Dreadful major, senior year of college - finish or change?

<p>I would just finish the degree. Switching to a different major will probably not impact your career prospects very much.</p>

<p>I would finish the major since you’re almost done with it. I have a question - you say that your parents expect you to stay home and study for the MCATs. Do you want to go to medical school or do they want you to?</p>

<p>Do you think you can pass those 4 bio courses?</p>

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<p>Someone in the long “son is graduating; no job found yet” thread posted a report on the unemployment rate for grads for 2011 by major last summer or fall.</p>

<p>Unemployment rates for recent college graduates by major were featured in several prominent magazines recently. </p>

<p>However, these unemployment rates are best read in combination with starting salaries. Engineering majors may have unemployment rates in the same range as liberal arts majors, but their starting salary is almost twice that of a liberal arts major. That suggests that engineers can afford to hold out for qualified engineering position, while liberal arts majors just jump at any job that comes their way.</p>

<p>Do you have a link? I’m curious about 2012 numbers.</p>

<p>I looked around on Google but didn’t find anything recent.</p>

<p>How the freak do I get over these feelings of envy and remorse? :(</p>

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<p>Don’t take this personally, but this makes me feel REALLY hopeless.</p>

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I doubt that you are going to find 2012 numbers anytime soon. The 2012 graduates haven’t even finished graduating yet.</p>

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<p>You have three years of college under your belt and a relatively clear shot at a degree. About 30.4 percent of adults over 25 have four-year degrees (NY Times, Feb 23, 2012). So there are a lot of people that should envy you when you graduate.</p>

<p>When I feel envious of others, I look at what I have and always see that there are far more people that have less.</p>

<p>When I feel remorse over decisions past made, I get pragmatic. There’s nothing that I can do about the past, so make the best decisions for the future.</p>

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<p>Realize that these feelings don’t contribute to your moving forward with your life. You feel as if you’ve wasted 3-4 years of your life…if you dwell on these feelings of envy and remorse, then you’ll waste even more time.</p>

<p>If you can graduate with a bio degree that almost certainly means you at least passed organic chemistry. There are really not a lot of people who can make that claim.</p>

<p>My DD has a bio degree from a weeder style university, she took upper division bio classes her entire senior year and loved them. Those senior level classes were much smaller and much better. Choose classes that are of interest to you so you can have a chance to be successful.</p>

<p>I, too, would recommend committing to get the very best possible GPA senior year, you could head toward MD/DO depending on your final GPA & MCAT, or PT, PA, OT, speech path, etc. There are numerous health related grad schools that might choose you.</p>

<p>Stop comparing yourself to others and wishing you had made different choices, that just wastes your time. The most attractive grad school applicant is the one who truly knows what they want and who appears to have an engaged life- grades, scores, yes, but hobbies, interests, ECs, etc are also important to your application and more importantly to your having an interesting life. I am sorry you are so disappointed with the past three years, but you cannot redo them, so instead focus on how to get to a better place. Better for you, not for anyone else. Stop comparing.</p>

<p>Would you like to be something like a physician’s assistant?</p>

<p>Are you 20/21? You are young. I’ll give you different advice than everyone else. It is not too late to change your plans. It is stupid to actually keep on going with something that you hate. Major in what inspires you. Your life isn’t over, you don’t have to resign yourself to Biology if you hate it. It is ridiculous to think that the time to switch majors was in sophmore year. People change, and certainly kids. If you can afford it, switch your major and make yourself happy!!!</p>

<p>Thanks everyone.</p>

<p>If I hadn’t mentioned it already, I dealt with anxiety, depression, and digestive issues over the course of these past few years in addition to ADHD. No fun, and severely affected not just my productivity, but also my social life and involvement in activities.</p>

<p>Attitude adjustment needed on your part. Ignore what you called brown nosing et al- just learn the material for yourself, not the grade. You have two choices. Finish college with a degree in 4 years- and pick courses in Biology you most enjoy, have a can do attitude for them. Or plan on 5 years of college with a different major which you may or may not like. You likely will still find the same style of teaching and “brown nosing” required no matter which field you are in. The worst thing you can do at this point is to drop out. Do not even worry about grad school this year. Instead plan on finding a job- there are many where a biology major is useful but not directly related (see your school’s job center).</p>

<p>I’m periodically involved in hiring (either directly responsible for the search or provide my input in some capacity) and here’s my take on what I assume a biology major has/knows/can do:</p>

<p>I assume this means that this person
*can understand basic theories about a subject/topic if instructed
*has the capacity for conceptualization of ideas (not all biology is literal or visible to the eye)
*is able to handle data in some capacity in a meaningful way
*can grasp small details
*has some level of memorization skill
(etc, etc)</p>

<p>The wonderful thing about a college degree is that (hopefully!) it prepares you to use the critical thinking skills and approaches you learn in other contexts as well.</p>

<p>Recently I reviewed hundreds (yes literally hundreds) of applicants’ resumes and cover letters for an entry-level, no experience needed position. I was (and still am) much more concerned with someone’s capacity for learning something rather than a specific major (even if it’s more “directly applicable”) or they have some experience. In fact while this job has nothing to do with science, I might find a biology major to be someone who might be a candidate for the job based upon that fact.</p>

<p>A friend does a lot of hiring in her industry. She once told me that “double-majors with math” (who majored in ANY field alongside math) are her “golden apps.” They are the candidates who seem to outperform everyone else. Her field is unrelated to math/science/economics, but they have found that people who are able to cut it in a quantitative major have the ‘intrinsic skills’ to do the job well. </p>

<p>I think several majors are akin to that. No one “floats through” a biology major. Even if your GPA isn’t spectacular, you got through a series of rigorous courses designed to test your brainpower AND your ability to put your nose to the grindstone. Successfully graduating with a biology, chemistry, engineering (etc) degree almost always means you worked in college. I couldn’t say that about all majors…</p>

<p>I vote for finishing the bio degree.</p>

<p>I haven’t read the whole thread so I hope I’m not repeating someone’s post. While I would generally say complete your undergrad, this depends somewhat on what your next step is and whether you can pay for it without aid. If you think you will apply to an undergraduate program next (whether it’s for something like nursing, EMT/paramedic or to take required classes to shift gears), you are unlikely to get any financial aid if you already have a Bachelor’s degree. If you still have student loan eligibility, you can take those out but you will be ineligible for Pell and most school and state grants.</p>

<p>@ justmytwocents</p>

<p>It’s not a lab job, is it? If not, I feel a - little - more hopeful that someone would at least want me.</p>

<p>@ 2collegewego</p>

<p>Correct me if I’m wrong, but another undergraduate degree would pretty much be a waste anyway.</p>