<p>Soarer, not at all. It depends on what you want. If you want to go into nursing, you would be pursuing an undergrad degree. If you wanted to go into speech path, you would either need an undergrad degree or probably additional undergrad coursework. The same is true for programs like xray tech, ultrasound, nuclear med and probably respiratory therapy. If, however, you decide to go to chiropractic/ dental/ pharmacy school, then yes, another undergrad would be useless. I just want to make sure you have all the info before you make your decision.</p>
<p>I’m a bit confused. You say the major you are interested is environmental geo-science, and you want to go into a health profession. Are you truly interested in environmental geo-science, but are choosing a health profession because you think it’s more lucrative, or do you want to be in a medical profession. If that’s the case, why the environmental geo-science bit?
I think you need some career counseling and some deep thinking about what it is you really want to do. Without that, everything is a waste and ten years from now you will be saying “I wish I did x.”</p>
<p>You only need 4 classes, and you’re a senior, so I think you should finish the major. Also, you could still go into business with a non-related major.</p>
<p>I was a history major in undergrad, and I’m working in business operations. Weird, I know.</p>
<p>Sorry you hate your major! If you only have 4 bio courses to take, it seems your schedule has room for other courses. What else is of interest? Is there a minor you could finish (even if it requires an extra class or two) that would add to your employability outside of the lab? Do you have any math or stats courses already? Computational biology is supposedly a growing field. </p>
<p>If you had another major in mind (bio-medical engineering, physics or even economics) and could finish up with just one extra year, it might make sense to switch. But since you seem pretty unsure, it may make more sense to just finish, find some work, and then figure out what you want to do in terms of grad school or even another undergraduate degree. </p>
<p>Good luck</p>
<p>Finish bio. Take some business classes to see if you like them. If so, then look for jobs in the business side of health-related fields such as
- Hospital business administration
- Health consulting firm
- Pharmaceutical firm</p>
<p>Next semester, I’m taking two bio classes, physics (for pre-med), and philosophy (required core), by the way.</p>
<p>The philosophy can’t simply be taken next summer, since the core classes have to be taken at my college only, and the two required courses are not offered during the summer.</p>
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<p>I would like to go into a health profession because I enjoy helping people, problem-solving, working in terms of “systems”, and long-term stability.</p>
<p>I considered environmental geoscience because:</p>
<ul>
<li>I am interested in the effects of environmental issues on human health</li>
<li>I simply enjoy learning about environmental issues</li>
<li>I wouldn’t be “just another bio major” on applications (as far as I know, a biology major is a DISADVANTAGE on medical school applications because there are too many…)</li>
</ul>
<p>Soarer, there are lots of professions which involve helping people, problem solving, etc.</p>
<p>If this is your only motivation for wanting to go to med school, then I think your heart is sending your brain a message (or maybe the other way around.) I.e. Hating bio, struggling with the pre-requisites, depressed, etc.</p>
<p>You are obviously smart and talented. Why not relieve some of the pressure on yourself and just concede, “I am going to finish my degree in biology and then figure out the next step” rather than continuing to plan around med school? </p>
<p>Talk to a couple of physicians. Virtually none of them under the age of 70 consider medicine a long term stable career. It is a calling for sure- and most of them couldn’t see themselves doing anything else- but stability (if you mean financial, career prospects, owning your own destiny) went away 10 years ago and is not coming back.</p>
<p>Finish your biology degree. So many employers don’t care what type of degree you have - just that you have a degree. You could work in some type of business where biology would be an asset - a pharmaceutical sales rep for example or an insurance underwriter. My current position is totally different than anything I studied in school, which was nursing by the way, and my employer doesn’t care. I needed to have a degree to get hired in my position and it really didn’t matter in what. It is the same for so many different types of companies. Unless you are studying for some very specific type of career, many employers want to see that you were able to handle a college courseload and graduate, and they will train you on the job for their specific position. My recommendation is to finish biology and go out and look for a job. Keep your job search open and wide and something may pop up that is very interesting to you that doesn’t require any specific type of degree. BTW, where do all these liberal arts major without any specific marketable skills get jobs? In jobs that don’t require a specific degree. You can find these jobs also with a biology degree. After you are out and working at something you find that you enjoy, it is never too late to go back and take classes to learn something more specific.</p>
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<p>That is incorrect. (Yes, there are plenty of bio majors applying to med school, but those with a 3.7+ get accepted. Just as those philosophy majors with a 3.7 science gpa get accepted.)</p>
<p>But more importantly, it is high time for a reality check. You need to forget about med school for right now. With a <3.0 sgpa, you have zero chance at an allopathic med school, and not much better of a chance at a osteopathic med school. (MD schools’ matriculants average a 3.67 gpa, and for DO’s it’s ~3.5; a <3.0 is just not competitive.)</p>
<p>Thus, my recommendation would be to NOT take physics, unless your bio major requires it.</p>
<p>Graduate. Get a job. If you still feel the urge for med school, take some science classes at a local college. One-by-one. Earn A’s. When your sgpa gets over a 3.0, you will have a shot at an SMP, where you will have to earn A’s. </p>
