Do any of you feel like you sacrificed passion by majoring in something easier?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

numbersloth

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2015
Messages
459
Reaction score
172
Basically, I'm really passionate about biology. Not just the medically relevant bits, but also ecology/conservation/theoretical view on evolution/pathogenesis. However, I'm currently a psychology major because (i) it's easier, (ii) having no labs attached to all my classes gives me much more free times to volunteer and hold leadership positions, and (iii) ironically, if I majored in biology at my school I wouldn't be able to fulfill all the pre-medical requirements before I graduated and would have to take a few the summer and fall after.

However, I do feel like maybe I'm making the wrong choice. If medicine didn't work out, I could 100% see myself going to graduate school in evolutionary biology, but wouldn't touch psychology graduate school with a ten foot pole (though medicine is high and above either choice at this point). Am I making the wrong decision? Has anyone been in a similar position? I keep telling myself that medicine is about sacrifices - I hope this is the right mindset!

Members don't see this ad.
 
Last edited:
Am I making the wrong decision? Has anyone been in a similar position?

Yes and yes. You should pick a major based on two, maybe three things: 1) what interests you, 2) what you can use as a backup in case med school doesn't work out, and 3) can you maintain a good GPA. I'd argue that if you have the first two, you're likely to get the third (although some majors are more difficult than others).

If psych is not something that really interests you and you wouldn't use it as a backup, it should not be your major. Some 60% of med school applicants do not get in. You need to have a plan B should you be one of them. If bio is your passion, major in bio. You can find time to do all the other stuff you need to do, trust me.

I had originally majored in English. It interested me, but I knew I would never use the degree. Math interested me more, and I could actually see myself using the degree should med school not work out. So I changed majors. It was more difficult than English, but I enjoyed it way more.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
no i feel like i sacrificed GPA by majoring in something hard
 
  • Like
Reactions: 10 users
Members don't see this ad :)
TIL that people take majors that are easy for them rather than something they enjoy. I literally have always assumed that people went into fields that they enjoyed o_O
 
Last edited:
TIL that people take majors that are easy for them rather than something they enjoy. I literally have also assumed that people went into fields that they enjoyed o_O

I mean, it isn't that I don't enjoy Psych at the undergrad level. I like statistics and research study design. Its just that mental health/a lot of psych has never really been something I get pumped up about. Its not that I absolutely hate what I study -- I do enjoy my classes.
 
TIL that people take majors that are easy for them rather than something they enjoy. I literally have always assumed that people went into fields that they enjoyed o_O

I can count the premeds on one hand who majored in something challenging they enjoyed rather than something A) easy to boost their GPA or B) highly marketable (CS/Eng) to have a "backup plan". For the second group "backup plan" almost always means "Plan A" but they didn't have the heart to tell their parents they don't want to be doctors, or their grades just won't make the cut.

Premeds are *so* basic, talking to them is like drinking bleach
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
@Matthew9Thirtyfive nailed it. Your major should do several things for you, and yours is only doing one...

If your goal is to get you into medical school, a phych major can help in that it's easier to get a strong GPA, but it can also hurt you because it's well known to be easier to get a strong GPA, thus not as well-respected a major. No brownie points for having a challenging degree path or even for doing something unusual.

For Plan B, a psych major's pretty darned useless, qualifying you to be a barista or salesperson and really not much more.

For nurturing your passions -- If it really, really floats your boat, then do it. But it sounds like it's more of a "psych's fun" and not a true passion.

So why? Other than it's easy at this point and gets you a degree in the shortest possible time frame.

