Hello I am a end junior year student who transferred. Me nor my family have never been to a US university and I took running start (I was told what classes I should take and did not understand credits etc ). I was aiming for medical student but as soon as I entered I had to choose a major. Unlike my home country which has medical school as an undergraduate the us does not so I took medical anthropology as my advisor suggested. I am currently trying to do prerequisites for medical school and graduate medical anthropology major. I am bad at chemistry and gets stressed but to achieve my goal I have to overcome it. I am at a point where I need to do 2 sciences per quarter or else I will not make the prerequisites for med. I am close with ANTH. I am just scared of what if I don’t make it to med. Will Anth degree get me anywhere in life. Linguists side I am fluent in Japanese and English. I am just having a huge anxiety. I am not sure if my degree is worth anything will I withstand 2 science courses a quarter. Also i commute from home taking me about an hour + walking which makes staying at campus at night hard and stressful which most study sessions and tutors are open. I just need help, I am shy and scared so I never post on forums but I hopefully believe this way is good way to releave some anxiety. Thank you for your responses.
How old are you? Are you in college or high school? Are you a recently graduated HS student who transferred to college with junior standing? Or are you a traditional college junior?
It would help to understand your situation a bit better.
Believe it or not, there are jobs that medical anthropology majors can get if they don’t get into medical school. Most will require some additional education or training. (But the same is true for biology or chemistry majors who don’t make it into medical school.)
See [MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY @Northwestern University](https://www.anthropology.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/career-paths/medical.html) for a list of potential careers.
Are you at all interested in forensic science/anthropology?
[Forensic Anthropology](Forensic Anthropology | Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History)
You can also make an appointment with the career counseling center at your college to get some other ideas. Or try striking up a conversation with your fellow medical anthropology classmates and ask them what their career plans are.
Two sciences/quarter is doable, but it will require very good self discipline and time management. Medical school requires a great deal of chemistry/biochemistry so it’s important for you to do well and get a firm foundation in chemistry. Not doing well in your chemistry classes is a sign that medicine isn’t good fit for you and you should think about looking into other careers.
And since med school is all science all the time. (Equivalent to about 5-6 science classes/semester or 4-5 science classes/quarter), if you can’t manage to be successful w/ 2 science classes/quarter, maybe medical school isn’t the right path for you.
I cannot believe that the academic support center at your college only offers tutoring at night. One of my daughters was a chem/physics/math tutor at her undergrad’s tutoring center. She worked several afternoons each week. So did most of her fellow tutors. Check w/ your college’s academic tutoring center. You may need to schedule them farther in advance than night sessions, but I can almost guarantee daytime appointments are available.
I would also suggest given your level of anxiety that you make an appointment with student health to get some counseling. Talking with a trained counselor can help you develop ways to control your anxiety and to find healthful outlets for your stress & anxiety. They may even suggest some ways to connect with your peers on campus. Medicine is a social profession. You need to be able to interact comfortably with a wide range of people under intense situations and in very difficult circumstances. To do that you don’t need to an extrovert, but you do need to have excellent people skills.
If you are so shy, you can’t talk to complete (and sometimes angry & hostile) strangers, then medicine isn’t a good career fit for you. Talking with a counselor can help you decide whether to continue your pursuit of medical career or not.
RE: commuting. Is there any way you could convince your parents to allow you to dorm at college? Even just for a year, until you’ve gotten through your hardest classes? Are there financial considerations that prevent you from living on campus? Cultural issues about living away from home?
Assuming you’re in Washington state and attending UDub (Since your other thread is in the UWashington forum).
There is daytime drop-in tutoring available on all 3 campuses: Bothell, Tacoma and Seattle.
Seattle-- https://webster.uaa.washington.edu/asp/website/clue/home/
multiple locations around campus, including in the Commuter & Transfer Commons (CTC)
Bothell-- https://www.uwb.edu/qsc/tutor
Tacoma–https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/tlc/quant_drop-in
@WayOutWestMom what other thread?
To @Stuggleisreal are you a U.S. citizen or permanent resident green card holder?
Us resident
U.S. permanent resident with green card?
Or.
U.S. citizen.
You go to professor office hours and the tutoring center. Any college degree is better than no college degree. Go to the career center and be proactive in seeking ANY opportunities to sign up for internships, job shadowing, and alumni events. Sitting around worrying will not help you. Take steps to address your fears and your anxiety will become much more manageable.