Lost College Freshman

Parents Forum
1

<p>So, I've been really happy with my first year at Clark, then spring registration comes about. </p>

<p>I really want to take this creative writing class. </p>

<p>Big deal right? </p>

<p>Well, here's the thing. I am premed. A psychology major. And I have about 9 perspectives I have to fill in different areas. Only about 2 classes overlap. My four-years is packed. </p>

<p>The creative writing class fulfills nothing that I may need. </p>

<p>I really want to take it. </p>

<p>Then it got me thinking. </p>

<p>I hate science. </p>

<p>Why am I premed? </p>

<p>Because I want to be a psychiatrist. </p>

<p>But do I really? </p>

<p>I really do not like science. I will die next year with Organic Chem and Calculus. Currently, I am doing okay with Chemistry & Biology, but I hate it. It stresses me out. My schedule is so full I don't have time to do what I like (extra curics, hanging with friends). </p>

<p>Meh. </p>

<p>And it really got me thinking. </p>

<p>I really miss writing. They had a novel writing class that sounded AWESOME, but it was two semesters long and I missed the first semester. It's not like I can take it next year either because of Org, Calc, and my two Psych classes I need to take to fulfill my pre-Psych-declaring-major-requirements. </p>

<p>So, I guess. I just want advice. </p>

<p>Do I drop premed? I feel like I'm failing myself. I really don't know what to do. </p>

<p>If I drop premed, what do I want to be? Psychologist, just that? I like creative writing, what can you do with creative writing? </p>

<p>Sigh. </p>

<p>Dilemma. </p>

<p>Please help, parents. :(</p>

2

<p>I can't tell you what to chose but your work will take a huge amount of the time of your life. You have 24 hours per day, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for 40-50 years will be spent in working, give or take. If it is something you love you come home and do some more, I got home 45 minutes ago (after being at work for 14 hours) and have done some more. If it is something you hate you flee the office at 5 and Monday morning is the worst time of the week. Find what you love. Trying some things out is what college is for. You might try writing and realize you don't hate science as much as you thought. If taking some time now, maybe you can take something at summer school to make some time available, will let you come back to psychaitry with confidence that you really love it, the time away is well spent. I teach college and love it. I teach a field that I find infinitely interesting. Writing lectures is often recreational in that I get to research an area that interests me. The biggest down side is grading, it's just a chore but....</p>

3

<p>from what i've heard, a LOT of pre-med students switch to another study after their first year. it's expected, i gather. sort of weeding out which students really want to do it and which ones discover they'd really be happier doing something else. don't feel like you're failing, it's the opposite, you're realizing your mistake and fixing it.</p>

4

<p>It will cost a little more time and $, but you do NOT have to complete all the prerequisites for med school during college. I know a young woman who loved history. She was pre-med. She found that she couldn't take all the history courses she wanted to take. So, she majored in history. After working for a year or two, she felt she had made a mistake in writing off a medical career. She applied to and was accepted at one of the pre-med post-BA programs. She completed her pre-med requisites in that program. She went to med school--a very good med school--and is now a doctor. She has no regrets. She enjoyed college a lot more than she would have if she'd tried to cram everything in. </p>

<p>There's also summer school. LOTS of pre-meds take organic chem in summer school so they can focus on it without having to worry about other courses. There are actually some second tier colleges that run organic chem programs during the summer which are populated by pre-meds from top colleges. For example, I'm told that LOTS of Georgetown pre-meds go to the U of Houston during the summer and take organic chem. </p>

<p>Now, if you can't hack organic chem, maybe you ought not to go to med school. That's a different issue. But don't think you have to decide right now for all time whether you will be a physician. You don't.</p>

5

<p>On Halloween, I was talking with our neighbor, who is a pediatric infectious disease doc. He said his undergrad major was Electrical Engineering. My sister-in-law's undergrad degree was nutrition. She took both the MCATs (to get into med school) & the GREs (to go to grad school) & was consideringthe LSATs, when she was accepted by her 1st choice med school. She LOVES her job (dermatologist).</p>

