Switching majors and not taking any science classes

[MidwestLovin]

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I've been debating with my parents if I should switch majors. The way I see it, I'm not going to get As in science classes here. At least, not painlessly. If I switched from being a premed/Biology major to a Business major and never touch a BCPM class unless it's an easy A and then take remaining prereqs at a post-bac, would that look fishy? If it doesn't look odd, would it be stupid? As much as I want to have a more painless end of ugrad, not taking classes that might help me in the future seems wasteful.

 

[Oso]

Just take the necessary science classes and learn to deal with a tough course load. How will you avoid science classes in med school? I'm not sure why you think premed should be 'painless'. It doesn't have to be painful, but it will require hard work and sacrifice at times. That's just how it is. And you don't need all A's, you just need good overall GPA's. Lastly, An unnecessary post bac would be a waste of time and money.

 

[MidwestLovin]

Just take the necessary science classes and learn to deal with a tough course load. How will you avoid science classes in med school? I'm not sure why you think premed should be 'painless'. It doesn't have to be painful, but it will require hard work and sacrifice at times. That's just how it is. And you don't need all A's, you just need good overall GPA's. Lastly, An unnecessary post bac would be a waste of time and money.

But I'm doing so bad. My GPA does need all As from now on.

 

[Oso]

But I'm doing so bad. My GPA does need all As from now on.

So then we need to fix the problem, not avoid it. You need to learn to do relatively well in undergrad science if you hope to excel in medical school.

Do you know why you're not doing well? Don't know how to study? Studying inefficiently? Not enough time put in?

Also, how bad are you doing? And what year in school are you in?

 

[WillburCobb]

Major in something in which you are truly interested/would and could use if med school doesn't pan out. Take the pre-reqs and any BCPM classes that interest you.

 

[WillburCobb]

Major in something in which you are truly interested/would and could use if med school doesn't pan out. Take the pre-reqs and any BCPM classes that interest you.

...and listen to teh bear @Oso

 

[bearded frog]

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[MidwestLovin]

Treat the cause not the symptom. If you're doing bad in school, what makes you think you won't do bad in medical school? You need to figure out how to achieve academically, and choosing easier courses is not the answer. In terms of what major, choose a major you enjoy and interests you so that you don't have a problem applying yourself to it.

And that's definitely Biology, but it's been hard for me to apply myself to anything, even laundry.

 

[MidwestLovin]

So then we need to fix the problem, not avoid it. You need to learn to do relatively well in undergrad science if you hope to excel in medical school.

Do you know why you're not doing well? Don't know how to study? Studying inefficiently? Not enough time put in?

Also, how bad are you doing? And what year in school are you in?

Not enough time put in and inefficiently. Sophomore, I do flight below average in a class full of premeds. I'm not sure exactly what my science GPA is but my overall is 3.3, not great considering all As have been non-Science

 

[bearded frog]

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[bearded frog]

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[MidwestLovin]

I did mediocre in undergrad, it wasn't until I graduated and did a boring job that I realized that I couldn't do that and my passion was medicine, and when I went back to post-bac my grades reflected the drive I had to do what I had to do to get there. Not saying you should take time off from school, but in the scheme of things, better to do something else, find that drive, and come back to excel instead of going through the motions and having to make up for it later when you're even deeper in the GPA hole.

I really do have the drive. I'm not saying I wouldn't sacrifice my free time or anything like that. I don't do anything but go to classes and study. I just think my university destroyed my confidence.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

If you don't care about time or money, the strategically smartest thing to do is major in something easy and then the easy post-bacc at some low rank state school.

 

[MidwestLovin]

If you don't care about time or money, the strategically smartest thing to do is major in something easy and then the easy post-bacc at some low rank state school.

If I continue premed activities, won't this be obvious?

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

If I continue premed activities, won't this be obvious?

Depends how smart you are with playing your cards. Switch to public health and you can do research, tutoring and volunteering. You'll only need to do the shadowing while doing your post-bacc. The transition from someone wanting to be a public health figure to medicine is a such a natural jump that very few people can say it was pre-planned and have the evidence for it.

 

[Goro]

You need to sit back and ask yourself if you really want to be a doctor. If you do, then you're going to have to earn it. There's some very good advice in this thread, so i hope you'll take it.

I've been debating with my parents if I should switch majors. The way I see it, I'm not going to get As in science classes here. At least, not painlessly. If I switched from being a premed/Biology major to a Business major and never touch a BCPM class unless it's an easy A and then take remaining prereqs at a post-bac, would that look fishy? If it doesn't look odd, would it be stupid? As much as I want to have a more painless end of ugrad, not taking classes that might help me in the future seems wasteful.

 

[Boolean]

If you can't manage introductory science courses, why do you believe you will be able to succeed in medical school (or even gaining admission)? The pre-meds you are up against are the people who you will be fighting with for a spot.

