Confused high school junior

Opticalfuture

Opticqueen
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Im about to be a senior and i don't know what to do. Should i apply for pre med or optometry. I love optometry but i want to go further with my education and do more than just examine, but med seems Sooo long! Right now i have a 3.2 gpa and rank 111 out of 650 kids. Also tx resident. My goal is to be top ten so i can get accepted to a good uni

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When you apply to college, you don't apply to any particular major. You might have to apply to some majors, e.g. apply for admission to the school of business, once you declare your major during your sophomore year of college. But at this point, you will just be applying to college, period, and nobody will expect you to know what you want to major in yet. You will just start taking classes in your area of interest and decide from there. You also don't major in pre-med or pre-optometry. There are certain prerequisite courses you have to take (biology, chemistry, etc.) but you can major in whatever you want, even something like history or English. The nice thing is that pre-optometry and pre-med prerequisites are largely the same, so you can take classes that will meet requirements for both until you make your decision.

I would recommend shadowing some physicians and optometrists and see what their day-to-day is like, and which you like better. This will probably be easier to do once you're in college.

It doesn't really matter where you go to college as long as you do well in your classes and are involved in things like volunteering, research, and leadership.

Also, you need to be prepared to step it up academically in college if you are considering medical school. College will be harder than high school, and a 3.2 will not give you a good shot at medical school admissions. Work on your study skills now so you're prepared when you hit college and start getting grades that will be on your medical school application!

Thanks im also taking college classes
 
My school doesn't rank so I don't know exactly how this works but it seems like it would be difficult to rebound from a 3.2 GPA to top 10 in the span of three semesters. Of course raising your GPA is a good priority but there's only so much you can do.
 
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My school doesn't rank so I don't know exactly how this works but it seems like it would be difficult to rebound from a 3.2 GPA to top 10 in the span of three semesters. Of course raising your GPA is a good priority but there's only so much you can do.

I guess but i will try before i give up im taking advance classes to boost it. Are you a junior too?
 
Make sure you do really well (3.7+ GPA) on those college classes because those count towards your college GPA for med school application. This is VERY important.


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Thanks nutrition is soo stressful
 
Interesting class choice lol-- why take those courses instead of AP or IBs?
 
I'm not completely sure about my major yet. Most likely biology but I'm open to new discoveries.
Pick a major you like that you will actually work for.

Take pre-reqs for whatever health profession you want and get all As.

It makes you stand out from 90% of the biology majors and could potentially land you more lucrative jobs if you decide to take a gap year or opt out of healthcare in general.
 
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Pick a major you like that you will actually work for.

Take pre-reqs for whatever health profession you want and get all As.

It makes you stand out from 90% of the biology majors and could potentially land you more lucrative jobs if you decide to take a gap year or opt out of healthcare in general.
Thanks for the advice. I am well aware that I should, as you said, choose a major I'd work for, but I just don't know what that something is yet. The only class I find even somewhat interesting is biology but sometimes I don't see myself being able to study a subject that is often ruthlessly based on memorization. I'm hoping I can figure out what I want to do quickly but I'm a bit anxious about it.
 
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Thanks for the advice. I am well aware that I should, as you said, choose a major I'd work for, but I just don't know what that something is yet. The only class I find even somewhat interesting is biology but sometimes I don't see myself being able to study a subject that is often ruthlessly based on memorization. I'm hoping I can figure out what I want to do quickly but I'm a bit anxious about it.
Not that med school isn't memorization hell, it'd just be nice to avoid it while I can.
 
Thanks for the advice. I am well aware that I should, as you said, choose a major I'd work for, but I just don't know what that something is yet. The only class I find even somewhat interesting is biology but sometimes I don't see myself being able to study a subject that is often ruthlessly based on memorization. I'm hoping I can figure out what I want to do quickly but I'm a bit anxious about it.
Understandable.

I always wanted to build race cars.
If I majored in that or something I really wanted, I believe I would've done much better in undergrad, even if engineering is hell.

Dig deep down and figure out what you like. Maybe it pertains to a hobby or a strength of yours.
 
