less melodrama please pre-meds, this isn’t Grey’s Anatomy

Hey aska
I’m a first year life science student in st.george. I was planning to get straight As and get into medicine or health field, but chm139 blasted a hole in my gpa. I’m still getting As in most courses, and some Bs in those that are not. Assuming i don’t bomb the exams (not likly since the brains in the uni decided to put chm138 and mat135 on the first day of exam), i should still manage a 3.5-3.6 gpa. Worse of all, i have been focused on studying and haven’t been volunteering, padding my EC and resume much.

So i think its probably time to quit pursuing that field. With this mark what is some other options for me? Say if i continued down life science with somewhere around this mark, would i be able to choose a masters i want, any inspirational story about someone barely passing chm139 and become chm phds? If not, would other programs like engineer/commerce (is commerce a useful degree?) still accept me? Some other programs that makes a decent living but i haven’t considered, heard of Just list somethings i can look into before i get trapped in life sci in second year. Don’t get me wrong i love some of the courses i’m taking (psy100 should be a required course!), but i do not want to end up with a useless degree with the amount of debt i will be in.

thanks and have a good exam (if you still have those silly things)

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I think you are overreacting just a little bit. A 3.5-3.6 GPA is mighty fine, especially for a first-year student, and you should be happy that you are getting A’s and B’s in your courses. It may not be enough to get you into med school YET, but there is still a lot of time to pull that cGPA up. Besides, Medical School (at UofT, at least) drops the three or four FCEs in which scored the lowest grades. Regarding CHM138 and MAT135: virtually everyone has a bad encounter with the exam timetable once or twice in their undergraduate careers, so just think of it as one of the many trials of your University life. I understand that you’re worried, but at the same time, I think it’s important to keep a clear head! Don’t let your worries get bigger than they actually are.

Actually, I do have an inspiring story for you. My psychology prof last year, Dr. *insert fake name here*, told the whole class that he almost failed first year and guess what? Now he has a Ph. D. in psychology and is inspiring more students to continue their studies in psychology. You’ve only got ONE bad mark, and you have a good GPA. Try not to panic now. Give yourself some breathing room.

I get the sense that you’re not seeing the bigger picture. It’s true that Arts and Science degrees don’t lead to a set career, unlike other programs like engineering and commerce. But please, ignore the rumors that people spread about engineering and commerce students reaping in all the moulah, or becoming frontrunners of the economy. A life science degree is not “useless”. There are many jobs available to Arts and Science students, and to quote the Career Centre website:

According to the recent Ontario University Graduate Survey, 46% of graduates do not work in fields closely related to their program of study. Most arts and science graduates are recruited for their trained mind and not for their specialist knowledge.

My advice is that you do NOT switch to engineering or commerce or computer science unless you’re passionate about those fields. I would know. I tried out engineering, had no passion for it, and I spent my first year as a miserable and sulky jerk. I don’t want you to end up like me. Financially, engineering and commerce degrees are actually more expensive than Arts and Science degrees – not to mention that as a transfer student, you would probably have to start back at square one and take first year again. However, if you are genuinely interested in these fields, it may be worth doing more research on how to do an internal transfer.

Also, maybe it’s better if you got away from the I’m taking an Arts and Science degree to get into a specific job mindset and started thinking instead about the skills you get from your degree. In the “real world”, employers care less about the courses that you’ve taken at University and more about the skills that you have. Besides, as an Arts and Science student, you have many opportunities and fields at your fingertips. Go exploring! Go dig up your ArtSci calendar and chart out those courses that you like! I see you’ve already done that with psychology – why not take some more psychology courses as electives?

Another thing that ties in with the “skills” thing is extra-curricular activities. Have you thought about getting a work-study job next year? That way, you can go to school and work at the same time. Volunteering may also be a good idea. Working and volunteering give you practical experience, which I think will give you a lot of perspective as to how useful your degree will be. I know you haven’t had a lot of extra-curricular experience – don’t worry about that for now. There’s always next year.

Finally, remember also to enjoy yourself. Join extra-curricular activities that you’re interested in and make new friends. Get an internship in a field you see yourself being in. Have fun. There’s more to school than the grades on your transcript, right?