I’m currently a second year student in college taking the required pre-med courses. I came to NYC as a freshman ambitious and with big dreams but a year later I now find myself feeling completely defeated and honestly just wondering if pre-med is the right choice for me. I wanted to become a doctor because being able to help people and do something so meaningful as a job seemed amazing. It still seems amazing but I feel like the road to get there might destroy me. I took General Chemistry my freshman year and got an A- both semesters. I also took Principles of Biology and got a B first semester and B+ second semester. I went through a lot of stress and anxiety throughout freshman year taking those classes. I spent no time on having a social life and just felt miserable the whole time. I’m now taking Organic Chemistry and my stress and anxiety seem to just have gotten worse and I’m more miserable than ever before. I think the reason I’m having such a hard time is because I’ve always been sort of sensitive and my body can’t handle too much stress physically or mentally. I’m also someone who needs to have time to relax and hang out with family and friends which is hard to do if you’re pre-med and you live in NYC. I’ve considered quitting pre-med but I’m having a hard time seeing myself doing any other job. I am pretty good at math and I really enjoy it. I also have pretty good interpersonal skills and enjoy interacting with people. Do you guys think I should drop out of pre-med and if so what do you think would be a good major for me?
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I think you should switch to another field. The stress is only going to get worse as you take upper level science class, then med school and residency. There are so many careers out there where you can help people and make a meaningful contribution. If you like the medical field consider nursing – where you often have a tremendous role in patient care, Physical Therapy, Physician Assistant. Other helping fields include psychology, social work, I could go on forever.
Don’t beat yourself up over this. Our society revers doctors and sometimes makes it seem as if medicine is the only valuable, "giving’ profession. Its not true.
First take a deep breath. From a GPA perspective, let’s put things into perspective, the hill you are facing GPA wise. You should know that med school GPAs get calculated primarily into two important ways. One is a cumulative GPA, or cGPA for all courses taken. A cGPA will be calculated separately for each year, and an overall cGPA is also calculated for all courses taken during college. Two a science GPA, or sGPA. This will include all bio, chem, physics, and math courses (BCPM) you’ve taken. Like a cGPA, your sGPA is separately calculated for each year and an overall sGPA is also calculated. One’s sGPA is typically considered to carry more weight.
It’s hard to say where you’re at based on just 4 course grades. What is your overall freshman cGPA? What is your overall freshman sGPA? Although it’s been over a decade since S started college, he finished first year with both GPAs below 3.2 and is an MD. I suspect GPA wise you’re doing much better than S at same point. Med schools like upward trends
How are you doing in O chem? Where are you at in term (eg first week, second week). If you’re doing poorly, maybe withdrawing is option.
Putting aside lesser important GPA concerns, the bigger concern seems to be getting your anxieties/stresses better managed. Maybe, as examples, talking with school counselors, MDs, your pastor may offer various ways to put your mental state on better footing… Honestly, if you make it to med school, the demands that will be put on you someday from your MD colleagues, your patients and their families will make your current situation look like a stroll in the park. For residency, you could be working grueling 80+ hour weeks. You may want to consider putting MD ambitions on hold if anything until the anxieties/stresses you refer to are better managed. Med school can wait until then. There also might be alternative areas in health care other than as an MD that could be just as rewarding and less stressful to you as well. Good luck
Lots of way to help people and 99.9% don’t involve being a doctor.
Medicine is meaningful, but it’s also way less amazing than you think. You’ve glamorized/idealized the profession.
You have 2 choices–
- find another less, stressful career and give up on the idea of becoming a physician
OR
- find a way to manage your anxiety. You probably should consult with a professional therapist. A therapist will help you identify ways to manage your stress in healthful ways. They may also recommend temporary or long term medications to help you tone down your anxiety to a more manageable level. There is no shame in asking for help when you need it.
If you haven’t shadowed a physician, you need to do so ASAP. If for no other reason than it will give a more realistic, more nitty-gritty view of the profession so you can let go of the dream.
Almost any career will have its sources of its own unique sources stress and anxiety. Difficult co-workers, demanding clients, demanding bosses, disrespectful students, deadlines, productivity pressures, multi-tasking on multiple projects, fast-paced work environments, etc. No job or career is immune to stress.
Only you can decide what level of stress is tolerable. Again, I suggest talking with a counselor to help you weigh the pros and cons of your decision.
If you’re studying 24/7, you’re doing something wrong and are on the road to burnout. Learning to manage your time effectively and study efficiently is key skill for every pre-med, med student & physician.
This may be an area you need to work on improving.
Both my kidlets are medical residents (which is like pre-med times 10,000) --I guarantee they have time to spend with family & friends (I have pictures!), play fetch and frisbee with their dogs (I have pictures!) , engage in hobbies & sports (I have pictures!), read for pleasure, watch TV, walk on the beach (I have pictures!), go out on dates. It’s all a matter of time management.