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Im taking ap chem dual credit classes and cause i wanted to
Hey what other classes are you taking? I also take Nutrition Honors, AP Chem, and Anatomy and Physiology and I want to know if have any other classes that are useful for college (besides AP Bio because I'm a junior right now and I'm taking that next year). Also, do you AP Chem rather easy? I find it really hard to understand a lot of the concepts in it.
 
Hey what other classes are you taking? I also take Nutrition Honors, AP Chem, and Anatomy and Physiology and I want to know if have any other classes that are useful for college (besides AP Bio because I'm a junior right now and I'm taking that next year). Also, do you AP Chem rather easy? I find it really hard to understand a lot of the concepts in it.

Girl let me tell you AP chem IS NOT EASY for me because i jumped right in after a year of regular chem, nutrition is a lot if memorizing but understanding too, college history, college 1302, college physical wellness(pe). Nutrition is at the college too. I would say take Ap physics cause math has always been hard for me so give your self a head start now. A lot more health related classes like micorbiology for ex. And youe pre ap classes for English and history..etc dont forget to enjoy your senior year because right now so many things is wrapped around my head!
 
Girl let me tell you AP chem IS NOT EASY for me because i jumped right in after a year of regular chem, nutrition is a lot if memorizing but understanding too, college history, college 1302, college physical wellness(pe). Nutrition is at the college too. I would say take Ap physics cause math has always been hard for me so give your self a head start now. A lot more health related classes like micorbiology for ex. And youe pre ap classes for English and history..etc dont forget to enjoy your senior year because right now so many things is wrapped around my head!

The AP Physics that my school offers has students take 2 AP exams, so I would not recommend taking AP Physics in that case. I and several others in my grade took AP Chem sophomore year and it was manageable (most got 4s, one or two 3s and a couple got 5s) and these people are struggling in AP Physics. AP Chem is much easier than AP Physics and if you want to give yourself a headstart, take AB or BC and honors physics and that should allow you to take the AP Physics 1 exam. Don't push yourself with more advanced classes; get a strong foundation in precalc and calculus first.
 
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I
The AP Physics that my school offers has students take 2 AP exams, so I would not recommend taking AP Physics in that case. I and several others in my grade took AP Chem sophomore year and it was manageable (most got 4s, one or two 3s and a couple got 5s) and these people are struggling in AP Physics. AP Chem is much easier than AP Physics and if you want to give yourself a headstart, take AB or BC and honors physics and that should allow you to take the AP Physics 1 exam. Don't push yourself with more advanced classes; get a strong foundation in precalc and calculus first.
I'd say do the opposite.

High school gives you the option to **** up with no repercussions academically.

Take as many AP courses as you can.
 
The AP Physics that my school offers has students take 2 AP exams, so I would not recommend taking AP Physics in that case. I and several others in my grade took AP Chem sophomore year and it was manageable (most got 4s, one or two 3s and a couple got 5s) and these people are struggling in AP Physics. AP Chem is much easier than AP Physics and if you want to give yourself a headstart, take AB or BC and honors physics and that should allow you to take the AP Physics 1 exam. Don't push yourself with more advanced classes; get a strong foundation in precalc and calculus first.

Yeah i know thanks. Everyone is different tho chem might have came easier to you. We have sucky teachers and its basically a self taught class
 
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I'd say do the opposite.

High school gives you the option to **** up with no repercussions academically.

Take as many AP courses as you can.
Well you will screw up your gpa and rank and chances yo going to a top uni
 
Well you will screw up your gpa and rank and chances yo going to a top uni

I should have clarified. High school offers you the greatest chance to mess up and learn with very minor repercussions.

There are tons of students who do not go to a top uni who get into med school.

There are brilliant kids who go to top unis who do not get into med school.

When you start, you will realize hard work goes a long way and how much control you have over your chances.

You will also realize that the rat race and prestige factor portrayed on SDN is laughable.

Get in, get through it, and formulate your own opinion. Then come back and share.
 
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I should have clarified. High school offers you the greatest chance to mess up and learn with very minor repercussions.

There are tons of students who do not go to a top uni who get into med school.

There are brilliant kids who go to top unis who do not get into med school.

When you start, you will realize hard work goes a long way and how much control you have over your chances.

You will also realize that the rat race and prestige factor portrayed on SDN is laughable.

