Quitting Pre-med?! help!!!

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misssoconfused

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Long story short, I've wanted to become a doctor since I was 5, got accepted into a 7-year BS/MD program, turned it down for an ivy league. and now I am a freshman, still new in the game, and I realize how much I don't like intro to biology (haven't taken bio since 9th grade). I'm currently at a C- (probably gunna withdraw from the class) and it simply does not interest me as much as nutrition/math/some chem-related stuff. My parents assume that I'm going to become a doctor and it would be devastating (/I'd probably kill myself) if I can't get a high-paying job to pay of my education loans asap. I shadowed many doctors, observed a few surgeries (HATED surgeries - the atmosphere, the smell, the blood) but I do love helping people and pediatrics was great. I honestly don't know where I would go if I wasn't premed anymore. Professor? Research? Education? Idk. Any advice guys!!! 🙁
 
Long story short, I've wanted to become a doctor since I was 5, got accepted into a 7-year BS/MD program, turned it down for an ivy league. and now I am a freshman, still new in the game, and I realize how much I don't like intro to biology (haven't taken bio since 9th grade). I'm currently at a C- (probably gunna withdraw from the class) and it simply does not interest me as much as nutrition/math/some chem-related stuff. My parents assume that I'm going to become a doctor and it would be devastating (/I'd probably kill myself) if I can't get a high-paying job to pay of my education loans asap. I shadowed many doctors, observed a few surgeries (HATED surgeries - the atmosphere, the smell, the blood) but I do love helping people and pediatrics was great. I honestly don't know where I would go if I wasn't premed anymore. Professor? Research? Education? Idk. Any advice guys!!! 🙁

Calm down a take a deep breath.

First, are you sure you're stuck at a C-? If that is possibly the highest grade you can get (including a 90+) then for sure drop the class.

As for Biology being interesting, don't sweat it. There are successful pre-meds that actually hate the sciences in general, but just love the idea of being a physician and the human body in general. Biology is too diverse of a subject and goes over a lot of things that aren't pertinent for most pre-meds (aside for a high grade and the MCAT).

Anyways, to make this short, only you can decide if you truly want to enter medicine or not. Don't let tiger parents or other influence you in your decision to become a doctor. Think for a sec, what would be the worst that can happen if you are no longer pre-med and doing something you see yourself doing successfully? At most, you're parents will disapprove, but they will get over it, I promise.

And for what you should go into, truthfully idk you so I don't know what job fits your interests.

Good luck and beware of the negativity you're sure to get in this thread.
 
Thank you for your nice response 🙂 I guess I just need to take time to figure out what I want to do but I hate not knowing/having a path. I enjoy medicine and helping people but there are things that I just don't want to go through, such as surgery, on-call, hospital rounds, and the 12 years of education.. but then again going on the PhD route wouldn't be much less
 
Why did you decline your BS/MD acceptance? das dum...
 
"if I can't get a high-paying job to pay of my education loans asap"

I hope you realize that these days, people are lucky to find A job, let alone a high-paying job, right out of college, especially not one that is going to let them pay off all their loans right away. Not to mention you're going to have to take on even more loans and debt on the path to becoming a doctor before you ever start making a real salary. This thread has some great thoughts on that subject:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=902855

You're a freshman, you still have time to decide. Your parents are not going to live your life, you are, so don't let them pressure you into something you don't want. Go into medicine because you want to, not because it's what you should do.
 
Please do not feel overwhelmed by all of this. It can feel super weird to have been on a very-well defined path for so long with very clear expectations and all of a sudden, you're not sure how you're supposed to cope.

So what if you don't like Biology? So what if you eventually decide pre-med isn't for you? What if you want to go into sociology instead? What if you decide that being a nutritionist seems to fit all your interests better than being a physician?