 

[musicalfeet]

If you don't have a good GPA now, what makes you think formal post-baccs would take the risk with you? Even if they did, your undergrad gpa will follow you everywhere. Also, the classes aren't "easy" even at a formal post bac. Plenty of undergrads don't do that great in the same classes I am in. If you were going to do an informal post bacc, even more things would be up to chance, and I don't see why you would do better in the postbacc vs college. I don't want to sound like I'm trying to be super mean or condescending with you--but a bad cgpa is a bad cgpa and it will follow you everywhere (I would know...I need all A's to raise my cgpa).

 

[Plecopotamus]

But I'm doing so bad. My GPA does need all As from now on.

What do you mean by "so bad"? Your GPA is a 3.3, and straight B+s in your science courses doesn't merit the same course of action as straight C's being offset by As in humanities courses.

 

[MidwestLovin]

What do you mean by "so bad"? Your GPA is a 3.3, and straight B+s in your science courses doesn't merit the same course of action as straight C's being offset by As in humanities courses.

I'm confused?

 

[MidwestLovin]

You need to sit back and ask yourself if you really want to be a doctor. If you do, then you're going to have to earn it. There's some very good advice in this thread, so i hope you'll take it.

I know this is terrible to say, but why can't I "earn it" later? Why can't I earn it at schools that make it easier to earn it?

 

[Plecopotamus]

I'm confused?

You said your GPA is "so bad" and you said your As aren't in science classes. However, you do not tell us whether that 3.3 reflects C's and D's in science classes being offset by A's in humanities courses or whether you're overwhelmingly really just getting a lot of B+'s in your science classes. The recommendations on how to proceed from here would be different in those two situations.

 

[Goro]

Hard UG is good. Medical school is harder than anything you're used to right now.

I know this is terrible to say, but why can't I "earn it" later? Why can't I earn it at schools that make it easier to earn it?

 

[optimistic3]

What everyone is trying to say is med school is going to be way harder than we know (I'm still an undergrad...) so if you aren't able to handle undergrad classes, you won't be able to handle med school classes. You need to take a step back and find out why you are not doing well. Are you depressed? Are you being distracted by other things? Are you not studying efficiently? Do you need tutoring? Try to think about what's going on here and then try to fix it before it gets worse. I don't think trying to "cheat the system" is the best way to go about this.

 

[Boolean]

What everyone is trying to say is med school is going to be way harder than we know (I'm still an undergrad...) so if you aren't able to handle undergrad classes, you won't be able to handle med school classes. You need to take a step back and find out why you are not doing well. Are you depressed? Are you being distracted by other things? Are you not studying efficiently? Do you need tutoring? Try to think about what's going on here and then try to fix it before it gets worse. I don't think trying to "cheat the system" is the best way to go about this.

I think we've been rather straightforward with saying this, but yes. If you're struggling through UG taking courses that are not even a drop in the pond, the ocean that is medical school will hit you like a tidal wave (assuming you can gain admission)

 

[MidwestLovin]

I'm not struggling with the content or the course. I'm struggling with getting a good grade. A professor might not mention something and then test you on it. Only the people who have seen the material or somehow knew to look it up will do well.

 

[Boolean]

I'm not struggling with the content or the course. I'm struggling with getting a good grade. A professor might not mention something and then test you on it. Only the people who have seen the material or somehow knew to look it up will do well.

Unfortunately in the eyes of many adcoms and the majority of the world, ones grade in a course is typically associated with their understanding of the material.

 

[MidwestLovin]

Unfortunately in the eyes of many adcoms and the majority of the world, ones grade in a course is typically associated with their understanding of the material.

Yup and that's why I want to do a postbac and in the meantime major in Business.

 

[Aerus]

Yup and that's why I want to do a postbac and in the meantime major in Business.

If that many students are able to catch the material and know it enough to do well on the exams that you end up doing badly, then it's on you. You're either foolishly convincing yourself to believe that you understand the material when you really don't or you're simply not trying hard enough or both. Med school will be a lot worse. It's better to find out that whether you can hack it or not now.

 

[mke520]

Yup and that's why I want to do a postbac and in the meantime major in Business.

i understand where you're coming from with trying to avoid difficult courses and risking not getting solid As in your science courses but this is in no way going to prepare you for the rigorous work you'll face in medical school. is it okay to major in business and then do your postbac science work somewhere else? sure, but you'll not only be wasting a lot of time and money but you won't be preparing yourself at all for medical school either. there is no undergraduate degree that is going to be harder or even close to what you'll be facing in medical school, so i say put the big boy pants on and hit the books hard now. i was a biology/pre-med major and my coursework was very rigorous taking cell biology/molecular/genetics/biochem/immunology/microbiology and many others which is only going to prepare me more for the rigorous work for medical school. i'm not saying you have to be a biology major but choosing the "easiest path" is in no way going to help you at all and if you can't manage a solid science GPA now then i'd say you need to up your effort and find out a way to get the grades you need to get. if you can't, then i guess you can go the long route your suggesting but i don't think anyone who has posted on this thread is in favor of that decision.

 

[lumpyduster]

If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.