If you could major in absolutely anything in the world, regardless of what would look good to AdComs or what would further your career ambitions, what would that be? Start from there --
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
@numbersloth

If you know you can do well in psych, keep in mind the following:
  • Realize you will probably have to do some kind of project required for your major (don't know your school so don't know if that's required), so even if you aren't passionate about the subject, you'll likely be required to do exploration in it that may or may not interest you.
  • If you can't see yourself using psych as a route to graduate school, figure out what job opportunities you could get with psych or make sure you build skills in a job-applicable area of study (this applies to any major, not just psych).
Some areas to consider that can let you do both bio and psych(?)...consider pre-reqs needed/what your school offers/research available
  • Biopsychology/neurobiology/behavioral neuroscience (related to the behavioral side of neurological disorders, e.g. Alzheimer's, developmental disorders)
  • Evolutionary psych/evolutionary biology (some people dispute them...but the fields are out there and there's a lot to learn!)
  • Minor in bio if your school offers? (I did this with music...didn't see myself as going to music school but wanted to study it it before graduate or medical studies)
Other thoughts
  • It seems like you really want to do something in biology, and I think it's worth pursuing if you can see yourself doing it. In my experience people will know the difference between something you're interested in versus not.
  • You are not wrong in believing that GPA is important for medical school and that majoring in something you can do well with is critical. That said, regardless of what your GPA is, realize that medical school is not a cakewalk. I personally thought the challenge of learning and working with my major and requirements (neuroscience) prepped me well for my first semester. Not saying you should pick a major for the sake of doing a hard major, but I am saying there are benefits of having either an easy or hard major.
  • Whatever major you decide to choose, make sure that you're willing to talk about your interests in a professional setting (read: interviews) and build skills towards something.
Hope this helps a bit. Best of luck!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Majored in psych, minored in bio. I loved both subjects and actually I found that a bio minor allowed me to take the biology classes I wanted - I was able to take advanced biology classes without the plant biology courses I was less interested in and the lab requirements etc. Perhaps see if a biology minor would be possible to accomplish in the time you have left and if it would be right for you? I think if you took at least some upper division biology courses, you would be able to show an interest and pursue some form of biology graduate school if you so choose. Research in biology would help this aim as well. I worked in a neurobio lab (fusing bio and psych) all throughout undergrad. While I did not apply for any form of graduate school other than medical school, if I applied to a biology graduate program I definitely think I would have been able to explain my dual interests and would have had the coursework, degree, and research to back that up.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
For Plan B, a psych major's pretty darned useless, qualifying you to be a barista or salesperson and really not much more.

A biology major is only marginally more useful. There are too many of them and unless you're a quantitative or computational biologist, you're not likely to find a good Plan B other than med school.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 users
I majored in Business Administration. I don't think it discredits your passion. If anything, it showed me how much I preferred my biology/pre-med courses over my business courses. It showed me that I truly did enjoy medicine more than other things. It also is great for diversity. I think it'll be useful in the future if I want to open a private practice.
 
Adcoms don't give a rat's ass about your major or minor, only that you do well.

90% of pre-meds never make it med school.


Basically, I'm really passionate about biology. Not just the medically relevant bits, but also ecology/conservation/theoretical view on evolution/pathogenesis. However, I'm currently a psychology major because (i) it's easier, (ii) having no labs attached to all my classes gives me much more free times to volunteer and hold leadership positions, and (iii) ironically, if I majored in biology at my school I wouldn't be able to fulfill all the pre-medical requirements before I graduated and would have to take a few the summer and fall after.

However, I do feel like maybe I'm making the wrong choice. If medicine didn't work out, I could 100% see myself going to graduate school in evolutionary biology, but wouldn't touch psychology graduate school with a ten foot pole (though medicine is high and above either choice at this point). Am I making the wrong decision? Has anyone been in a similar position? I keep telling myself that medicine is about sacrifices - I hope this is the right mindset!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Adcoms don't give a rat's ass about your major or minor, only that you do well.

90% of pre-meds never make it med school.
Wow, so only 10% of pre-meds actually become a doctor... 0_0

Anyways OP; Bio is just about useless anyways,and it is also just as easy in my opinion. Ultimately it doesn't matter, I heard of a guy majoring in romantic writing getting into med school.
So with that said I didn't sacrifice anything..
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I would've majored in BME, but i knew my GPA would likely suffer. Ultimately, my true passion is medicine, and I knew majoring in something easier would help me get there.
 