<p>I would think it might be tough becoming a doc if you really dislike science, because it would seem there is a LOT of science to becoming a doc. You may wish to confer with your counselor & consider taking a bit longer to explore in getting your degree so you can know how much you love each field. It IS wonderful to have a job you love (I love mine, as does my hubby, but we know MANY folks who just work to pay bills--even professionals like dentists, attorneys & yes, some docs).</p>

6

<p>We cannot resolve these issues for you, but I can add a few things for you to think about:</p>

<p>I must echo what has already been said. If you hate science, medicine may not be the right field for you.</p>

<p>If you think you are too busy to add a course that you want, medicine may not be for you. You may not realize how hard you will need to work to complete medical school and training.</p>

<p>If you have a strong interest in taking creative writing, you need to find a way to fit one or more courses into you schedule. Creativity and the ability to write well will be useful throughout your life, regardless of you final career field.</p>

<p>What do you really know about the field of psychiatry? I would learn as much as possible before entering the field. Most of us have images of that field which do not match reality. Like all of medicine, psychiatry is shaped by reimbursement policies. That may mean that as a pschiatrist you will mainly prescribe drugs. Psychiatry is not just psychoanalysis. Psychiatry is a very difficult and stressful field. Can you imagine what it is like to have your patients get sicker and not be able to offer a cure? Have you ever been in a mental institution? Can you image how difficult it would be to work in that environment?</p>

7

<p>You do NOT need to major in ANY science, psychology, or ANYTHING in particular to apply to med school. You do NOT even need to make the decision to be pre-med now. My roommate in med school first got her BA in philosophy fom a top LAC in the midwest. THEN, she got her Master's (MM) in musicology and organ performance from a top music school. THEN she played recitals all over Europe and the U.S. THEN, she spent 6 months at a State U taking pre-med classes. Then we met in Med School. SO...</p>

<p>If you love Creative Writing, SIGN UP for the class.</p>

<p>If the thought of O Chem and Calculus makes you shudder right now, DON'T sign up for them. If you sign up for them and don't do well because your heart isn't in it now, you can't undo a bad grade. If you don't take them and get a great grade in Creative Writing, it can only boost your chances for acceptance into med school should you decide to apply later.</p>

<p>There are LOTS of great physician novelists: Michael Crichton, for example. You CAN do both. Be true to yourself. Take the Creative Writing class.</p>

8

<p>I agree with Quiltguru. If you love creative writing, go for it. I also suggest you explore other potential careers, such as psychologist. Clark has a great psych department.</p>

9

<p>My advice: If you REALLY want to be a Psychiatrist, get through the courses somehow. You won't actually have to do organic chem or calculus on the job! Your writing skills will serve you well at a psychiatrist.</p>

<p>The main thing is you don't want to be an adult forever wishing that you had stayed the course.</p>

10

<p>You are a freshman so don't need to decide now, keep your mind open to possibilities and take a course you crave. Who knows where it will lead but writing will help you whatever you decide to do. Enjoy your experience.</p>

11

<p>science/medical journalism?try the creative writing and see where it takes you.</p>

12

<p>There's been good advice offered already - I'd add that internships, volunteer opportunities, etc. are a great way to see first-hand what things are like in a chosen career. You may find your interest reinforced after a few months of working in close proximity to people in that career area. Or, you may decide it's not for you. Either way, you have learned something useful and perhaps avoided a big mistake.</p>

13

<p>The best thing you can do is try a variety of things in college....it is an excellent time to explore.....try new things....discard old....re-visit past interests, etc.
I think the directive to 'find what you love' is a little daunting. I think it is a combination of what you are interested in and get satisfaction from doing. This need not be one thing. As an earlier poster indicated - an interest in writing and science/health may lead to a career.
Sometimes a break from something is very helpful. I took a year's break from mathematics, and ultimately realized I really loved it and did pretty well in it.
good luck.</p>

14

<p>My own GP ( amusingly enough, to me, at least, an ex-CTY kid!) became an English major for a year or more as an undergrad. He did just fine in med school and is probably a better doctor for it.</p>

15

<p>I spoke with a neighbor of mine who is a physician and he said that as far as organic chemistry is concerned, it's nice to know the principals (and you'll need the background in medical school, i.e. pharmacology classes, etc.) but as an actually practicing physician, on a day to day basis, you won't be using it. About the math, he said the highest level of math that he uses as a practicing physician is multiplication. My point is, while in the short term you are going to have to take the science and math classes you're not crazy about, the day to day activity of being a physician requires very little of it. If you want to be a doctor and can see past the 4 years of college and a couple more years of medical school, organic chemistry, calculus, biology, etc. will, for the most part, be a thing of the past.</p>

