I’m aiming to take the mcat but if that doesn’t work out I’m gonna fall back and try to become a nurse. I wanna major in biology but i feel like if medical school or becoming a nurse doesn’t work out for me I’m gonna struggle to find a job with a biology degree. So I’m considering taking computer science along with biology. I’m attending city college this fall so if anyone has any experience or suggestions please feel free to help me out.
CS is not a job that’s an easy fallback - you’ll have to enjoy programming itself enough to do it for work, and it’s going to be hard to keep up with that and biology at the same time in my opinion. If you have prior experience and think it will be a good option for you, great. But don’t choose it just because the jb prospects are good right now.
If you weren’t a nurse or doctor or the like, what would you want to work in? Make sure to pick a major/minor that gears you up for that as well as pre-med courses.
I would also suggest that you visit the career center at your college and take some of their test to see what kind of job environments appeal to you.
Agree, CS is a demanding major and not really a fallback.
I can’t help you in figuring out careers that a bio major might lead you into directly. But I do know that there are many allied health fields you can explore such as an Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist, Speech Therapist, Nurse, Physicians Assistant, etc. You could also explore becoming a biology teacher. With a bio major, all of these options would require grad school.
Also keep in mind that you can go to med school with any undergraduate major as long as you fulfill the pre-med requirements.
^^^ In the large Houston Independent School District, Biology/Sciences grade 7-12 (and other areas where they are short teachers) are eligible for an alternative teacher certification program. You do not need a masters.
I don’t want a nurse who is doing it as Plan B.
^^ I wouldn’t have an issue if a person decided to move out of pre-med and do nursing. Many ultimately decide that they don’t want the long haul that med school requires but remain interested in patient care.
Nursing is not a plan B to pre-med. They are two very different tracks. By the time you take the MCAT (Junior or Senior year) it would be too late to go into the nursing progam…you would have to do multiple extra years of classes.
By the timeyou take Organic chemistry you will find out whether you are on track to medical school.
Also, you do not have to major in Biology to be pre-med…you can major in whatever you want as long as you take the pre-med courses (bio, chem, org chem, etc.)
You know, I see a lot of students here on CC trying to put in place a bunch of failsafes for their future. “If this doesn’t work out, then I’m going to do this, and then this.” Far be it from me to say that having a Plan B and a Plan C aren’t a good idea - I’m the master of multiple plans - but there is such a thing as stretching it a little too far.
At some point, you are going to have to pick something and there’s a risk inherent in ALL of the careers you pick. There’s really no way to prepare for medical school, nursing, and computer science at the same time. Pick a path that you’re actually interested in and pursue that. If you decide to change your mind later - you can do that. There are lots of different ways to slide sideways into a different career. You can, for example, major in biology and learn how to program (if you actually like it) and become a software developer with a biology major. Or you could try out pre-med and if you don’t get into medical school go do one of the millions of jobs that doesn’t really care what your major is. A biology degree doesn’t mean y ou have to struggle to find a job - but remember that you don’t have to major in biology to be pre-med.
You’ve probably had several nurses who are doing it as a Plan B. It’s a very popular second (or third, or fourth, etc.) career choice for adults changing careers. They can be very good and passionate nurses.
Some sort of Econ or Business degree would make more sense than CS if you really want a failsafe I’d think. Unless you are actually interested in CS.
There are so many jobs in the medical field-- it’s not a choice of doctor, nurse, or something else.
You could be a PA, or a physical therapist, an athletic trainer, or a million other things.
And why wouldn’t you do well on the MCAT?