Hello all. I just have a question about the path I should take at this point in my NU career. I am an incoming sophomore and classes begin next week. However I still haven’t decided on my major or what I want to do.
I completed freshman year in McCormick engineering and did pretty well in those courses. However I found that I’m not super interested in engineering and probably don’t want to be an engineer as a career. I didn’t particularly enjoy my Design Thinking and Communication class (DTC) or the Engineering Analysis (EA) sequence.
Here is how I see my options at this point:
I have always been interested in statistics and probability. Therefore I could switch to Weinberg (liberal arts school) and major in this. I am interested in possibly continuing as an actuary.
I could double major in Industrial Engineering and stats. There is a lot of overlap in the requirements so this would be fairly simple to do. I also wouldn’t have to do the foreign language or distribution requirements for Weinberg since I would still technically be an engineer. Also I would have an engineering degree which is highly regarded in job recruiting.
I could double major in Industrial Engineering and economics. I have already taken some econ classes so this double major would be easy to complete as there is a lot of overlap. Also econ and Industrial Engineering are top programs at NU so this would be great for job opportunities in consulting/finance or an actuarial career. However I am not particularly interested in economics or Industrial Engineering. Not that I dislike them, they just don’t spark my interest like statistics does.
I could study biomedical engineering with the intent to go to med school. I am interested in possibly being a physician or do medical research as this may be a rewarding experience in life. I also excel in science classes. However I’m not sure if I would want to go to medical school, I would just like to keep that option open. Plus Biomed Eng at NU is super hard and time consuming and there is no guarantee of acceptance (super competitive) plus BME is supposed to be super hard on the GPA. I also wouldn’t have much interest in being a biomedical engineer if medical school doesn’t work out.
I could switch to Weinberg, complete a statistics major and do premed courses to keep my options open. I am interested in stats and probability, can pursue a graduate degree in statistics or go into actuarial science and want to keep the option of med school open. The negatives would be that I have already worked super hard to do well in McCormick and if I switch over that would all be wasted. Only a couple of my first year class credits would count towards my Weinberg degree/classes. Plus I would have to complete foreign language/distros. So I would likely have to stay for an entire fourth year (otherwise I could graduate in 3). Plus I wouldn’t get an engineering degree that is very valuable. At NU the first year of McCormick is the hardest and I feel like it would be a shame to jump ship now that I’m done with it. However, if I could start college over today the statistics with premed is what I would do.
I ask this on College Confidential because I’ve been turning this over in my mind all summer and could really use an outside perspective of somebody with more life experiences and wisdom than I have.
Thank you and any comments would be helpful.
Well, definitely do statistics if you are interested in it.
IMO, medicine isn’t just something that you do. You could research that career more. You definitely don’t have to be BME to be pre-med, and in fact, that may be a tougher path to med school.
Then you can decide whether you want to add an IE major.
Don’t you have to take almost all the required pre-med classes beside Orgo as an engineer anyway, or did you AP out of them?
The only thing you have to decide soon is what classes you will take next quarter. Since stats is definite, load up on those and whatever IE classes you need to stay on track there so that that is an option.
In terms of premed requirements I took Gen Chem freshman year so no problem there. I APed out of math for engineers so I would need to take at least two quarters of math for premed (which I would easily cover with a stats major). I APed out of physics so i would need to take two quarters of physics. I would also need to take a full year of bio and orgo. Also one quarter of biochem. In addition it is recommended to take sociology and psychology. So that is quite a few additional courses. The reason I suggest BME is because it overlaps with a ton of premed requirements.
I’m not sure what you mean by “medicine isn’t just something that you do.”
So PurpleTitan, is your advice that I should double major in IE and stats while completing premed coursework? There is very little overlap between IE/stats and I would be a little concerned about graduating in 4 years.
Thank you again for the advice. I very much appreciate it.
I believe PurpleTItan’s point is that you don’t become a physician / go into medicine unless it’s something you truly have passion for. It’s not just “oh, it’s one of many choices” - it is tough enough that it needs to be something you are truly engaged in and desire to be.
Right, medicine’s not a 40 hours a week job that you do to pay the bills. Not that type of job.
If there is little overlap between stats and IE and you like stats, go with stats. Otherwise, IE+econ, if you want to avoid the CAS requirements and that allows you to do that. Econ and IE will both have a fair amount of quantitative math and econ should have a decent number of econometrics courses. BTW, out in the workforce, except for engineering jobs, which obviously require an engineering skillset, an engineering major doesn’t give you any sort of bump over some other quantitative major, so that’s not worth worrying about.
Thank you for your comments. I meant to say that IE/stats doesn’t have a lot of overlap with premed (I think I was misunderstood on that point). IE and stats actually have a lot of overlap.
As for the premed, I’m just saying that I would like to do it to keep my options open. That way if by the end of my senior year I decide I want medicine I can do that, if I decide I want to do consulting/actuarial science I can do that. If I chose medical school I would obviously commit to that.
Again, any comments are appreciated.
As I said before, the only decision you face right now is what classes to register for fall quarter. So might as well go the IE&stats route. If you suddenly decide that medicine is your calling, you can take your pre-med classes. Maybe drop one of the majors (probably stats and keep IE because you need a major to graduate and you are already in Tech) to fit in pre-med classes later.
And remember that you can take pre-med courses after you graduate as well. Plenty of people do that too.
But if you haven’t shown any inclination towards medicine now, what makes you think you will in the future? Have you shadowed a doctor or asked pre-med students what EC’s and research that they do?
I have shadowed a doctor once. I also have a pretty good idea of what ECs are expected to get into medical school. I still cant tell whether or not its for me tho