I took a somewhat unusual route (though, nothing is really unusual when you're placed in a pool of thousands of applicants...when n>10,000, it's a bit harder to be unique), and here's the advice I would give, echoing others in this thread: first and foremost, major in something that not only interests you, but fascinates you and this will in and of itself drives you to get a good GPA. When you do something you love, you'll cover points 1 and 3 from @Matthew9Thirtyfive. From freshman year to present, the following was my path:
  1. Biology
  2. Microbiology
  3. Sociology
  4. Microbiology + Sociology
  5. Microbiology + Sociology + Philosophy
Sure, it might have been easier to stick with just microbiology, but when I took my first sociology course, I couldn't help but feel a deep relevance to medicine -- even more so when I started taking anthropology courses. And when I took a bioethics course, philosophy seemed indispensable. This is not to say that you should keep adding degrees to your plan. However, what it suggests is that you (anyone) will succeed most studying a subject that you like.

I'm not a huge fan of backups, but I guess it's the smarter thing to do. If you have a backup, I think it should at least be something that doesn't make you want to pull your hair out, out of boredom.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
I am very thankful that my passion led me to my major, which turned out to be not too bad in terms of letting me tack on premeds requirements.

I ended up majoring in underwater basket weaving with a concentration in wicker baskets.
 
I took a somewhat unusual route (though, nothing is really unusual when you're placed in a pool of thousands of applicants...when n>10,000, it's a bit harder to be unique), and here's the advice I would give, echoing others in this thread: first and foremost, major in something that not only interests you, but fascinates you and this will in and of itself drives you to get a good GPA. When you do something you love, you'll cover points 1 and 3 from @Matthew9Thirtyfive. From freshman year to present, the following was my path:
  1. Biology
  2. Microbiology
  3. Sociology
  4. Microbiology + Sociology
  5. Microbiology + Sociology + Philosophy
Sure, it might have been easier to stick with just microbiology, but when I took my first sociology course, I couldn't help but feel a deep relevance to medicine -- even more so when I started taking anthropology courses. And when I took a bioethics course, philosophy seemed indispensable. This is not to say that you should keep adding degrees to your plan. However, what it suggests is that you (anyone) will succeed most studying a subject that you like.

I'm not a huge fan of backups, but I guess it's the smarter thing to do. If you have a backup, I think it should at least be something that doesn't make you want to pull your hair out, out of boredom.

Great post. To be clear, by backup, I mean something you would be happy doing as a backup to medicine, not necessarily something that is a lucrative backup. There are a ton of PhD biologists out there, but if it makes you happy, go for it.

I liked English lit, but I was fascinated by math and it's application to biology. I've been doing research in mathematical biology for about a year now, and it's amazing. My backup is actually law, but I could definitely see myself doing math as a backup.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Eh I did B.S. Biology, B.A. Psychology so I got the easy psych classes while taking hard bio classes and it evened out well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
As a psych major that always wanted to major in psych, this sort of question is incredibly annoying and degrading to other people like me who enjoy what we're learning. If you're not passionate about psych then change your damn major. Pick underwater basketweaving as a major if you want something easy instead of making my major look like an easy way out. I'm officially triggered.
 
A major in Biology has to be viewed as a stepping stone, whether to Medicine, teaching, research, patent law, or something else.

Wow, so only 10% of pre-meds actually become a doctor... 0_0

Anyways OP; Bio is just about useless anyways,and it is also just as easy in my opinion. Ultimately it doesn't matter, I heard of a guy majoring in romantic writing getting into med school.
So with that said I didn't sacrifice anything..
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I can't relate. I would've majored in music/art.

