- Joined
- Apr 27, 2015
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
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Hey guys,
First off, thanks so much for taking the time to help me with my little dilemma.
For basically all my life I've told myself I wanted to be a doctor no matter what, but after going through high school I'm not so sure anymore. I suffered terribly through my AP Chem class because I lacked any passion for the subject and it was the hardest class I'd ever taken, and that scares me because so much of the prereqs involve chemistry. I'm absolutely dreading ochem. Additionally, I had relatively low interest in my AP Bio class, although the subject itself is pretty easy. But medicine and anatomy itself have always been something I'm passionate about, and I would love to be able to help others and make a strong impact on other lives like doctors do. If I were absolutely sure I wanted to do medicine, I'd go to Texas A&M (in-state tuition). But with my struggle and lack of interest in those sciences, I'm worried I've been romanticizing the medical profession to fit my idea of the perfect career.
On the other hand, I also have a strong interest in computer science. I've been coding as a hobby since I was a kid and I love computers, and AP comp sci is a breeze. Coding just comes naturally to me. I'd never considered it as a career until recently though, because I'd been so convinced I wanted to be a doctor. The high salary straight out of undergrad is also hard to give up when compared to the difficulty and length of med school and residency. But I'm worried I won't find that career path as personally fulfilling as being a doctor would.
I hope to figure all of that out during college when I can get real exposure to both fields. However, this brings my to my next dilemma: Cal or TAMU? The prestige of Cal's CS department is just so tempting, and if I do realize medicine is not my thing then I'll be in the perfect position to get a great CS education and possibly a job in Silicon Valley. If I were to take a few years off between undergrad and med school, I could keep a job in CS to save up. However, I'm also worried that Cal's grade deflation will basically force me to ditch medicine whether I want to keep it as an option or not. I'm hoping to major in CS (L&S) and do med school prereqs one at a time. I'm willing to work hard and study if I go there, but I don't know how much that will help my GPA or how it will affect my social life and college experience. And then there's the cost, ~$50k per year since I'm OOS. My parents say they are totally fine with paying for it and to not let finances prevent me from going where I want to, but how can I not worry about spending SO much money?? Especially if I have to worry about med school later? It might be worth it for CS, but for everything else, I just don't know. We visited Cal recently and while parts of the campus and city are a little shabby, I love the culture and students there, and I love the city of SF. I feel like I'd grow more going to Cal, since I'll be away from Texas, I'll be surrounded by intelligent people, and I heard Cal is like real life where they won't baby you. But... is it worth the cost and risk of a bad GPA?
And then there's TAMU, which is the obvious choice if I were totally sure I wanted to do medicine. I won't have nearly the same difficulty of getting a high GPA there, plus there's the med school nearby. The biggest thing is the cheaper cost, which would be ~$20k for in state. But the CS department there is nowhere near the same caliber as Cal's, and if I realized medicine isn't for me then I'd basically thrown away the chance to get a Cal CS degree. I don't even know if I can do CS at TAMU since it's in the College of Engineering and I was accepted as a Biomedical Sciences major. The conservativeness there (I'm very liberal) and College Station just don't float my boat, at all. I don't think I'd hate it there, but I don't see myself thriving there like I think I would at Cal. I just know that I'll have this thought in the back of my head: "What if I'd gone to Cal?" But it's so much cheaper!!
So basically:
UC Berkeley
Pros
Great CS department
Berkeley/SF
Love campus and culture
Cons
Expensive!!!
Grade deflation/competition
No med school
TAMU
Pros
Cheaper!!
Medical school
Not as much competition/Higher GPA
Cons
College Station
Not as great CS
Don't like the campus nearly as much
First off, thanks so much for taking the time to help me with my little dilemma.
For basically all my life I've told myself I wanted to be a doctor no matter what, but after going through high school I'm not so sure anymore. I suffered terribly through my AP Chem class because I lacked any passion for the subject and it was the hardest class I'd ever taken, and that scares me because so much of the prereqs involve chemistry. I'm absolutely dreading ochem. Additionally, I had relatively low interest in my AP Bio class, although the subject itself is pretty easy. But medicine and anatomy itself have always been something I'm passionate about, and I would love to be able to help others and make a strong impact on other lives like doctors do. If I were absolutely sure I wanted to do medicine, I'd go to Texas A&M (in-state tuition). But with my struggle and lack of interest in those sciences, I'm worried I've been romanticizing the medical profession to fit my idea of the perfect career.
On the other hand, I also have a strong interest in computer science. I've been coding as a hobby since I was a kid and I love computers, and AP comp sci is a breeze. Coding just comes naturally to me. I'd never considered it as a career until recently though, because I'd been so convinced I wanted to be a doctor. The high salary straight out of undergrad is also hard to give up when compared to the difficulty and length of med school and residency. But I'm worried I won't find that career path as personally fulfilling as being a doctor would.
I hope to figure all of that out during college when I can get real exposure to both fields. However, this brings my to my next dilemma: Cal or TAMU? The prestige of Cal's CS department is just so tempting, and if I do realize medicine is not my thing then I'll be in the perfect position to get a great CS education and possibly a job in Silicon Valley. If I were to take a few years off between undergrad and med school, I could keep a job in CS to save up. However, I'm also worried that Cal's grade deflation will basically force me to ditch medicine whether I want to keep it as an option or not. I'm hoping to major in CS (L&S) and do med school prereqs one at a time. I'm willing to work hard and study if I go there, but I don't know how much that will help my GPA or how it will affect my social life and college experience. And then there's the cost, ~$50k per year since I'm OOS. My parents say they are totally fine with paying for it and to not let finances prevent me from going where I want to, but how can I not worry about spending SO much money?? Especially if I have to worry about med school later? It might be worth it for CS, but for everything else, I just don't know. We visited Cal recently and while parts of the campus and city are a little shabby, I love the culture and students there, and I love the city of SF. I feel like I'd grow more going to Cal, since I'll be away from Texas, I'll be surrounded by intelligent people, and I heard Cal is like real life where they won't baby you. But... is it worth the cost and risk of a bad GPA?
And then there's TAMU, which is the obvious choice if I were totally sure I wanted to do medicine. I won't have nearly the same difficulty of getting a high GPA there, plus there's the med school nearby. The biggest thing is the cheaper cost, which would be ~$20k for in state. But the CS department there is nowhere near the same caliber as Cal's, and if I realized medicine isn't for me then I'd basically thrown away the chance to get a Cal CS degree. I don't even know if I can do CS at TAMU since it's in the College of Engineering and I was accepted as a Biomedical Sciences major. The conservativeness there (I'm very liberal) and College Station just don't float my boat, at all. I don't think I'd hate it there, but I don't see myself thriving there like I think I would at Cal. I just know that I'll have this thought in the back of my head: "What if I'd gone to Cal?" But it's so much cheaper!!
So basically:
UC Berkeley
Pros
Great CS department
Berkeley/SF
Love campus and culture
Cons
Expensive!!!
Grade deflation/competition
No med school
TAMU
Pros
Cheaper!!
Medical school
Not as much competition/Higher GPA
Cons
College Station
Not as great CS
Don't like the campus nearly as much