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- Sep 8, 2017
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I spent many YEARS of my life in pre-pharmacy but in the end switched to computer science.
That switch was one of the best decisions of my life.
There are too many good things to list but mainly, I feel like I'm in control of my future in a way that I never felt in pre-pharmacy.
There's a lot I can say about the talk of saturation but it's mostly stuff you've already heard before. People were talking about it when I started pre-pharmacy and that was around 2012, it's only gotten worse and looks like it will continue to get worse.
Both on these forums and IRL, people told me that the job market was going to be rough but I persisted, every field has its problems right?
But, switching to a different field opened my eyes.
Yes, every field has its problems but I don't feel depressed about my future anymore.
I no longer worry about being reduced to a set of numbers (GPA, PCAT scores, etc.).
I no longer worry about whether I'm an international student, citizen, resident, etc.
I no longer worry about crazy huge student loans.
I no longer worry about being automated into irrelevance (at least not until we solve AI).
I do still worry about saturation, in fact, just as there was a proliferation in pharmacy schools, there has been a proliferation in coding bootcamps. A lot more people want to get into CS these days, kind of reminds me of what pre-pharmacy felt like in the very beginning.
I also worry about my age sometimes, I'm now older than most students and the tech industry has a preference towards younger people.
I had no intention of switching to computer science until after failing to get into my local pharmacy school, I decided to finish a degree in something so that I could apply to other schools. Computer science was my backup but within the first semester of it, it clicked with me so much more than anything I had ever learned in pre-pharmacy.
In the end, I would just advice anyone else that's seriously considering the pre-pharmacy route to also seriously consider at least one other field. Whatever you do in life, aim to be a master of your craft.
That switch was one of the best decisions of my life.
There are too many good things to list but mainly, I feel like I'm in control of my future in a way that I never felt in pre-pharmacy.
There's a lot I can say about the talk of saturation but it's mostly stuff you've already heard before. People were talking about it when I started pre-pharmacy and that was around 2012, it's only gotten worse and looks like it will continue to get worse.
Both on these forums and IRL, people told me that the job market was going to be rough but I persisted, every field has its problems right?
But, switching to a different field opened my eyes.
Yes, every field has its problems but I don't feel depressed about my future anymore.
I no longer worry about being reduced to a set of numbers (GPA, PCAT scores, etc.).
I no longer worry about whether I'm an international student, citizen, resident, etc.
I no longer worry about crazy huge student loans.
I no longer worry about being automated into irrelevance (at least not until we solve AI).
I do still worry about saturation, in fact, just as there was a proliferation in pharmacy schools, there has been a proliferation in coding bootcamps. A lot more people want to get into CS these days, kind of reminds me of what pre-pharmacy felt like in the very beginning.
I also worry about my age sometimes, I'm now older than most students and the tech industry has a preference towards younger people.
I had no intention of switching to computer science until after failing to get into my local pharmacy school, I decided to finish a degree in something so that I could apply to other schools. Computer science was my backup but within the first semester of it, it clicked with me so much more than anything I had ever learned in pre-pharmacy.
In the end, I would just advice anyone else that's seriously considering the pre-pharmacy route to also seriously consider at least one other field. Whatever you do in life, aim to be a master of your craft.
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