Lost college junior, could use some guidance :)

[NYfromCommonsDrive]

I’ve been reading enough posts trying to find some advice that I figured I would just ask for some myself.

I’m currently a junior majoring in Sociology and minoring in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies (CAMS) at NYU. I started my time here as a premed, but ended up having an abysmal second semester (thanks to my own irresponsibility) during my freshman year. Because of that, I had to retake General Chemistry II, and by the end of my first semester of sophomore year, my prerequisites were looking like this:

General Chemistry 1: B-

General Chemistry 2 (first attempt): D

General Chemistry 2 (second attempt): B+

Principles of Biology 1: C

Calculus 1: C+

At this point, my college adviser had recommended that I think about switching programs, bluntly stating that ever if I continued down that pre-med track, I’d have a hard time getting in to medical school with my GPA. At that point, I had said okay, but started looking into post-bacc programs to make up for stuff after graduation. I became a sociology major, and have done a lot better in those courses. I also signed up for the mental health minor in order to supplement my non-pre-med path “medically”, so to speak.

Now, however, I’m starting to have serious doubts about everything after college. My cumulative GPA is currently at a 2.883 with one year to go, and even with great grades I doubt it’s going to soar up further. Also, I’m on full academic scholarship here, but I use federal loans to cover the abysmally high housing costs here at NYU, so my ability to cover a post-bacc program financially, and then go into more debt for medical school is seriously challenged. My parents are also currently in a tough financial spot, and I don’t want to aggravate it more by getting a lot of help from them.

Altogether, I’ve been in a really weird place. All of the circumstances surrounding my path have somewhat soured me on trying to become a doctor; yet, being a doctor is all I’ve ever wanted to do my whole life, and I’m now more undecided than I was when I started college. I’ve been thinking a lot about public health, but the concern is (and forgive me if it is a vain thing to say) that I wouldn’t be able to make the same amount of money I could as a physician in order to pay back loans, support my parents and other family, etc. Also (and this is another thing I know I shouldn’t care about) but my extended family all have high expectations for me in a medical career, and I really don’t want to let people down.

… Any advice? I appreciate it in advance!

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[RocuROMANium]

Your concerns are understandable, although money will not be anywhere near enough of a motivation factor to get you to, and through medical school. You need to take a lot of time to decide if medicine is the career you want, not need. I was in a similar position and it took me many months to make sure that medicine was what I wanted to do. It's easy to get caught up in the money and prestige that comes with being a doctor but you will most likely fail if those are the only things keeping you going. So, I had to make absolute sure that it was what I wanted to do because I loved the science involved and I loved helping people. You need to start making that decision NOW because the road to medicine is a long and difficult one to say the least. If it is the career you want then start working to amend your mistakes. If it isn't, then no big deal, figure out what your'e passionate about and go in that direction.

 

[stickgirl390]

Have you looked into careers similar to being a physician, but more suited for your situation? It may be worth while for you to look into becoming a PA, chiropractor, maybe podiatrist?