Bailing out of Engineering to something easier?

[txrhyne]

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Hello all

I am going to be a third year at the Geogia Institute of Technology and I am currently a Mechanical Engineering major. I originally chose it because I am good at math and science but I now realize it's honestly "just another" 9 to 5 job. I would rather dedicate my life to something that will bring great meaning to my life.

I currently have a 3.37 gpa(and am looking to improve upon this).

I realized the other day that my classes are getting much much harder and I do not think I have the capabilities to keep my gpa to a competitive level.

I am highly considering switching my major to something a bit more doable(Psychology/Biology-both of which I find interesting, especially biology relating to humans). Especially since it seems these majors get you very good results if you are willing to simply put in the time(mech E ion th eother hand I would say can be unfair and unpredictable sometimes).

My school has major grade deflation and I find the medical profession more appealing every day(Dedicating a life towards helping others using medicine seems far more appealing than dedicating my life to make some fat rich guy fatter and richer).

Has anyone tried anything similar? If so what kind of results did you get? I am in quite a pickle I understand as classes are starting in about two weeks. I am quite certain that if continue with Mechanical Engineering I will NOT be able to make it to medical school(at least not a US one)

 

[jdfamily]

I cannot relate to your situation, but if it helps you make your decision, I would figure out how many credit hours you have to take and calculate what grade you would have to get in those classes in order to get your GPA up to par. To be honest you can have any major to apply to medical school and it might make more sense to finish your bachelor's ASAP and increase your GPA by taking post baccalaureate classes or something of the sort.

 

[NorthernLights1]

Third year is often the hardest year (at least in EE - I can't speak for anything else) because you start learning the *really* difficult stuff that builds off sophomore year foundational classes.

However, you don't really indicate your level of interest in Psych or Bio (other than, "I find them interesting"). Are they something you could see yourself doing even if you don't get in to medical school? Plenty of people go into these majors thinking only of medical school, only to wind up doing something they hate after failing to cut the mustard come MCAT/application time.

Your level of aptitude for the subjects is important as well; do you have any evidence of how well you'll do if you switch majors? At this point you need to get very good grades to bring your GPA up. My opinion is that bio & psych are much easier than engineering, but that's not necessarily a guarantee that you'll do well in them. Also, will you need an extra year if you switch majors right now, and is that a viable option for you?

If you answer, "yes," to all of the questions above, then maybe it's not such a bad idea to switch ASAP.

 

[gimghoul]

I wised up and bailed out of GT after only a year. That said, there is no need to change from ME to go to medical school (unless you really don't like ME). Several of my classmates are engineers - they just took the medical school prereqs alongside their engineering classes. Do well in your pre-reqs and on the MCAT, and a 3.37 engineering GPA from GT isn't bad at all.

Why do you think you would need to go to an international school if you stayed in engineering?

 

[inycepoo]

Haha, yes. Drop engineering for medicine because it's much easier.

Bail if you don't like it. You'll make it up in all the extra years of schooling medicine requires.