you really want to do the military medicine route, I suggest you go and read the military medicine forum we have here. The vibe I get is that if you can deal with all of the BS (which there is in heaps) and are NOT in it for the paycheck, you can get by. Also, I would try to figure out the military idea ASAP. ROTC offers 2 year scholarships, and I believe you can attend USUHS (the military medical school) after ROTC.

 

[U Turn]

Once again, thank you all for your responses. I also apologize for the extremely long post. The length of it didn't really hit me until I actually looked at it again this morning For those of you who took the time to actually read everything, I appreciate it.

-The 7 year Van Wilder/Tommy Boy undergrad plan wouldn't exactly fit my case. I went to school part time for the first 2 years because I worked full time and wasn't really committed to the college path. Working full time and keeping up my grades improved my overall work ethic, which is why I decided to go to school full time and transfer.

-As much as I would prefer not to stay at CC for another 2 years due to the 5 year stigma, I can't help but think about all the other people who eventually do go back to college post-bacc to complete pre-reqs for another profession like engineering or nursing. I'm sure many of you know people who have done this. 4 years of under grad in an unrelated degree and going back to CC/uni to complete pre-reqs for another 2-3 years. That basically adds up to 7 years of non-graduate school studies. The way I see it, I actually have the option of choosing my degree right now, and if I enter a university with a science degree, I'll save myself money and end up with a more flexible degree. The risks of transfering to a 4 year as a history major this fall (unit cap, graduation time limit) while doing pre-reqs are another thing I would not have to deal with.

-I will definitely do some volunteering and shadowing different health professions to see which one suits me the best (physician, PT, etc) in the next few months. I know that if I ever do decide to pursue medicine, that the path will be a lot tougher compared to the others because of coming from CC, having to score a killer MCAT and all A's in upper division science courses. If after my shadowing, I find that medicine is not for me, I could always explore other health related fields.

Your replies have definitely shed some light on a situation that I shouldn't have been so glum over. At my CC I've talked to people in their mid 40s who are taking classes to change careers and it made me appreciate the maneuverability I have at my age. I will definitely take advantage of the time I have right now. Thank you all.

 

[Musclemass]

You've identified all the obstacles you MAY face and how you think you can avoid them. You've written nothing about what passions you DO have and your aggressive plan to achieve them. I think you are confused from trying to juggle too many variables at once.

The only way to find out what you do and don't love is to plunge into something. If the direction is wrong, try something else. You're hanging back and waiting for something to happen, because of all the problems and difficulties you've decided you will have if you move on now. Spending an extended time at a CC is not going to be looked at favorably, in my view. Plenty of people start at a CC and then transfer, change their mind, and yet manage to do their pre-reqs and graduate. If the time frame is limited at the schools you prefer, find another school that will give you some leeway.

It's time to **** or get off the pot. You're fine now, you're trying to decide what direction to go in. Take a chance, now get going.