I didn't find SDN soon enough to realize I can major in literally anything other than the typical premed BS (get it...hehe)!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
@Dr.Kitty My undergrad experiences would tell me otherwise: psych research, especially, is not easy (interesting, yes!).
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
I wouldn't have even bothered with a BS/BA if I didn't want to go to medical school. So yes, i've sacrificed a lot of passions to study many things I don't care about. I try to keep it all in the context of the end goal to avoid any cognitive dissonance.

I would have done a BFA in photography, but grading for the fine arts are crazy subjective, so it wasn't worth the risk (hardest A I ever earned was in a 100 level photography class). I ended up picking a cool major that combines the hard sciences (read: pre-reqs), with some athletic training, biomedical, psych, and your standard liberal arts core classes. I like that everything relates to the human body, which makes things easier for me. Functional anatomy was my favorite.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Yes. One of my biggest regrets of college. Take your time and study what you want. Challenge yourself.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
@Dr.Kitty My undergrad experiences would tell me otherwise: psych research, especially, is not easy (interesting, yes!).

I agree with this. When I refer to it as easy, I mean that, in general, you can choose "easier" elective courses, there are no labs, and the curves tend to be a little better than in hard science classes where you tend to have a lot of pre-meds or genius science kids.
The research methods and stats classes can definitely be challenging since teasing out confounds in what is essentially a social science can be a nightmare.
 
Sometimes I think it's easier to get good grades in a major that you love rather than one you're doing for any perceived benefits.

I loved chemistry, so I majored in chemistry. Got a 4.0 in my major, but got lower grades in "easier" classes because I didn't care enough to put the effort in.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
I wouldn't have even bothered with a BS/BA if I didn't want to go to medical school. So yes, i've sacrificed a lot of passions to study many things I don't care about. I try to keep it all in the context of the end goal to avoid any cognitive dissonance.

Same! My life exactly. If I had to redo it, I'd pick a major I actually loved. I would still just be going through the motions, but it would have been a more exciting journey.
 
Sometimes I think it's easier to get good grades in a major that you love rather than one you're doing for any perceived benefits.

I loved chemistry, so I majored in chemistry. Got a 4.0 in my major, but got lower grades in "easier" classes because I didn't care enough to put the effort in.
This reminds me of a friend of mine who would get A's in all the upper level bio, chem, biochem courses but got B's in history and art because he just didnt care about them lol
 
I feel like I sacrificed my employability by majoring in something I like. Should've majored in comp sci or math...
 
I feel like I sacrificed my employability by majoring in something I like. Should've majored in comp sci or math...

But do you feel like you could have majored in cs or math w/ pre-med and still have gotten a decent GPA?
 
As a psych major that always wanted to major in psych, this sort of question is incredibly annoying and degrading to other people like me who enjoy what we're learning. If you're not passionate about psych then change your damn major. Pick underwater basketweaving as a major if you want something easy instead of making my major look like an easy way out. I'm officially triggered.

I don't get triggered when people tell me they could never major in math because it's too boring and useless. Seems like you're looking to get upset over something that isn't a big deal. Some majors are typically easier than others. That's not a bad thing.

If you're being facetious, disregard. I'm sick, so my internet humor sense is off.
 
I don't get triggered when people tell me they could never major in math because it's too boring and useless. Seems like you're looking to get upset over something that isn't a big deal. Some majors are typically easier than others. That's not a bad thing.

If you're being facetious, disregard. I'm sick, so my internet humor sense is off.

That analogy wasn't the greatest. Some people don't like your major because they don't think it's the most interesting. That's very different from the amount of people I have seen that have tried to use my major as an easy way to med school. If this keeps happening, my major is potentially (if not already) going to look to some adcoms as the same thing many people are using it for... an easy major no one is passionate about. Although not the biggest thing in the world when it comes to admissions, it's nonetheless something that's troubling to someone who wouldn't want to major in anything else.
 
That analogy wasn't the greatest. Some people don't like your major because they don't think it's the most interesting. That's very different from the amount of people I have seen that have tried to use my major as an easy way to med school. If this keeps happening, my major is potentially (if not already) going to look to some adcoms as the same thing many people are using it for... an easy major no one is passionate about. Although not the biggest thing in the world when it comes to admissions, it's nonetheless something that's troubling to someone who wouldn't want to major in anything else.

