chem,  courses,  med school

someone get this student 10 mojitos and a backrub

Ok, heres the deal. I have major issues on deciding where I want to go in life
(ex. career). I’m entering 2nd year and I’m torn on whether to study something
like architecutre/english or human biology. Firstly, I am bad at math and I am
frightened of CHM139. Plus, I dont want a crappy GPA at the end of my undergrad
so that it hinders my competitveness for grad schools. I feel, or I should say
engrained, that getting a BSC is like so godly where as a BA is like for stupid
or lazy people. AHHH. Am I being lazy for not wanting to enter biology despite
the fact it interests me? Plus, I know that our undergrad programs don’t matter
for law/medical schools, but in reality how many non-science undergrads actually
make it into med school?

Thanks for the advice wise one lol!

we at aska have always tried to keep the vibe of detectives. batman, sherlock holmes, encyclopedia brown…your question is rife with clues about you. there’s enough that suggest that you should probably sit down with an academic counselor and maybe talk about where you’re at, because you have what could be a boatload of misconceptions.

your need to decide where to go in “life (ex career)”…well which one is it? life? career? my life advice is generally as such: have fun doing something meaningful with your time, learn to cook well and use those skills to eat well, listen to music, read a lot, date if you’re into that too. career advice….well, i’m just as frakked as everyone else.

in your question, you mention options like architecture/english, or biology. architecture and english are WAY different, as different from each other as they are from biology. and in terms of your decision, misspelling “architecutre” doesn’t seem to indicate that much interest.

so you want a GPA that keeps you competitive for grad school, but then you say “undergrad programs don’t matter for law/medical school”? though it’s true that med schools require more than just a pretty smile and a high GPA these days, undergrad is still very important. from that and the rest of the question, it sounds like you’re big into medical school. though i can’t give you definitive figures, students are not required to have a science degree to apply; at McMaster, a humanities background can be seen as an asset. after all, med schools look for well-rounded individuals in their interviews.

where i start to get very confused is when you say that you feel ‘engrained’ that biology is the way to go. you also say you’re very interested in biology. so which is it? do you have a genuine interest in studying bio, or are you being told that’s what you have to do? my guess is this must be coming from others, as i’d be surprised that you could have studied here for a year and still think that studying humanities is for “stupid or lazy people”. it’s not, and i’d wager that there are many a biology student who would do way worse in humanities than i would be at science.

my advice is this: study what you want to study. as long as you take the prerequisites for medical school, you can get in, and the same goes for other graduate programs. you can take a mix of biology and elective subjects; if english and architecture interest you, you can take that too. whoever is engraining you with false information about the value of different degrees and the chances of getting into grad school, don’t listen to them too much. the #1 askastudent tip of all-time is: parents are crazy

4 Comments

  • Jana

    do a double major, one in humanities, and the other in science. then when you graduate if you want a BSC or BA

  • MIKE

    don’t be convinced otherwise, humanities degrees are bull shit for the most part. Science students take arts credits to boost their GPA’s. If you want to breeze through life, spend money like it’s going out of style and be no further ahead in 4 years, get a BA buddy.

  • Tori

    Jaded opinions are uninformative and bias (Cough…Mike). Classes and programs are as individual as the people participating in them. Science programs are geared towards memorizing details and regurgitation. I found Humanities and Social Science programs focus on critical and free thought as well as enhancing ones writing skills. I suppose if you have an apptitude for qualification in the second type of degree it would be “easy” to get by. To do really well in humanities takes effort and research and something that the intellectual sciences lack…heart!
    But to be perfectly honest both degrees are awesome especially if they are from UofT.

  • Kendra

    A lot of corporations will choose a person applying with an Arts degree over a someone with a Science degree. The ability to critically analyze is vital. I’ve had superior’s from internships as well as Professors’ say Science courses are “Rut Run” courses, if you can memorize you can do them well. I dont particularaly agree with that I think it depends on what you are applying for after your undergrad. For example Law school’s view Criminology courses as “Rut Run”. Partly because the give students a false sense of security/hope, as well they dont focus on analyzing the way a History or Political Science course would. This information regarding the law school preferences is from a reliable administrative source from UofT Law Faculty.

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