<p>Hey all. So here's the deal, next fall I'm going to be a freshman at Penn and I was wondering if I should bother doing the pre-med track if I'm not entirely sure that I want to end up in med school. I always had an interest in the human body (probably the brain and blood the most) so it's not as though if/when I become a doctor I'll just be some bored drone. In all seriousness though, I'm terrible at math and chemistry and only borderline passable at physics. I had to work my butt off in highschool to get Bs in calculus (and precal!) And chemistry was just a joke (mostly because we never really learned it). I was good at bio though. Anyway I feel ridiculously unprepared for science/math courses and I don't know if I can survive. Plus I haven't entirely ruled out law school as an option, so I'd need to keep my GPA high for that (not that it wouldn't need to be high for med school). </p>
<p>So is it worth taking all the pre-med courses even if you're not entirely sure you want to go to med school?</p>
<p>well i would say just take the minimum course requirements, which are not that many…</p>
<p>btw for law school you need a high GPA for top 20 or so, but we have so many law schools here you will be bound to get into one no matter your GPA, we are flooded with attorneys and they hand out JDs like candy…</p>
<p>However, there are only 130 accredited med schools in the US and all of them are remotely difficult to get into, many end up going to the Caribbean if they cant get a spot… </p>
<p>Truthfully, If you are not good at science, especially chemistry, I would avoid med school</p>
<p>But just take the pre reqs and see how you do in college chemistry, if you do well and you know you want to get an MD, go for med school</p>
<p>In truth I’m not really sure. I’m thinking either Cognitive Science or Philosophy. With the former many of the prereqs would be satisfied so that’s a plus. With the latter basically none of them will. But I know that my intended major will most likely change. In general though have you seen undecided people like me come out with an abysmal GPA after premed requirements?</p>
<p>Normally I wouldn’t recommend going in undecided, because you might very well be wasting credits that won’t count toward anything except as a free elective. However in your position, since you would be interested in law school as well, maybe go in undeclared and just take some history/poli sci/criminal justice classes as well as gen chem and see which is a better fit for you.</p>
<p>I don’t think it a bad idea to try your hand at the intro chem class and then trying to get some hospital volunteering or physician shadowing in - early in your freshman year. You’ll figure out quickly enough if you want to push through the remaining chemistry sequence and if you can stand patients or the daily life of a physician. If you don’t, well it’s no big deal, just a semester that’s probably not even really wasted (the chem class will fill some sort of general ed requirement for graduation) If you make it through the first semester enjoying what you’ve seen, then you’ve at least got a start. </p>
<p>Even if you follow the above, it’s ALWAYS a good idea to do more career research - most freshmen have zero clue about the multitude of career options that are truly available to them. So look around and see what you like.</p>