If you want to get offended you're going to. I just think it's a waste of your time. Perfect analogy or not, my point was just that I don't really care if someone thinks math is boring and you shouldn't care if people think your major is easy. Even if adcoms think your major is the easy way to good grades, if you show up with a killer GPA and MCAT, that won't matter.
 
If you want to get offended you're going to. I just think it's a waste of your time. Perfect analogy or not, my point was just that I don't really care if someone thinks math is boring and you shouldn't care if people think your major is easy. Even if adcoms think your major is the easy way to good grades, if you show up with a killer GPA and MCAT, that won't matter.

Let's clear up a couple of things though. I don't want to get offended, i don't know why you keep suggesting that. If I want to care that my major is being misrepresented as an easy way out and is now something people just jump into without any interest in it, I can do that. I appreciate your let's just stop caring argument, but that sort of thinking doesn't apply to everyone; some people think differently than you do.
 
Let's clear up a couple of things though. I don't want to get offended, i don't know why you keep suggesting that. If I want to care that my major is being misrepresented as an easy way out and is now something people just jump into without any interest in it, I can do that. I appreciate your let's just stop caring argument, but that sort of thinking doesn't apply to everyone; some people think differently than you do.

You say you don't want to get offended, but you ended your post with "officially triggered" in bold. This isn't just thinking differently. It's one thing to say that he shouldn't major in psych because you don't want uninterested people giving psych a bad name. It's another to get so worked up about it that you describe yourself as triggered.

But I don't want to argue with you.
 
You say you don't want to get offended, but you ended your post with "officially triggered" in bold. This isn't just thinking differently. It's one thing to say that he shouldn't major in psych because you don't want uninterested people giving psych a bad name. It's another to get so worked up about it that you describe yourself as triggered.

But I don't want to argue with you.

But that's what you've been doing this whole time, just arguing. So let me get this straight before I go... me stating that i'm triggered at the end of my post lead you to believe I want and/or actively seek to be offended? That's a statement with zero logic behind it and that's my cue to definitely leave this conversation.
 
But that's what you've been doing this whole time, just arguing. So let me get this straight before I go... me stating that i'm triggered at the end of my post lead you to believe I want and/or actively seek to be offended? That's a statement with zero logic behind it and that's my cue to definitely leave this conversation.

Actually, all I've done is say that I have experience with people saying insulting things about my major, and I've found it's not worth getting so worked up over. All you've done is tell me it's not the same and to stop telling you not to be triggered.

Like I said, I was just trying to empathize, but your responses are all combative and dramatic. I apologize if I triggered you.
 
I would have done engineering or Cs . My gpa would have hated me though.
 
You took the easy way out and you feel bad about it, what did you expect?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
But do you feel like you could have majored in cs or math w/ pre-med and still have gotten a decent GPA?
honestly I feel like I'm better at math than in bio (what I majored in)... not sure about cs though, since I've never taken any cs course, the field does seem interesting to me however
 
Dr.Kitty does bring up a very interesting point though about why people choose majors. It's not purely from an interest perspective but also from a compatibility-with-goals perspective. And for some it does involve doing something that is easier for their abilities or schedules. I will admit that one draw of neuroscience for me was its compatibility with the pre-med track. But then again, that's the point of an undergrad major: to prep you with skills that play a part of a career you want to pursue, directly-related or not.

Humanities in the general public's eye are considered "easy" majors. The real difficulty comes with putting them in practice with the analysis and investigation required, not to mention that grading-wise they can be difficult because of the subjectivity. As some people have mentioned here, those that find humanities classes hard for those reasons tend to not major in those subjects.

I've also noticed that there's criticism being pre-med in any major. In natural sciences there's the complaint that pre-meds are just doing them to look good for med schools, whereas in social sciences and humanities there's the complaint that pre-meds are doing them to stack their GPA's. It's inevitable based on the competitiveness and reputation of the med app process.

