<p>Yea i'm afraid.
Afraid of what i will be in the future. I'm not sure what i want to be yet. I put myself on a track to a secure, easy life going to business school. I just finished my first semester of business college in a private institution. But, maybe i'm being a little to ambitious thinking about transferring to another college in my university because i feel business not right for me anymore. It's interesting and all but sitting in a office crunching numbers suck. How will my credits transfer, will i now be a semester behind? Maybe i should stick to this until sophomore year. I don't know, not much places to turn to buy myself but im lost.</p>
<p>At many universities, with good planning, you can complete the pre-med requirements while also majoring in business.</p>
<p>It is not necessary to major in "pre-med" (which most of the top schools don't offer anyway) or biology to qualify for medical school. You can major in anything you want, but you have to take a certain group of courses (mostly in science) and then take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). You also have to have a VERY high GPA, especially in science courses.</p>
<p>Your college probably has pre-med advisors. Talk to them as soon as Winter Break ends about how to plan your schedule.</p>
<p>Two points:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If you're sure business isn't right for you, the longer you wait, the more difficult it will be to change.</p></li>
<li><p>Every school's requirements are different, so better to speak with someone knowledgeable at your school to get specifics, rather than get the general answers you may receive here.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Go talk to someone in your school's premed advising department. There aren't <em>that many</em> courses you have to take for premed, but you do have a couple handful of sciences that probably aren't required for a business major. I have to say, a business major and a doctor.... hmmmm. That might be a good combo.<br>
I'm a mom, so I'll ask you the same question and give you the same challenge as I give my own kids. Do you really deep down in your heart want to work with people, do you want to heal, do you want to interface, lay hands on, devote your entire life to helping, healing, PEOPLE. I don't think the world needs more people who want to be doctors to make big money. Just my opinion.
Best wishes, you are asking the right questions!</p>
<p>1989 - Lots of people do undergrad double majors and still finish in four years. So go for it. Just schedule carefully. Good luck!</p>
<p>Finishing in four years is realistic, even if you do the pre-med requirements on top of an unrelated major.</p>
<p>What may not be realistic, however, is to expect to be able to start medical school (assuming you have the credentials to be admitted) immediately after finishing college. </p>
<p>It's a matter of timing. Those students who know they are pre-med from the beginning start taking the necessary science courses as freshmen. They are therefore ready to take the MCAT as juniors, which allows them to apply to medical school as seniors. You would start taking the science courses as a sophomore and probably wouldn't be ready to take the MCAT until your senior year. Thus, you would probably apply for medical school after you graduate from college, and work for a year or two before attending (which is a common thing to do anyway).</p>
<p>D has a friend she met this first semester of her freshman year who is doing exactly what Marian said - majoring in business and taking the pre-med prereqs. I thought it was a very smart thing to do IF you like business. H is a physician and I can tell you that in his day (things might be different now) medical school provided NO preparation in how to run a medical practice, billing, insurance filing, etc. etc. In fact, someone on another thread thought that medical schools found applicants who majored in something other than the usual biology, chemistry, biochemistry, etc. very interesting. The thread listed below isn't exactly your dilemma, but Princess ND (from the Notre Dame forum) was an anthropology major and was VERY successful in her medical school admissions.</p>
<p>1989 - If you think "sitting in an office crunching numbers sucks", remember that there are plenty of things business majors do. If you like working with people or being persuasive, you can go into sales. Good writing and communications skills can lend themselves to a fun PR job. Advertising and marketing are other options that don't typically "crunch numbers" all day. Some of these jobs won't necessarily lead to the "secure easy life" that you mentioned, but they are less numbers-involved than accounting or finance.</p>
<p>If it's truly medicine that you're interested in, first talk to a pre-med or sciences advisor. Maybe some of the classes you've taken count towards general education requirements and you won't be far behind. Perhaps with a few summer and/or winter classes you can catch up easily. If you're going to have to stick around an extra year and your mom is strongly against it, you could offer to pay the difference yourself. Or, like everyone else said, stick with business, take a few extra science classes, and study up for the MCAT.</p>
<p>"Sitting in an office crunching numbers" is not what business is about, so before you switch, make sure you know what you're leaving behind. It takes business skills to run a non-profit, to run a hospital, to start a company of any kind, to manage a university, to keep a theater in the black, to assist governments in creating the infrastructure to support financial markets...in short, business is one of the most versatile majors there is and, when combined with an expertise in another area, one of the most powerful. Sure, do the pre-med stuff, but know that even doctors have to understand the power of supply and demand, the requirements of running a business and how to manage people effectively in order to be successful in their fields. </p>
<p>So yes, talk to your schools pre-med advisors. But also talk to your business professors about your concerns and perhaps they can show you what drew them into their fields-and it wasn't "sitting in an office crunching numbers."</p>
<p>The only good reason switching to premed is if really, really sure you want to be a doctor. If you just think business isn't for you -- go and try variety of different classes, ant find something you'd like to learn.</p>
<p>Being a business major and applying to medical school can be tricky because med schools generally don't like vocational majors (ie. finance, nursing). I think it can be done, but I'm not sure how I'd go about handling it. You could try the CC Pre-med forum here for better advice.</p>
<p>I guess the first question you should ask yourself is "how am I doing in the pre med classes?" How's your organic chemisty and bio? It's fine to change majors but make sure your switch is really something you can do....</p>
<p>My oldest is now doing the premed requirements but also sticking with his business major. We figure if he doesn't get into med school he's just back where he started, no harm no foul. </p>
<p>Others who have posted this are correct: it takes REALLY CAREFUL PLANNING to accomplish the business and premed requirements within 4 years, expecially if you didn't take chemistry your freshman year, like my son didn't.</p>
<p>I know several children of friends who have done post-grad programs for those who decided late--sometimes after graduating--that they wanted to apply to medical school. Many such programs seems to be highly prestigious and students have very high rates of med school acceptance.</p>
<p>Go for it- a physician mom here. The worst thing that can happen is that you discover you are not competitive/ dislike the premed required courses and have some learning that is nonessential for your future occupation. The best thing is that you will not let opportunities pass you by just because you had ideas from high school and will not have regrets in future years wondering what if...</p>
<p>If you think you want to do it, get the info, speak to some pre-med advisers, then if you still think it's for you, go for it.</p>
<p>If you're still unsure, you could do what my cousin did - he didn't decide he wanted to be a doctor until 4th year of his CS degree. So he took an extra semester after graduation, did the med school prereqs he hadn't yet finished (OChem, MolBio), and is now in med school.</p>
<p>Be sure you want to be a doctor though. It's a ton of work, and unless you either really like medicine or really like helping people, it may not be good for you.</p>
<p>My brother, way back when, wanted to be a doctor but was daunted by the work ahead. Instead, he decided on engineering (yeah, not exactly easy either) but after one semester, he decided to switch and concentrate on pre-med courses. He has never regretted it. </p>
<p>I think you should go with what you think is right for you, regardless of the seeming work up ahead. Nothing is worse than knowing you are settling for less than what you really want - but then again, you have to truly believe that is what you want. Best of luck; this is not an easy choice.</p>