Lost College Freshman

Parents Forum
21

<p>Reading your post is like reading a page from my journal 12 years ago. I went to college determined to be a doctor of some sort, because I liked the idea of working with (and helping) people at that level - but I too discovered quickly that science wasn't my passion.</p>

<p>After taking nothing but science freshman year (and watching my friends having the times of their lives taking all of the things I really wanted to be taking), I returned for my soph year pre-registered for organic chem etc.</p>

<p>I remember buying the books and that big kit with all of the pieces that one uses to build molecules. That night, completely depressed, I drank a ton of beer, built the largest molecule I could (had to use all the pieces!), laughed at it hysterically for 2 hours, and felt much better.</p>

<p>The next morning, I returned the kit (and the books), dropped premed, and basically started over.</p>

<p>I graduated with a major in writing/literature, and have zero regrets.</p>

<p>Another snapshot: my college roommate took the bare premed essentials (4-5 semesters of science and math) while focusing on his major in music composition and studying voice. He just finished a surgical residency in ear/nose/throat (he operates on singers), thus combining his two passions. You don't need to give up one to have the other.</p>

<p>I guess the point is simply... this is your life, so don't let the world call the shots for you. Follow your instincts. Don't put off being happy, because that practice tends to become habit.</p>

<p>For what it's worth, a friend of mine from high school was a writing major in college and didn't get interested in medicine until the very end. He did the post-bac year at Bryn Mawr - <a href="http://www.brynmawr.edu/postbac/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.brynmawr.edu/postbac/&lt;/a> - and started med school at Brown the next year.</p>

<p>In other words, there are always options. Being unhappy shouldn't be one of them!</p>

22

<p>Last year my D was considering medicine as a possible career. At the time she was also considering the possibility of a career in music and was preparing to audition at music conservatories. I told her that if she wanted to consider medicine, her choice was clear - - - - - she needed to continue with music. She looked at me as if I had two heads until I explained. When the time came for application to medical schools she would be competing with some really smart kids who had devoted themselves to the sciences. Music majors have a much higher probability of acceptance to medical school than biology majors.</p>

23

<p>There are several very well known conductors who are also very good physicians & had to choose between conservatories & med schools. Some ended up with degrees from both & have successfully combined both in their professional lives.
Recently in HI, there was a benefit concert in which several physicians performed, as well as a patient. Combining interests can work out well all the way around.</p>

24

<p>Walt Whitman, anyone? He certainly did just fine combining medicine and writing.</p>

<p>Life has a strange way of clunking us on the side of the head just when we think we have everything figured out. I have learned, through trial and error in my own life, that the only thing to do in situations like that is to listen to what your heart is saying, take a deep breath, and trust yourself as you head down a new, perhaps unexpected, path. You'll figure things out soon enough.</p>

25

<p>And if you don't already know her writing, check out Amy Bloom's books; she's a wonderful contemporary fiction writer, very successful, and a practicing psychotherapist. (Didn't start writing until she was in her mid-30's, by the way..)</p>

26

<p>My daughter, who always had a passion for psych, spent most of her undergrad years vacillating between plans to become a psychiatrist and a psychologist. While she didn't "hate" science, what ultimately led to her decision was the realization that the field of psychiatry has been relegated more and more to the role of prescribing meds and that wasn't what she wanted. While psychiatrists still can do regular psychotherapy, that role has increasingly been taken on by psychologists and social workers. And she didn't want to wait up to 8 years (depending on where one does a residency) to get to do what she longed to do. So, while she did do the pre-med requirements in college, she ended up in a psych doctoral program (just started), and is so excited that she will begin to actually work with patients during her second year (and is doing her first intake tomorrow!). So...while I totally agree that you should not pressure yourself to make decisions prematurely, and that you should totally explore classes that intrigue you, it is true that the field of psychiatry, even beyond med school, has become increasingly more "sciencey" over the last decade.</p>

27

<p><em>takes a deep breath</em> </p>

<p>Reading all these comments and PMs has really helped. </p>

<p>You should have seen me today. I talked to all my professors, older friends, career counselor, and I have a stack of research papers about 2" thick. </p>

<p>I was a bit stressed. </p>

<p>I will carefully reread all comments and post some questions (I know I have some after skimming through). </p>

<p>It's just that I have a Chem and Bio exam tomorrow. One right after another. Sigh. </p>

<p>Thank you again, I'm so glad I posted this.</p>

28

<p>Aroundthecorner, my D had a sort of similar delimna. She didn't hate science so much as she finds the required classes very boring, and everything else so interesting and tempting. She decided to keep the science major, but also complete a second degree - in art history - a subject matter that she dearly loves. This means that she will graduate in five years instead of four, but then she will have two completely separate degrees, and four minors, and of course she will have the premed core completed. </p>

<p>On surface this sounds like far too much work, but the result seems to have been that the art history required classes are so much easier (and more fun), and she gets such tremendous positive feedback from her professors in those classes that it gives her the energy and motivation to excel in the harder, more time and work intensive science classes. So in a twisted sense it has been easier for her to tackle a higher number of credit hours per semester, etc. </p>

<p>She also has been through the experience of having, say, a bio and chem final on the same day - at times, she has used tutors provided by the school - not so much for help with the subject matter but more for help with where to focus her limited time. My recollection is that last year she used three or four of them - one for orgo, one for bio, one for math, etc. </p>

<p>If it helps in terms of trying to imagine the time scheme, she's also a varsity athlete (D1), works ten hours a week, holds an elected position on student senate, and has another EC that requires her to represent the school in the regional community, so if you decide to hold your current major but also add a second, unrelated major, the time scheme can work. The trick seems to be to utilize the resources at the school (tutors, study sessions, etc.) to help make sure you're focusing on the best possible areas, and disregarding the areas with little return on investment.</p>

29

<p>So, I've taken in everyone's comments and after talking it out with people... </p>

<p>Well, I really was going to drop my premed requirements for next semester, but just as I was typing it out, I felt a hesitation. </p>

<p>I really do feel like I'm doing myself injustice by dropping it so soon. Plus, my books were $300 for Chem and Bio. </p>

<p>Also, if I don't do this.. what else will I do? </p>

<p>I like having a plan. I always have a plan. It freaks me out that I can't seem to plan. </p>

<p>I talked to my career counselor, and she brought up forensic psychology, which seems really interesting. I'll be doing the law side of psychology then, instead of the medical side. But I already feel a semester behind, and am not sure I can do the law side (though I was always good in history..). </p>

<p>Hah. </p>

<p>I was about to write you all a confident note that I was definitely going to drop, but now I've confused myself again. </p>

<p>And what does my mother say? "Don't you dare waste my money. Pick and go." </p>

<p>SIGH! Asian mothers.</p>