There's no one telling you that you MUST follow the pre-med course right now or ever in the future. The great news is that you're a freshman and you have so many opportunities to explore other things that feel completely right to you. If you try out a bunch of chem/math/nutrition ECs or classes or even some lab doing something cool and find you don't like them and you have this epiphany that really makes you want to go back to medicine to help kids in need, then you're welcome to resume the pre-med track then. Nothing. And I mean nothing is set in stone for you.

I go to a school that offers an 8 year BS/MD and have several friends who, as we near graduation, have suddenly decided that medical school isn't for them. One has decided he wants to be a curator in a museum studying artifacts as they relate to ancient history. Another has decided that while medicine is still awesome, our medical school doesn't offer the right type of program for him and he's willing to start all over with the pre-med track, MCAT and essays just for the chance to apply to other medical schools.

Your parents are well-intentioned and they do have your best interests at heart. But at this point in the game, their opinions and goals for you should not define your life. Sure they might throw a hissy fit. You might have yelling matches and they might not speak to you for a year. But they'll come around. And they might even surprise you.
 
Why did you decline your BS/MD acceptance? das dum...

+1

If you were so concerned about making your parents proud by becoming a doctor in the first place then why did you turn down a BS/MD program?


I won't criticize too much but at this point, I guess all you can do is move on and just continue to try to do your best in your pre-med courses and apply AGAIN
 
+1

If you were so concerned about making your parents proud by becoming a doctor in the first place then why did you turn down a BS/MD program?


I won't criticize too much but at this point, I guess all you can do is move on and just continue to try to do your best in your pre-med courses and apply AGAIN

Most BS/MD programs usually have high stats that need to be maintained. If its like the one my school offers, you need to keep up a 3.75 each semester so that C-/C would cost him/her .
 
Travel and/or study abroad for a year, learn a new language, reflect on the finer points of life, and then hit the "restart" button. Your grades will suck until you change your mindset, and travel will help you do that!
 
You have to crawl through a bunch of bull**** to get to where you want to be regardless of your career choice. My $0.02
 
Be a stay at home mom and volunteer. You love kids and get to help people.

There are lots of ways to help kids outside of medicine.
 
There's a lot of chemistry in pre-med. just get through the bio classes. Most med schools only require 2. Bring the c up to a b and move on. You have 1 more to go
 
Until you get to medical school... It's all biology for two years straight.
 
Most BS/MD programs usually have high stats that need to be maintained. If its like the one my school offers, you need to keep up a 3.75 each semester so that C-/C would cost him/her .

That'e the way it should be... One of my state schools requires a 3.4 and 30 MCAT by graduate to continue into their medical school...
 
That'e the way it should be... One of my state schools requires a 3.4 and 30 MCAT by graduate to continue into their medical school...

I'm not disagreeing with it, I'm just saying the grass isn't always greener. At least OP won't deal with potential heartbreak of losing it for doing poorly one semester.
 
True. Those would be some high stakes!!!
 
I have something of a soapbox about this kind of thing.

You're definitely not the first student to get thrust into academia with high expectations around you, both from yourself and from family. In fact, most high-performing students are bombarded with it constantly, and the majority get fooled into thinking that a high-paying or extremely competitive career is the way to be successful.

Don't think of life as a ladder -- it isn't. If you feel as strung out as you sound, take a step back and relax a little to take things in perspective. From what you describe, it sounds like nursing might be up your alley of interests, or even math teaching.

You can help people in plenty of lines of work, and you're not failing anyone by looking at other fields of interest.
 
It depends what part of bio doesn't interest you. If its cotyledons and field labs that don't interest you that's not a big deal. However, if your heart rate doesn't go up at the mention of collecting ducts and proximal tubules I would be more concerned.
 
It depends what part of bio doesn't interest you. If its cotyledons and field labs that don't interest you that's not a big deal. However, if your heart rate doesn't go up at the mention of collecting ducts and proximal tubules I would be more concerned.

Bro, the kidneys aren't exciting for everyone.
 