Get in, get through it, and formulate your own opinion. Then come back and share.

Thats true i guess
 
Currently finishing up my junior year in college, about to apply to med school. For what it's worth I actively recommend people do not major in bio. Unless if you don't get into med school or change your mind you want to go to grad school (and I would also be very careful about if you want to do that). I'm a huge proponent of "fall-back" majors.
 
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Currently finishing up my junior year in college, about to apply to med school. For what it's worth I actively recommend people do not major in bio. Unless if you don't get into med school or change your mind you want to go to grad school (and I would also be very careful about if you want to do that). I'm a huge proponent of "fall-back" majors.
What would you recommend then? Computer science? It seems like most majors at this point require grad school to be successful. Apart from engineering, of course, but I can't imagine balancing the load of pre-med and engineering.
 
What would you recommend then? Computer science? It seems like most majors at this point require grad school to be successful. Apart from engineering, of course, but I can't imagine balancing the load of pre-med and engineering.

There's lots of majors that you don't particularly need grad school in. But Bio is just sooo over saturated due to the high amount of people majoring in it. I currently know someone with a bachelors in bio who works in an amazon warehouse because it pays more than a lab tech job. Major in something your passionate about, if that really is general biology (which for most people it isn't) then do it but know the risks. Physics for example (if you are that much of a masochist) I hear has great employment with a bachelors only, but I didn't look up to see if that's true. However, it's obviously a very hard major most of the time. If you look close enough I'm sure you can find one you like. For me, general bio didn't interest me. I like my major because I get to take a lot of classes I genuinely enjoy and learn about clinical applications of things rather than the embryonic development of a fruit fly.

I'm a pharmacology and toxicology major, if I don't get into med school I'm pretty employable although I might have to move. Most people get good jobs after finishing with my major or something similar though because it can be directly applied to a job, whereas general bio is only peripherally related. It also gave me great research opportunities (got published on grad students thesis and working on 1 paper that should be finished in May-ish and working on a first author). If I didn't major in this I probably would have picked Finance or something related and taken pre-med prereqs on the side.

I've just seen too many people with bio majors either get super low paying jobs or no jobs to recommend it. Then again most people who get into med school are probably bio majors, but to me its just too risky.
 
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Yeah i know thanks. Everyone is different tho chem might have came easier to you. We have sucky teachers and its basically a self taught class
Haha yeah I feel that, in AP Bio last year, our teacher made it like AP arts in crafts, where we'd have notebooks and spend the first 10 mins of a 40 min period taping in worksheets into these notebooks. Lots of fun and a great class for seniors with a heavy case of senioritis, but I needed to put in a lot of studying for the AP (altho it was pretty easy?) on my own and for unit tests. But yeah, getting great teachers is really a blessing. Hopefully you get some really great ones in upcoming years!
 
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So for someone in a BS/MD program with a spot in medical school, would you still give the same advice? I have planned on majoring in Bio just because I wouldn't have to take any extra pre-reqs for med school, and am very open and willing to change it if you have any good suggestions.

If you're in a BS/MD program I would say major in whatever you like that you can do well in. At my essentially everyone in the BS/MD programs gets in. One of my friends is a psych major (because it's relatively easy) and he got in no problem. But I would imagine the vast majority of kids in BS/MD programs get into med school so you probably don't have to worry too much.
 
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So for someone in a BS/MD program with a spot in medical school, would you still give the same advice? I have planned on majoring in Bio just because I wouldn't have to take any extra pre-reqs for med school, and am very open and willing to change it if you have any good suggestions.

Congrats! How u got in?
 
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Haha yeah I feel that, in AP Bio last year, our teacher made it like AP arts in crafts, where we'd have notebooks and spend the first 10 mins of a 40 min period taping in worksheets into these notebooks. Lots of fun and a great class for seniors with a heavy case of senioritis, but I needed to put in a lot of studying for the AP (altho it was pretty easy?) on my own and for unit tests. But yeah, getting great teachers is really a blessing. Hopefully you get some really great ones in upcoming years!

Thnaks. Aw lucky your Ap classes don't sound as hard as mine. We have 2 ap teachers in the science section and they both can't teach lol. My school is probably on a cut back on teachers
 
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