<p>I'm a sophomore at a high up but not top state school (UMD) on full scholarship. I entered as a Neurobiology and Physiology major with the full intent of going to med school. I was fully intent on adding English as a second degree. However, during the winter break of my senior year, I was hospitalized. I was going blind and only released from the hospital to go down to school for Spring semester. Due the medication I was on for this condition, as well as Crohn's disease (which is agrivated by high stress and other illness for me) I nixed the double degree idea. After a lot of consideration, I switched my major from Neuro-Phys to English. (It was honestly either switch, withdraw for the semester and have to possibly pay for my last semester, or stay and lose my scholarship) I continued with Pre-Med classes. Since then I've been considering that I a) don't want to spend 13 more years in school and b) with a 3.25 probably don't have the grades for med school even as a Hispanic female, given that due to undiagnosed ADD (I didn't study in high school, so didn't notice I couldn't.) I got a C in evolutionary bio my first semester and a C in orgo I my science GPA currently has a 2 in from of it.
I also realized that I would much rather being doing medical research. Apart from the longer lasting effects of a researchers work, I'm unsure if my body can take the stress of being a doctor.
I've continued to take at least 2 science classes a semester.
I am part of a completely undergraduate research team attempting to use filomicelles modified with membrane proteins to carry a drug into a T-cell and in turn across the Blood Brain Barrier. We will probably attempt to publish whether or not we are successful. It is likely I would be lead or second author on the paper. (I tend to be one of the main writers for the team)
I am pledging AX∑, the professional chemistry fraternity. (Pledge vote is this weekend but I will likely get in.)
I will have a recommendation from a associate professor who has won NSF awards for promising junior faculty in biomedical research. (Not sure how prestigious the award is on its own, but it came with a 400,000 dollar prize)
Apart from that I hope to do research in other labs.</p>
<p>But as an English major, have I screwed myself from getting into a Biology PhD program?
Is there anything else I should be doing to make myself competitive? (As I said I am a Hispanic Female (who technically fits the ADA definition of disability, though I've only requested services regarding abcenses from classes), so that, debate aside, can only help me in admissions, correct?</p>
<p>“I also realized that I would much rather being doing medical research. Apart from the longer lasting effects of a researchers work, I’m unsure if my body can take the stress of being a doctor.”</p>
<p>You probably want to do a bit more research if you think that working as a scientist is less stress than working as a physician. Physicians don’t compete annually to keep their jobs the way that scientists do when we apply for grants. Nearly every medical school graduate goes onto an internship and residency, effectively guaranteeing future employment. In contrast, only 1 in 5 postdocs end up in a professor position, so the stress of competition can be immense in the sciences. Scientists also have to constantly adapt to new technology, new ideas, new approaches and so on whereas physicians get really comfortable with just a handful of case types/medications. If you think that being a scientist will be low stress and somehow fit your lifestyle better than clinical medicine, you will be pretty let down.</p>
<p>"Since then I’ve been considering that I a) don’t want to spend 13 more years in school "
Umm, you definitely shouldn’t consider graduate school if as a sophomore in college you can’t stomach the idea of 13 years in training. Graduate school in the sciences lasts 5-7 years on average and people average about 4 years of postdoc before landing employment. Add that to your remaining couple of years of undergrad. </p>
<p>I don’t think you have “screwed yourself” in terms of being eligible for a Phd in the sciences because your GPA is 3.25. In fact, if you keep up the research and stop getting C’s every other semester or so, I think you would make a fine candidate for Phd programs.</p>
<p>A PhD takes 5 years (sometimes more) and is followed by several post doctoral positions (probably 5 years as well). If you are aiming for academia, I would strongly advise you do more research into the life of a scientist because it is very stressful. Depending on where you obtain a faculty position, a large chunk (or even all) of your salary is taken from the grants you are awarded, thus you spend a huge amount of time looking for and trying to obtain grants. Jobs are not easy to come by and it can be quite a struggle to reach a desirable position. Obviously, other avenues are available to you besides academia but just make sure you are applying with all of the facts. Do research on what else is out there for people with PhDs and make sure it is feasible for you to accomplish that. For example, people always mention science writing as an alternate career path, but how many jobs are there really in that field? Journalism is competitive too, so don’t just assume that because an option is available that it is easy to pursue.</p>
<p>As for medical school, you are in for 4 years and then do 3 years or more of residency (depending on the specialty, obviously) so you wouldn’t necessarily be in training/school for 13 years. The stress is different if you are a doctor versus scientist, and it makes sense that you do not want one kind over the other, but just realize that science tends to consume large chunks of your life just like an MD does.</p>
<p>Maybe I was unclear. The stress of being a doctor that I was talking about is more related to the emotional stress of it all. The work wasn’t what I’m talking about. As for the school, I was looking into specialties that generally do have 7 year residencies. I do know there is a lot of time involved, but I do know people who managed to continue to have a life while in grad school. And it’s not the same as a residency or being an intern where you are working 18 hour shifts and actually hold lives in your hands. It is a different type of stress. School stress doesn’t get to me unless there are other things going on. Money stress rarely does. It’s the emotional stress that does it.
I do know grad students and professors, and I’m aware of all of what you’re saying. It was the thought of the thirteen years of school and then still not being sure that I would be happy that was the main problem. I was pre-med but not looking forward to being a doctor as much as a lot of people I know.
I don’t know what journalism has to do with any of this. I understand that the field is competitive or else I would not have asked how to become a more competitive candidate.
But my question of whether or not i had screwed myself is more in the terms that my degree will be in English rather than a science.</p>
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<li><p>I mentioned the journalism thing as an aside just so you recognize that it’s competitive/stressful to be in academia but that other career paths are available to you (since I was not clear what type of stress you meant). However, I also wanted to mention that while these alternative paths are touted by schools, they aren’t always as feasible as they appear. It was an attempt to make it clear that yes, there are other paths available depending on the type of lifestyle you want.</p></li>
<li><p>There are a variety of factors that go into graduate school decisions, and how much your English degree influences that depends on how well you are doing in your science courses (and how many you’ve taken). HOWEVER, it varies greatly by school. Some explicitly state they want a degree in the sciences while others just want relevant coursework (which you have). There is also flexibility even after a school has stated that they want a specific requirement on their website. If you have already started looking at schools, you can always contact them to see what their requirements are.</p></li>
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<li><p>Alright, I understand. However UMD’s journalism program is one of the top in the country, and they’ve never shown it as an alternative for other majors. So that’s where I lost the connection.</p></li>
<li><p>I’m very slowly starting to look. The next step is kind of figuring out what schools offer the kind of program I want/are a little looser about their requirements.</p></li>
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