OP, hang in there! Undergrad is a major adjustment. I think almost every pre-med has experienced stress at some point in their college tenure and has also, at times, questioned their interest in science and medicine. I personally do not feel that a C- in a 3 credit first year pre-med course should be enough to turn you off of a lifelong career in medicine.

I always thought of the premedical prerequisites up to and including much of the MCAT as more of a right of passage than as courses/knowledge that I had to LOVE in order to confirm my goal of becoming a physician. I think that upper level courses like physiology, biochemistry, etc. may be where you fully realize your intest in medicine (For me, these classes were incredibly challenging but also a pleasure to take, and I think that says something). That said, for most people wishing to enter medicine, a deep interest in the intricacies of the human body and how things work at their deepest levels should be a common denominator--not in all cases, but in the majority. After all, in practice, doctors are much more than technicians, and delivering patient care requires a commitment to scientific knowledge. What it doesn't require however, in a retained knowledge of organic chemical reactions, photosynthesis, and fungal anatomy, which is why you should not become too jaded by the premedical curriculum.

The following I cannot stress enough: While I am sure your parents have your best interest at heart, and I know how rewarding it is to make my own parents proud, a career in medicine needs to be about you and your ambitions. At the end of the day, it will be you putting in 5-7+ hrs a day of MCAT studying, weekends in anatomy lab, and night call on clinical rotations. The other jobs you mentioned are great and will also bring you satisfaction. If you end up as a doctor, that is great! If not, also great--there are plenty other jobs where you can provide for your family, help others, and feel good about yourself. For now, I would say hang in there, don't rule anything out, follow new interests, figure out what YOU want.
 
This is about the worst decision I have ever heard....


And it sounds like the student took out big loans to go to her ivy. Those loans plus med school loans are going to make for a very indebted student.

BTW....as for fed student loans, do you start paying those back once you're in residency? or later?
 
And it sounds like the student took out big loans to go to her ivy. Those loans plus med school loans are going to make for a very indebted student.

BTW....as for fed student loans, do you start paying those back once you're in residency? or later?

After the 6 month grace period (6 months not being enrolled in at least 6 cr hours) all subsidized loans start compounding interest. So yes. Keep in mind with unsubsidized loans the interest is already compounding while the student is in school. I have a buddy who transferred to a big state school with no help from his parents whatsoever and will have huge sub/unsub loans to pay off after he finishes in 3 years or so. Interest rates are rumored to possibly go up in June.

Also for the OP, I remember there was a medical student on here who had issues with his intro level bio courses. He did not realize the red flag it had raised and found himself in medical school later on regretting his decision to pursue medicine. Obviously the intro courses are pretty broad with stuff, but if you find yourself not genuinely curious about things like physiology/disease you really need to reconsider things. Everyone is different, but sit back and truly decide if this path is for you.
 
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Why don't you just drop it and retake the class? You can change your major to whatever you like. Get all the med school pre reqs out of the way and you're golden.

By the time you need to decide if you want to go, you'll have another major and way more options than only med school if you decide you don't like it.

(I am assuming you're a bio major so correct me if I'm wrong)
 
Long story short, I've wanted to become a doctor since I was 5, got accepted into a 7-year BS/MD program, turned it down for an ivy league. and now I am a freshman, still new in the game, and I realize how much I don't like intro to biology (haven't taken bio since 9th grade). I'm currently at a C- (probably gunna withdraw from the class) and it simply does not interest me as much as nutrition/math/some chem-related stuff. My parents assume that I'm going to become a doctor and it would be devastating (/I'd probably kill myself) if I can't get a high-paying job to pay of my education loans asap. I shadowed many doctors, observed a few surgeries (HATED surgeries - the atmosphere, the smell, the blood) but I do love helping people and pediatrics was great. I honestly don't know where I would go if I wasn't premed anymore. Professor? Research? Education? Idk. Any advice guys!!! 🙁

I quit being Pre-med for a while too.

