Switch major?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

I’m a current bio major and is extremely unhappy. Since I want to go to med school with a bio degree, I have to constantly study and keep up my GPA. The thing is though, that at my school, grade deflation is a real thing. Thus, I find myself just going straight to class everyday and straight back to the dorm to study. Every. Single. Day. I get very anxious over my grades and I’m really not about this lifestyle. Also the chem classes (and later ochem classes+labs) will make me even more anxious.

I want to switch to Data Science (like CS+Stats) but my parents won’t let me. I tried telling me that it’ll be a safer option since if I don’t get into med-school, I’m practically doomed (don’t want to go into research/academia). The average salary for bio majors at my school is like a 42,000 (uhh…?).

Do you guys have any advice about switching major? Trying to convince parents of letting me? Just any pointers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

2

Why do your parents not want you to change major?

Do you want to do data science with pre-med or without pre-med?

3

You can try double majoring. There is some overlap. You probably already have your one year of Calculus classes in already. You have to choose a domain emphasis, which you can choose either Human or Computational Biology, so that knocks off one Lower Division class and possibly one or two upper division classes. There are definitely a few double majors for Bio and DS at Berkeley.

A compromise might be to go to Computational Biology as a major which is a pretty in-demand field especially in the Bay Area should medical school not be in the cards.

4

I know pre-med students don’t have it easy since they’re worrying about their GPA all the time at Berkeley. But is Data Science a “safer option”? Unless you’re really into comp. sci. the CS axis 61A, 61B can be pretty challenging. And although GPA is not an issue as it is for the bio majors, then you would need to pass the interviews to land a job, which can be pretty challenging (e.g. solve a set of programming problems in limited amount of time). Computational Biology doesn’t seem to have the CS61 requirement, so I would definitely consider that option as well.

Don’t make decisions based on average salary. Besides your academic strengths, think what you would like to do for a living.

5

Yeah haha someone else on another thread mentioned there are sometimes easier classes but not really any easy majors. This is so true. Data 8 (CS C8) is a relatively easy class and Data 100 is not too bad, but yes, CS 61A is a major weeder and upper division classes such as STAT 140 and CS 189 are very challenging to say the least.

6

@smsk is computational biology a thing? I see that it’s only under data science’s domain emphasis.

7

Also a general comment- I know all majors are difficult, but what would I do with a bio major if I don’t get into med school? I’ll be stuck with grad school or I’ll probably have to go into academia, both of which are not ideal.

Please correct me if I’m wrong, but data science with an emphasis in something biology is a bit like bioengineering?

8

Yeah, Computational Biology is only at the graduate school level at UCB, but it seems like there are numerous programs and coursework at Berkeley that link up to Computational Biology. You can get there at Berkeley via Biology, Microbiology, Stats, Data Science, BioEngineering, etc.

9

@StressedSeniorInt Sorry, I meant BioEngineering, not computational biology. The link is here: http://bioeng.berkeley.edu/undergrad/program The only problem I see about switching into BioEng is that you’d need to transfer from L&S to the school of Engineering. I know a girl who did that and she was really surprised she got accepted (essays are required, it seems).

10

Most data-science people are also very competent programmers (the only data-sci people I know are also CS double majors, though). So, if you don’t really enjoy programming, it might be difficult to get a job that you’ll enjoy doing. The kind of jobs bioengineers do seem to be more varied, similar to cog. sci. graduates. Some may work for laboratories, health-related companies, or for the government. As I said before, if you don’t have a background in programming, be sure that this something you enjoy doing before switching majors.

11

I was on campus last night and noticed flyers inside Soda and outside Sproul for monthly seminar talks on Computational Biology careers and the future. Might be something to explore.

I’m more or less a data science person and although it’s true that programming is a core competency, by no means is it 100% necessary for many positions. I can go weeks without touching code at times, as a lot of my position on the technical end of things involves analysis and performance and tuning. A love of data more or less is the top requirement in Data Science.

12

Hey There, this might be slightly off topic, but I thought my story might make you feel better. I was an accounting major at U of Arizona (got into Stanford, but went for the cheaper option, sigh). In the second semester of my junior year, I knew I didn’t want any part of accounting as my career. I begged my parents to let me change my major to Management Information Systems - or at least let me double major. Switching, I would still graduate on time, and double majoring would only cost one extra semester. I did my research and presented a strong case to my parents.