IMO, a major in college is what you make of it. Some people fail to see that (note those who automatically assume bio degree = more money and forget that it's equally important to apply the class knowledge towards building a potential career). As long as you understand that the major is a stepping stone to something long-term that you're actively seeking out, it really doesn't matter what you choose.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 users
But then again, that's the point of an undergrad major: to prep you with skills that play a part of a career you want to pursue, directly-related or not.

Thanks for this. I think what I'm getting caught up in is that, given the pre-medical requirements (courses, ECs, research), I have to choose a major that I feasibly can do, maybe not exactly the major that I want to do. And I just have to grit my teeth through the parts I don't like and enjoy the parts I do.
 
@numbersloth No problem. Gritting is applicable in any major, even if the amount of gritting is less for some people than others. As I said before, whichever major you choose, be aware of what your major requires and have a potential plan if medicine doesn't work out.

Another thing I didn't add is that I am not by any means dismissing interest as a factor for pursuing a major: you do need to be invested in your major to do the work in it. However, not everyone chooses their major right away because they didn't think they would major in it until after taking relevant classes, etc. So in many cases interest is built over time.
 
Delete this post please! For some reason mine duplicated.
 
I said to myself, "What is the most marketable science major that I can do well in, incase I do not get into school?" Biochem was the answer.
 
I think I would major in IT or CS if I could go back. Built my own computer and always wanted to learn coding. might do that in the next 6 months I have off school and working. #PCMasterRace
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I don't believe in sacrificing your passion and interests for a higher GPA.

I was a double major in two disciplines that definitely challenged me, and this did lower my GPA. But I was also motivated by my own interest in the material, and I didn't consider my college education to be only a means to getting into medical school, even if that was my goal.

Also, the notion that biology degrees are useless and will lead to joblessness if you don't get into medical school is fiction. I don't know why so many people believe it, but as a molecular biology major many of my peers have great jobs in many diverse fields.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
I don't believe in sacrificing your passion and interests for a higher GPA.

I was a double major in two disciplines that definitely challenged me, and this did lower my GPA. But I was also motivated by my own interest in the material, and I didn't consider my college education to be only a means to getting into medical school, even if that was my goal.

Also, the notion that biology degrees are useless and will lead to joblessness if you don't get into medical school is fiction. I don't know why so many people believe it, but as a molecular biology major many of my peers have great jobs in many diverse fields.

Agreed. I definitely would have had a higher GPA had I stuck with English. I enjoyed it, and it was much, much easier to maintain As. Math is hard, but it just fascinated me. I had regular moments in almost every course that just blew me away, and if it weren't for my math major, I wouldn't be involved in the research I'm in now. That makes it worth it to me.
 
Agreed. I definitely would have had a higher GPA had I stuck with English. I enjoyed it, and it was much, much easier to maintain As. Math is hard, but it just fascinated me. I had regular moments in almost every course that just blew me away, and if it weren't for my math major, I wouldn't be involved in the research I'm in now. That makes it worth it to me.
I love reading and writing, and enjoyed my English classes, but I found that my grades were sometimes frustratingly subjective. I've always liked math! Then again, I only went up to Calc III. I imagine my tune might change if I had to get into some of the really intense stuff.
 
I love reading and writing, and enjoyed my English classes, but I found that my grades were sometimes frustratingly subjective. I've always liked math! Then again, I only went up to Calc III. I imagine my tune might change if I had to get into some of the really intense stuff.

I'm good at writing BS and figuring out how people think. A lot of profs are pretty set in their beliefs and will grade more harshly papers that disagree with them. Once you figure out where they stand on things, you just play to their philosophies and you're set.

Can't do that with math lol. The upper division courses is actually where I fell in love. I enjoyed the calc series and diffeq, but abstract algebra, modeling, and real analysis were my favorite courses in undergrad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Top