Strong math/quantitative skills-- engineering, actuarial science, risk management, some math-intensive sub-disciplines in business (like supply chain management), accounting, city planning, epidemiology & public health, data science, bioinformatics, meteorology, material sciences, nano-technology, banking & investment analyst, economics, plus many more.You should ask this question before the start of this semester. Orgo is relatively easy in the first few weeks. After a month, the difficulty is going up exponentially. If you don’t want to deal with it and you can still drop the course, do it now.
Everyone should give it one’s best shot during freshman year. The key is, if it doesn’t work out, move on immediately to save energy and to prevent mental health problems.
Depends on what NYC college you are attending? If it is NYU or Columbia, then you’re doing ok. A- in Gen Chem1/2, B/B+ in Bio1/2. If those are part of the weeder classes in your college, then you made through half of them with 3.2/3.3 GPA. Organic Chem (orgo) is the top killer weeder in pre-med classes, which wrecks most people off the pre-med track. Orgo requires different learning strategy, you can’t just do rote memorization. If you did poor in 1st orgo exam and having issue understanding, then best strategy is to drop it now and tackle it later when you are fully prepared. Orgo is pre-req/basis for Biochem which is heavily tested in MCAT, so delaying Orgo will delay everything else (which is fine, as people saying pre-med is a journey, not a sprint).
On the other hand, if you can’t handle the pre-med stress, quitting it for now(you can always come back latter) is a big relief.
You need to realize only 20-25% pre-med will make it to the application stage, MCAT is another big hurdle. By the time applying, only 40% get accepted (ie, more than half applicants have no single acceptance). Quitting early can be a smart choice.
I go to NYU and have a cGPA of 3.524 and a sGPA of 3.455. I have decided that I’m going to try to stick through Orgo but if it looks like I’m not gonna be able to pass the class I’ll just drop it and go into a different field. It’s very possible that I might not pass just because I’ve been out for so long due to a concussion. I’m not too stressed out anymore because I’ve come to realize that I’ll just go with whatever ends up happening and it’ll be fine. I just need to find a major that’s right for me. Thank you for all you advice
If you’ve missed class due to an injury, then you need to go to the Dean of Student Affairs and request a medical withdrawal from Ochem (and any other class affected by your injury).
This will protect your GPA and prevent you from having a poor grade/grades on your transcript. Something you don’t want no matter what career you ultimately decide to pursue.
You situation is exactly why medical withdrawals exist.
Agreed with WOWM said, *** super important *** GET the medical withdraw on Orgo from the Dean. DO NOT STICK THROUGH. Why waste your time on an almost guaranteed failing grade? Retake it next year when you are better prepared (hint - follow the Stuyvesant kid strategy - prep by private tutor in the summer for next year classes).
In orgo, once you fall behind (whatever the reason), it is ALMOST impossible to catch up to get A (or even B). The pace/difficulty in Orgo picks up exponentially after the first month/exam.
If you do decide to continue with Organic Chem, you must get a good tutor. It makes all the difference. Just so you know, there are people who get so sick with stress that they almost drop out of medical school but then end up sticking it out and graduating and doing great as doctors. Certain specialties are less stressful than others. If you manage to go to med school near your family, you could destress on weekends by visiting and doing some of your studying at home.
The fundamental question is are you background fits med school? Med school is all about BCMP, if you have a problem in Chemistry, you will have a problem in med school as the programs in med school is 10x more difficult than Orgo in UG. If you do not have a foundation in BCMP, you should think of some other disciplines, a physician is not for everyone and you can success in any other career.
If organic is causing you such a problem to include stress and anxiety, I suggest you withdraw from the class now and not ruin your GPA. Med school would be way more stressful than organic. The majority of people who start college pre-med end up switching out for various reasons.
There are tons of other allied health fields you may want to pursue (ex. occupational therapy, physician assistant, speech therapy, nursing, physical therapy, audiology to name a few) but these programs are competitive on the grad level and you want to keep up a strong GPA.
Should I withdraw right now or wait until I know for sure that I’m not gonna get a good grade to withdraw? I feel like it’s better to withdraw later because I might end up getting through it but if I withdraw right now I’ll always wonder if I could have stayed in the class and finished it. Also it doesn’t make a difference at which point I withdraw, I’ll end up with a W on the transcript either way so why not wait?
If you are already behind, then withdraw now. Don’t wait because your grade/your understanding likely won’t improve as the semester progresses. Ochem is cumulative and builds heavily on concepts learned early during the class.
Also if ochem is stressing you out, consider that stress hinders recovery from a concussion.
BTW, If you are failing at the time you withdraw from the class, many colleges will report the the grade as a WF–withdrawal-failing. (Which med schools and all other professional programs count as an F for GPA calculations)
If you’re having a tough time with Orgo, it is only going to get worse. Orgo is used as a litmus test to see who can memorize large volumes of material quickly. The first year of medical school is almost like learning a new language, and filled with rote memorization.
But it sounds like anxiety and related stress may need to be addressed first. Seek advice of a counselor or mental health professional, as if this is left untreated, it could ruin your life.
If you’re good in math, consider getting a math, statistics or data science degree. You can branch out into many many fields with this type of degree, and will be in high demand.