Although my Mother was open to it, my Father flat out refused. They both said this computer thing was just a fad, and that it wasn’t a real degree. They refused to let me change at the time, and were adamant that I needed to get a business degree to be worth anything. This was in 1995.

So, while I finished the accounting degree, I found an after school job in database design. When I graduated, I was courted by the biggest firms because I had a solid educational foundation, and cutting edge work experience. After graduation, while working, I attained multiple certifications in the field I wanted to be in.

I have gone through many job titles, and some major ups and downs in my career, but am now the Director of Data Governance at the largest company in my city. My love of data shined through everything else. It all worked out in the end.

Your major isn’t what defines you - it’s what you decide to do with it that matters. If you are stuck with biology as a major, then make the most of it. Go do things in your volunteer hours, job decisions, and extra curriculars.

I’ve never done a debit or a credit for accounting in my life - but many employers still like seeing it on my resume. I suspect Biology will give you that same attention, no matter what you decide to do with your life.

Please take my story with a grain of salt. Everyone’s lives are different. Very best of luck to you!

Sincerely,
sdscoutmom

13

“I find myself just going straight to class everyday and straight back to the dorm to study. Every. Single. Day.”

That is pretty much the premed lifestyle.

The large majority of students who are premed never get into any medical school. Your concern is quite valid. If you barely don’t get into med school there are other options. However, there are also a lot of other biology majors who didn’t get into medical school who are competing for the same graduate programs. Doctor’s also accumulate a LOT of debt before they end up with their MD degrees. If someone gets part way through medical school but does not finish, the debt can be very hard to pay off.

If you look for a list of the best paying bachelor’s degrees, most of them have “engineering” in the title. “Software engineer” is usually quite close to the top of the list. There are a lot of very good jobs for graduates with just a bachelor’s degree in computer science. UC Berkeley also has one of the best computer science programs in the world.

14

Unfortunately studying non-stop is too much of a norm for an ‘average’ student to just stay on track; I was part of it, and I’m not sure if I could’ve done anything differently without risking further hit in GPA. I would like to first state that as some posts mentioned above, switching major primarily to maintain/increase GPA is risky because I’m fairly convinced there is no easy major in Berkeley.

Aside from major grade pressure, do you like the material you’re learning? If it wasn’t for grades, would you be looking forward to the upcoming chem/ochem classes? I’m asking this because there will be moments later in Berkeley that you need more motivation than now, and I’ve observed and experienced myself that having a decent interest in what you’re learning is a difference to study bit more, and often times resulting in better grades. So before discussing about parental pressure or grade pressure, I think the first thing is ensure what you’re studying is motivating and connects to your ideal career you have in mind.

For the med-school application, from what I’ve seen from my peers, I’m leaning to believe that grades are only small part of the admission decision. If you stay in the same state or nearby region, I think the schools understand that there is a grade deflation at Berkeley and adjust accordingly. I think it is more important to have a good statement of intent why you want to pursue a medical career, and this ties back to studying what you find motivating because there’s also a very good chance that you’ll write something much more compelling than those who are not really motivated for med school.

I’m not in the pre-med field, but I do yearly recruiting for Berkeley for my company and all of our recruiters more or less agree that 3.5+ is more than good enough, and worth a look for anything above 3.0. If you think you can maintain at 3.5 or higher, than I wouldn’t place any anxiousness on GPA. If you think you’re falling behind 3.0, then we can talk otherwise.
I have a friend who graduated with sub-3.0 GPA without any acceptance to med schools, he spent the next year and a half at OHSU getting more experience while recovering part of his GPA by re-taking some classes and eventually get in, and this guy has some serious passion to go into medical field, and thus have the patience to re-take the classes. Of course, this is where impatient parents can ruin it just because you’re not getting into grad school right away after undergrad, but we can worry about that later.

15

@ProfessorPlum168 interesting, thanks for sharing your story. I also appreciated the other personal viewpoints in this thread as well.

I write from my -perhaps narrow, tiny world of CS/DS/Cog.Sci majors- with very realistic dreams, such as getting a job that can help them pay student loans or get any pay job in the industry after graduation. We’re pretty much stuck devouring books like “Cracking the Code Interview.” I’m under the impression that as of 2019, programming is not just a core competency, but the main reason employers feel inclined to hiring newly grads or advanced students in these fields. I could be wrong, though, and this is why it’s great to have different viewpoints and a thoughtful debate.