16

<p>To add to what the Mod Roger's good advice - visit the career center, or go to a pre-med society meeting to learn about volunteer opportunities or internships in a medical related field, etc. One of your first priorities is to get a feel for whether or not medicine is for you. That's not to say you can't change your mind later, but you should begin to take steps to explore medicine and other careers at the same time.</p>

<p>Avoidingwork's advice about taking a break is very true. I started as a freshman taking pre-med classes, and because of a scheduling snafu, ended up with an insane schedule the first semester - by the end of frist semester I was so burned out, I wanted to do anything other than science. I tried some other classes second semester, worked as a HeadStart aide during the summer, and came to some realizations about myself - soph fall I returned to pre-med classes, and went forward from there. I never did get to take all the history classes I wanted to, which I regret, but I did go to med school at the end of my 4 years in college. Dithering did cause me to have to take a couple of summer school classes - but it is a rare person who ready in all ways to go to med school after only 8 semesters (really 6, because you have to be finished at the end of junior year, ready to apply) of college.</p>

<p>There is no "one right path", but without trying other things, and taking some time (hard to do during your actual semester) to really think about you and what you want, you can't find the right path for you. Good luck!</p>

17

<p>Oh, and the reason organic is so important, supposedly, is not the actual knowledge - as ColumbiaMom points out, you don't use it much after biochem and pharmacology - but that the combination of memorizing a large mass of facts, then putting those facts to use with deductive reasoning (syntheses during second semester), mimics the type of learning that is done in med school. I have heard medical educators say that organic is not as important as it once was, because the mass of facts has grown so large that it is more important for physicians to learn how to learn, but I'm not sure I believe that.</p>

18

<p>"I hate science. </p>

<p>Why am I premed? </p>

<p>Because I want to be a psychiatrist. "</p>

<p>It's virtually impossible to be a good psychiatrist if you hate science. Stick with premed, and you're guaranteeing yourself years of unhappiness as you force yourself to study subjects that you hate.</p>

<p>If you like helping people by talking to them and listening to them, there are many other fields that you could choose: psychology, social work, counseling are just a few. </p>

<p>I also suggest that you take a good look at what psychiatrists do. Talk to some psychiatrists about what they do each day. Most of what they do now involves prescribing medication, not providing therapy. if what you want to do is be a therapist, go into social work, psychology or counseling. Being a psychiatrist will not meet your needs.</p>

19

<p>I think questioning your choices and reevaluating them is valid. That's what college is supposed to be about. I knew I wanted to be an attorney since I was in elementary school and went to college as a Poli Sci major. I ignored the fact that I loved my psychology course, because I was going to be a lawyer. Well, after nine years of practicing law I quit and went back to school to get a counseling degree! I shouldn't have considered my life and career path etched in stone as a teenager (which is what we are in college after all). I should have used my time in college to experiment with other majors/subjects and been more flexible and willing to change direction. If you are discovering something about yourself, pay attention to it. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean giving up on the premed because you hate science if you really want to be a psychiatrist (though you could become a psychologist instead). Think about why you want to be a psychiatrist and whether the short term pain of required classes you don't like is worth it for the long term goal of a career you really would like. The bottom line of this long response -- think hard and long and don't ignore warning signs, but don't be hasty. Think where you want to be in ten, twenty years -- because you'll be there before you know it!</p>

20

<p>I'm premed right now...except I don't totally hate science yet. :) I'm sort of complicated though - I'm actually better at English than science. But I don't want to do English by itself and be a "starving English major." So...I'm looking at a possible English/bio double major and then going to either med school or for a master's/doctorate in public health. That way, during undergrad, I can have a nice balance - the English which I'm actually good at and the premed stuff which is a little more challenging.</p>

<p>Definitely take the creative writing. That's what college is for, to explore outside your major. I'm not totally committed yet - I'm just taking the premed sequences and a good variety of LAC prerequisites right now to make sure this is what I want to do with my life.</p>