My Sticky Situation

[dancingdoctor]

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Im entering my 4th year (though Im still classified as a junior) and currently as a spanish major. I figure that I can still graduate with about a 3.5 cumulative GPA here at my *current institution only*. However, I transferred from a university where I completely screwed up!; thus, combining the new and old university gpas would put me to around a 2.9/3.0 cumulative gpa. The most shameful part however is my science GPA. Ive taken about 2/3 prereqs already and hold a dreadful GPA of about 1.7 (new and old university combined)

So anyway, I suppose I have two questions:

Should I change my major to Biology and thus I'd be able to take more science courses (beyond just prereqs) to raise the science GPA? Perhaps raise it to around a 2.5 Finish in about 3-4 semesters. And then apply as an "academic enhancer" to a post-bacc?

OR

Keep the spanish major and keep the science GPA as is. Finish in about 2 semesters. Not finish my med prereqs and perhaps apply as a "career changer"? ...are there any "career changer" programs that accept applicants who've completed many, but not all of the basic prereqs?

-Stuck in a Muck! 🙁

 

[dancingdoctor]

I'm personally leaning towards the first option, after some thought..unless you all can convince me otherwise! (which by all means, Id love to hear some input)

 

[emeraldsky]

Hi DancingDoctor - love your log-in name by the way =)
Since you are a rising senior, you still have time. I would suggest you look into the specific programs and specific schools that interest you. I wanted to apply to Columbia post-bacc and they told me I had taken too many courses to qualify for their program. I was really bummed. I hope you can benefit from what I learned from my mistake- You don't want to have your options closed out for taking "too many" courses or too few. Email post-bacc admissions and ask them all your questions so you can get the most truthful answer.
If you really love your spanish major, you should stick with it! Med schools nowadays are really going for people who are more well-rounded and open-minded. And knowing spanish to such an advanced level will really help you get a job anywhere as spanish is pretty much the most spoken language in a hospital other than english (although it varies per hospital).
And don't quote me on this because I'm not sure... but I think if you actually were to switch to a bio major, some schools might expect you to have done better than a 2.5. I think as a Spanish major you could claim you were just more interested in that at the time and then decided to wait until after you finished your spanish major to totally focus on medicine.
And really again I emphasize emailing the post-bacc admissions. Only they can give you the most honest answers. You might even email them and say, I know your program says academic enhancer... but can I apply as a career changer. As far as I understand it, that description isn't usually a rigid one. And just because you are changing careers doesn't mean you don't need academic enhancement. I don't think they're mutually exclusive. Best of luck to you!