Is it worth pursuing a second major?

[medicine!]

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Hi!

I'm currently a second-year undergrad. Originally I planned to graduate one year early (due to dual-enrollment credits from high school) with one degree - Biology. However, my grades as of now are not looking good (cGPA: 3.37, sGPA: 3.16).

I also recently became interested in public health and want to pursue it for a degree. Doing this would push me back one year from my original plan. But this also means I will have spent 6 years for undergrad (4 years regular undergrad + 2 years of dual enrollment). I've thought of a few pros and cons of doing this:

Pros:

• more insight and knowledge
• more time and chance to raise my cGPA (but probably not sGPA since public health courses are not science)

Cons:

• time
• money

My questions are:
- Is it worth it to be in college for an "extra" year or should I just graduate and spend that year to strengthen my other activities (or doing a Master's if GPA is not as good)?
- Does it look bad to have spent so much time for undergrad?
- Are there any other pros and cons that I'm not yet seeing?

This has been in my mind for a while so I'd really appreciate some advice and guidance. Thank you in advance!

 

[Blanky]

MDs will not use Masters courses towards your GPA.
DO will use masters towards your GPA.
You should keep the Biology major and raise that sGPA. After you finish and graduate consider a post bac.
One extra year is not going to overcorrrct a 3.16 sGPA but it’s a start.

 

[Catalystik]

- Does it look bad to have spent so much time for undergrad?

No. But if you aren't going to prioritize raising that sGPA, be sure your additional coursework will make another career possible as a Plan B.

 

[Blanky]

That is a little too absolute
-MD schools will see your Grad GPA but it will not directly boost your UG GPA. It also typically little to no impact
-A few MD schools have formal or informal policies to consider later coursework as the "primary" GPA
-MPH however is one of the weakest degrees in terms of science and historically, does not hold much weight at all
-DO schools are more generous with regard to graduate work
-the OP would be better off with SMP or postbacc

You came in on fire today with come perfectly detailed responses!

 

[863168]

@medicine! Bad idea. First and foremost, adcoms hold the general opinion that an MPH is an oversaturated and watered down degree. Not crushing it with a 4.0 could potentially be seen as a con on an application and even a solid performance can be taken as neutral due to it often being used by other students as a means to an end.

Second, what are your motivations for doing a masters in public health? I noticed that when I graduated from my state program that academic recruiters were beginning to become more aggressive with enrolling students into masters programs in unrelated fields like emailing science majors about a dual science-masters in business degree. I can't imagine how aggressively they are targeting their student base now seeing as how I get emails repeatedly from spam bots in schools from both sides of the United States.

Third, take a personal inventory. If you are someone who can finish early, then why are you taking two steps back? Rushing into more schooling is often not the answer, there is something more critical that is holding you back in the present and by looking too much into the future you are shooting yourself in the foot in the here & now. My advice is to take a step back and really figure out how you're going to make it day to day and week to week in terms of homework and assignments instead of trying to game the system from a long term angle. If you are using the masters as a "reset option" for that sGPA then you should honestly take your time with undergrad because there is no excuse for not being able to perform especially if you are ready to get serious.

 

[Goro]

Hi!

I'm currently a second-year undergrad. Originally I planned to graduate one year early (due to dual-enrollment credits from high school) with one degree - Biology. However, my grades as of now are not looking good (cGPA: 3.37, sGPA: 3.16).

I also recently became interested in public health and want to pursue it for a degree. Doing this would push me back one year from my original plan. But this also means I will have spent 6 years for undergrad (4 years regular undergrad + 2 years of dual enrollment). I've thought of a few pros and cons of doing this:

Pros:

• more insight and knowledge
• more time and chance to raise my cGPA (but probably not sGPA since public health courses are not science)

Cons:

• time
• money

My questions are:
- Is it worth it to be in college for an "extra" year or should I just graduate and spend that year to strengthen my other activities (or doing a Master's if GPA is not as good)?
- Does it look bad to have spent so much time for undergrad?
- Are there any other pros and cons that I'm not yet seeing?

This has been in my mind for a while so I'd really appreciate some advice and guidance. Thank you in advance!

Adcoms don't care if you have a second major. We do care about htta low GPA.

Do it only if you're interested. Gaining skills for a career other than Medicine might be useful.