I think you should withdraw from the course (getting a C- doesn't help your future regardless of your career path) and then assess what went wrong.

Try to focus on how to improve your study strategies. Attend office hours or do whatever it takes to succeed.

Most importantly, don't think that the only option in life is to be a doctor. I think that would add an element of stress that you just don't need.

There are many downsides to the profession and there are many other careers out there. So know that your future is still very bright regardless of how you do.

Perspective is really great when considering grades. Alot of pre-meds view grades as the most important thing in life, but in all honesty they do not determine the most important things about you. What matters more is that you are happy and that you pursue something you enjoy.

A great piece of advice that worked for me was to imagine a job you would want to do for free. Then go pursue that (be it medicine or something else).

Pursuing true happiness in life is more important than anything else.
 
And it sounds like the student took out big loans to go to her ivy. Those loans plus med school loans are going to make for a very indebted student.

BTW....as for fed student loans, do you start paying those back once you're in residency? or later?

You can go into forbearance on those loans so you don't have to start paying until after residency. Interest keeps accruing though but residents are eligible to forbear their loans for the duration of residency.
 
Long story short, I've wanted to become a doctor since I was 5, got accepted into a 7-year BS/MD program, turned it down for an ivy league. and now I am a freshman, still new in the game, and I realize how much I don't like intro to biology (haven't taken bio since 9th grade). I'm currently at a C- (probably gunna withdraw from the class) and it simply does not interest me as much as nutrition/math/some chem-related stuff. My parents assume that I'm going to become a doctor and it would be devastating (/I'd probably kill myself) if I can't get a high-paying job to pay of my education loans asap. I shadowed many doctors, observed a few surgeries (HATED surgeries - the atmosphere, the smell, the blood) but I do love helping people and pediatrics was great. I honestly don't know where I would go if I wasn't premed anymore. Professor? Research? Education? Idk. Any advice guys!!! 🙁

Good thing all americans don't share your crippling entitlement - or 99% of this country will have killed themselves.

Advice: relax. Biology =/= medicine. It's only a pre-req. Suck it up, try to get a better grade (there's many things in life you aren't gonna want/like to do, and you'll still have to do them). Sounds like you have some fundamental questions, and they're worth considering. I.E if you don't like blood, medicine is probably not for you - peds bleed sometimes too. Don't like the smell? peds poop and vomit and sweat and get weird infections too.

If being pre-med doesn't end up working out for you, there are like thousands of careers out there (a lot of them involve helping people, if that's your thing or something). They probably won't pay as well as being a doctor, but most careers don't. A career is what you make of it. If you plan on sitting back and letting other people shape what your career will become while only doing things you "like" and "want" to do, it probably won't be a very good career.
 
Good thing all americans don't share your crippling entitlement - or 99% of this country will have killed themselves.

What Geebeejay was so thoughtfully trying to say, OP, is that this is absolutely not the end of the road for you.

I completely understand your stress, your fears, the feeling that you're totally helpless. As many kind posters above have already mentioned, we've all been there. Freshman year is a huge adjustment, and you may feel uprooted and vulnerable. But you have to remember that your health and well-being comes before grades or anything else. I'm sure your parents would agree. It should probably make sense to you that when your physical and emotional health improve, so will your grades, your perspectives, and your career outlook. Right now is not the time to be thinking about your debt -- it'll make you feel worse. Focus on trying to get back on your feet.

That said, you should really, I mean really, evaluate your interest in medicine. Remember that medicine =/= biology, although if you were to get into medical school you would be taking two years of biological courses before you start any clinical training. It is also worth considering that after medical school you'll go into a medical field of your interest, whatever that may be. Think about how you would handle medical school and whether or not you'd be happy doing medicine for the rest of your life. Also, don't automatically assume that researchers/professionals in the field of nutrition/chem/math don't get well paid. People who are truly passionate about their work, who have exceptional ideas contributing to their field, make big money. If you're good at something, you'll reap the rewards.
 
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