Pre med or Business?

College Majors
1

Hey guys I am new to CC and I’m hoping i can get some advice on my issue and I apologize if this is a little too long.
I am a freshman at Rutgers University and all my life I wanted to be a doctor, as much as I enjoy Anatomy i hate Physics and Chemistry, I want to be a doctor just because that’s all I visualized myself being, but truthfully I don’t think I have enough passion. I did not want to major in Bio or any other science just because I want a good back up in case I don’t get into med school. Business would be a great backup, hence I am in the Business school. But after failing Gen Bio in the fall semester I don’t know. I understand Gen Bio is supposed to weed out pre med students, but letting go of pre med feels weird. I was never a business person, i was always a science person, anything i have ever done was med related. Business is a whole new field for me and yes of course it is interesting but I don’t think I might be cut out for it, I see my peers and they are getting internships and all and i’m like woah, i need to get my life together, business is very competitive and I don’t know if I can be successful in that field .
For the longest time i have been telling people I’m a management major on a pre med track, people think I should pick either or, and because they are so different, if i want to graduate in 4 years, i will only get the bare minimum requirements, i won’t have time to take upper level science or buSiness courses just for the hell of it.
Also, lets say I stuck with pre med and management, and as a senior when i apply to med schools, grad schools for mba, and/or jobs in the business field, truthfully speaking i don’t know how i will explain to grad schools or future employers why i took so many scIences classes while being a business major.

So I’m asking for any advice or feedback on this issue of mine, thank you so much

2

“Business” is kind of a catch-all term for working at a business, but there are lots of types of businesses, and the people who run them (in management, marketing, finance, accounting, supply chain management, etc.) exist everywhere. There are hospitals and clinics, biotechnology firms, academic medical complexes, health insurance companies, medical device providers, pharmaceutical companies, health care consulting firms - lots of places where someone who has interests in both health and business can work. There are also lots of other scientific sectors in business - like technology firms, telecommunications companies, national laboratories, private labs, think tanks, etc. Not to mention all of the other many sectors that exist.

If you’re a business major then you’ll be required to take upper-level classes in that area - you can certainly fit them in. If you’re pre-med, you don’t need to take very many upper-level science classes; if you want to, though, you can. Use your free electives spaces to do that.

You won’t need to explain to MBA programs or jobs why you took so many science classes. Frankly, most of them won’t care. But for the few who do, you can be honest - you can say that you were originally planning to go to medical school but you changed your mind because you fell in love with business instead. There’s no harm in that; few people expect you to know exactly what you want to do at age 17 and never change. Or you can simply say that you liked science and wanted to take some science classes. But 95% of employers and MBA programs won’t even ask.

I will say, though, that if you failed general biology in your first semester things are already not looking good for med school chances.