Not sure about this yet

[Alfrito]

Hi everyone, just joined these forums!

So I've been really lost on what I want to do. I'm currently a freshman psychology major at A&M University in Texas, and right now I think I want to do something within the field of psychiatry or psychology, but medical school sounds really taunting. My brother just finished medical school and is currently doing his residency as a neurosurgeon, and he keeps trying to discourage me from going to medical school to become a psychiatrist.

So I'm stuck between the decision of either trying for a PhD in clinical psychology or whether I should try to make it into medical school and try to become a psychiatrist.

My GPA for my first semester was a 2.31, but I'm doing significantly better this semester and have mostly A's.

Can I get an honest opinion of what I should do and what my chances are of really making it into the psychiatry field?

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[splik]

Getting into a PhD in clinical psychology is as competitive if not more than getting into medical school, considering there are fewer programs (for the PhD that is), and fewer places, and a large number of people vying for it with (near) perfect GPA and GRE scores, not to mention lots of work experience, research, and getting a master's degree etc. I don't think it should be a 'back up'. I think there are PsyD programs which are less competitive and less rigorous as you have to pay for them and they take many more candidates etc

No one can tell you what you can do or what your chances are. I guess by your GPA you enjoyed your first semester as a freshman! Just do as well as you can, do your pre-med requirements just in case, travel widely and do a JYA if you can, enjoy yourself (but not too much), meet lots of people, get involved in voluntary stuff (or paid if you need to that is interesting), do fun extracurriculars... don't let your brother discourage you but it is too early to be fixed on this career path or that.

 

[belle54321]

Hi everyone, just joined these forums!

So I've been really lost on what I want to do. I'm currently a freshman psychology major at A&M University in Texas, and right now I think I want to do something within the field of psychiatry or psychology, but medical school sounds really taunting. My brother just finished medical school and is currently doing his residency as a neurosurgeon, and he keeps trying to discourage me from going to medical school to become a psychiatrist.

So I'm stuck between the decision of either trying for a PhD in clinical psychology or whether I should try to make it into medical school and try to become a psychiatrist.

My GPA for my first semester was a 2.31, but I'm doing significantly better this semester and have mostly A's.

Can I get an honest opinion of what I should do and what my chances are of really making it into the psychiatry field?

Is your brother discouraging you from being a psychiatrist or going to medical school in general? And his reasons? Since neurosurgery is one of the most demanding residency out there, I am not sure if his views are not a little cloud with his experiences. And unfortunately, a lot of physicians still have biases against psychiatry.

I agree with splik's comment. At this point, I think you should definitely try to do your best in college. Take a wide range of subjects that interest you while taking the necessary sciences classes. Having a great GPA will allow you to get into grad schools of any kind. (yes, I am pointing out the obvious here).

Make sure you want to be a physician and not only a psychiatrist before you start medical school. In your first 2 years of medical school, you will get very little psychiatry exposure.

 

[whopper]

I hated medschool so I'm biased. I know people who didn't think it was that bad.

Your chances of making it into psychiatry are relatively good assuming you get into medical school first, and that there is no major changes by the time you apply. Things could change

GPA of 2.31. Ouch. You can overcome that, and I hold no personal judgment given that freshman year, first semester is a psychologically jaunting one for many, but it's a numbers game getting in and you definitely need to get over a 3.0 and even that is not a safe number.

 

[Alfrito]

Getting into a PhD in clinical psychology is as competitive if not more than getting into medical school, considering there are fewer programs (for the PhD that is), and fewer places, and a large number of people vying for it with (near) perfect GPA and GRE scores, not to mention lots of work experience, research, and getting a master's degree etc. I don't think it should be a 'back up'. I think there are PsyD programs which are less competitive and less rigorous as you have to pay for them and they take many more candidates etc

No one can tell you what you can do or what your chances are. I guess by your GPA you enjoyed your first semester as a freshman! Just do as well as you can, do your pre-med requirements just in case, travel widely and do a JYA if you can, enjoy yourself (but not too much), meet lots of people, get involved in voluntary stuff (or paid if you need to that is interesting), do fun extracurriculars... don't let your brother discourage you but it is too early to be fixed on this career path or that.

Can you tell me what a JYA is? And how can I become more involved in doing research or things like that?


Thanks for all the replies so far, everyone, they've been really helpful

 

[Bartelby]

No one can comment on your chances of making it into med school--- if your final GPA turned out to be 2.31 your chances would be basically 0%, but as others have mentioned having that GPA after one semester doesn't mean anything. You have more than enough time to get build a resume that would get you in (I would shoot for >3.5 both overall and science, and higher is better). So don't feel like you have ruined your chances or cannot do it at this point, you just have to work harder.

I also agree with splik: you don't have to be fixed to career path right now. Explore and see what you like. If you decide to enter the mental health fields then learn about the differences in practice and training between psychiatrists and psychologists and try to talk with some of each in person if you can. And I agree with belle on the neurosurgeon part. Medicine is hard work, but some surgical specialties (neurosurgery especially) go nuts with the hard work. If your brother is in residency and has spent the last 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, whatever years of his life working round the clock to achieve his goals he may well be burnt out by now. Your experience in psychiatry could differ a great deal from his in terms of work-life balance.