<p>AH! Both my kids complained that in college there are just too many interesting classes/majors and it was hard to make choices. Because choosing one thing usually mean closing the door on another path. They hated to start pruning their options. Mostly because at the time they weren’t sure where their life path was going to lead them. (Newsflash–no one knows. You have to make choices and take risks. It’s how life works.)</p>
<p>Life is full of choices. Some are irrevocable; some aren’t. This is one that’s not—at least in the long run.</p>
<p>I’d suggest you follow the career path that interests you the most–if it’s intelligence analysis and government policy, then go for it. Not everyone is meant to be a doctor and the world needs people in all sorts of different jobs to function.</p>
<p>(Don’t get me started on what a lousy job high schools–and many colleges–do w/r/t to career education…High school kids only really know about a half dozen careers when in reality there are thousands, most of which they’ve never heard of.)</p>
<p>While it’s true you can’t manage both majors at once, it doesn’t mean if in 2 or 3 or 10 years, if you decide you still feel the call to medicine that you can’t take up the preparation for it again. (It’ll be harder perhaps, but not impossible. IOW, it’s not a irrevocable decision.)</p>
<p>Also, just because you’re not majoring in bio or math, doesn’t mean you have give up your interest in it. You can keep informed at a non-specialist level. (I’ve always been interested in astronomy and some subfields of physics. I’m not an astronomer or physicist, but I do regularly follow new research in both areas on a non-technical level.)</p>
<p>And who knows? Perhaps you’ll find that a working knowledge of chemistry or biology will be a useful skill in intelligence analysis. (Deciphering what purchases are going into a bio-terror germ plot, for example.) Perhaps you’ll be need to use your math skills to do statistical analysis of data. Your choice might not be so either-or as you think.</p>
<p>It’s hard to let go of the view of yourself that you’ve created. Up until now, you’ve envisioned yourself as a doctor and now maybe that’s changing. It’s part of what happens in college. It’s part of your growth as an individual. And it’s not always easy or pleasant.</p>
<p>Take some time to reflect, decide where your true interests lie and then follow them. Above all you need to be true to yourself.</p>