<p>btw: if you are interested in environmental health, look into MPH programs.</p>
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<p>They don’t…</p>
<p>I’m still not feeling much more hopeful. :(</p>
<p>I continue to feel like a terrible, terrible person, even though I did nothing wrong in particular, and much of it was due to health problems.</p>
<p>Sorry, just had to rant.</p>
<p>I still have faith. :)</p>
<p>Being a biology major in med school is not a disadvantage at all. The main concerns are: MCAT scores, overall GPA, GPA in your science courses. If you are going for an MD/PhD, they are also looking for research experience and at the interview evidence that you understood what you were working on. (Surprising how many students work in labs without having a clue about what they were working on.) </p>
<p>If your GPA doesn’t support getting into Med School it seems silly to take a course only for Med School. (If you like Physics ignore this, but my experience with physics was that it would have been a lot more enjoyable if the class hadn’t been full of pre-meds and that was 35 years ago.) Why not set more realistic goals?</p>
<p>"I continue to feel like a terrible, terrible person, even though I did nothing wrong in particular, and much of it was due to health problems. " </p>
<p>Don’t feel like a terrible person. You’ve had some bad luck with health problems, but now you just need to move on. Last week some great people (mostly young) from CO had some very bad luck being at the wrong theater at the wrong time. Their lives are over. Yours is not. Hang in there!</p>
<p>We are just wrapping up our summer intern program at my office, and I went through their resumes the other day out of curiosity. Most of these interns were being trained to do what is actually my full-time professional job, and if they did well here they would probably very likely be looked at favorably if they were to apply for full time positions, imho. I see majors in communication, economics, health administration, business, marketing, human biology, divinity, statistis, spanish language, accounting, and athletic training. All these different backgrounds for kids in the same job. In many fields, they really don’t care what your degree is in. It is easier when job hunting, in some ways, if you have a specific degree for a specific job, but if you have the skills to market yourself it is not the end of the world to not have that specific career track set in stone.</p>
<p>I have a political science degree. It’s one of those degrees where, unless you’re talking government, a lot of people would say I have “no specific skills.” But if you want to interview me for a job, I’ll convince you otherwise. That’s why I have a job.</p>
<p>There comes a point where you just have to make a decision, do it, and get it over with so you can move on. What you do in college isn’t the end of the story, it’s the beginning-- as cliched as that may sound. Get the degree, just about any degree, and you’ll be okay.</p>
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<p>You feel terrible because you can’t let go of the med school dream. But unfortunately, you must accept that med school ain’t happenin’ any time soon. Time to start working on Plan B.</p>
<p>Your gpa is a like a tattoo – it’s permanent. Time to focus on doing the best that you can with your last year left. Take the 4 required bio courses, and find some easy electives. BC has plenty if you know where to look (peps).</p>
<p>"BTW, where do all these liberal arts major without any specific marketable skills get jobs?
They don’t… "</p>
<p>You are incorrect. I am willing to bet that virtually every grown up you know except for your doctor, dentist, and college professors majored in “something” and now manage to pay their mortgage and put food on the table. I majored in Ancient History and run a large recruiting department for a multinational corporation. One of our former CEO’s majored in Renaissance History. Our General Counsel was a French major. The head of labor relations studied political science.</p>
<p>I have neighbors and friends who studied musicology, sociology, Latin American Studies, urban planning, literature, philosophy, psychology, Classics, and a host of other cool things. They all have jobs. They all seem to like or love what they do.</p>
<p>I know young grads (ages 23-30) who work at think tanks, in state and federal government as policy analysts, for lobbying firms; I know new grads who got jobs in marketing and social media, assistant producers for news programs (local, cable and national); financial analysts for insurance companies and “sustainability” analysts for green energy companies. A neighbor runs a company which connects industrial surplus goods and materials with non-profits who either recycle or re-use the material. She majored in anthropology but took an accounting class before she graduated.</p>
<p>You can either be defeatist about what’s taken place and decide that you’ll be someone who will be forever scarred by not going to med school, or be the champion of your own success going forward. Go be a bio major who gets hired by your Congressman to evaluate pending health care legislation. Or gets hired by an insurance company as a claims rep… working your way up to a role where you’re helping to figure out which treatment protocols get covered and which ones don’t. Or gets hired by a teaching hospital to recruit patients for clinical trials. Or works for one of the big pharma or agricultural processing companies in PR or Investor Relations. (They need people who write well and can understand the basic science and translate it into everyday language.)</p>
<p>Without doing any research at all I can think of 20 things you could do. So stop pining over the last three years and get moving.</p>
<p>Life is not like a video game - you don’t go around collecting gold coins (degrees, classes finished, majors, whatever) and automatically go up to the next level (get a job, get into grad school, etc).</p>
<p>I just skimmed this thread, but if you are seriously looking at medical school- there are Post- bac programs. They boost your GPA and also are a chance to show med schools how prepared you are.</p>
<p>Also, I know a girl who didn’t like bio but still had a bio major. She got her masters in Public Health and works for the government.</p>