<p>Two MD parents here…we would be fine with our kids choosing medicine over law, but I can’t help but say, healthy kids vs. sick kids…VERY different.</p>
<p>oh, well i knew that there is no pre-med major…but a title that said “how can i tell my parents that i want to focus on fulfilling my pre-med requirements because i’d rather be a doctor than a lawyer” was a little long haha, but those areeee some good suggestions! and back when i didn’t actively think for myself and was a-okay with being my parents’ puppet and becoming a lawyer, “environmental” was one of the specialties i threw around as a possibility way in the future maybe when asked.</p>
<p>and shrinkrap i don’t get it…do you mean that being around and taking care of healthy kids is very different from being around and taking care of sick kids? because if so, i could imagine so…I just haven’t had much contact with really sick kids. i mean, there’s nephews and baby cousins with colds and that’s nothing serious at all. i’m confused by what you meant…</p>
<p>I am a Child Psychiatrist after a brief stint in pediatrics. I LOVE working with kids. Seeing them sick, suffering, and dying, having to do things ( procedures, medicines) that hurt them, is very different. It looks like the care of HEALTHY kids will be in the hands of nurse practitioners. Kids today are pretty healthy. A lot of what is left is “just” psychosocial. I think “developmental pediatrics” would be a pretty good place to be.</p>
<p>ohhhh, okay! thanks for the insight, that’s definitely something to think about!</p>
<p>Another physician here. Remember that premed is an intention, not a major. You love science- your freshman year can include science to meet graduation requirements, make it chemistry that will also help with getting premed reqs done in time. Math is useful for many fields now so you can sneak in calculus- if you can’t handle the math you won’t be competitive for medical school, you may as well find out. After freshman year you will know how you do in the math/science courses and can plan from there. You will also have several other courses to help you decide your major. Prelaw has the advantage of no specific courses required so you can be preparing for both law and medicine at the same time. By the time you are halfway through college you will be much older and presumably more mature; your parents are more likely to pay attention to your future plans at that stage. Good luck.</p>
<p>For premed you need 1 year of bio w/lab; 1 year of physics w/lab, one year of calc + stats, 1 year of general chem and 1 year of ochem.</p>
<p>Bio fulfills a GE for life sciences
Math fulfills a GE for math
Physics fulfills a GE for non life science</p>
<p>So then just fit in the chem and you have taken the premed reqs and ‘checked boxes’ for GE requirements for the core or breadth requirements at most schools and not had to declare any major.</p>
<p>My DD did not declare a major until junior year, but she took those premed reqs to fulfill her GE to keep all options open whilst exploring her choices. You don’t have to give any one your reason for picking those classes. The only down side is that if you later choose not to go into med school, you have fulfilled the GE reqs with classes that are much more difficult than you needed to use and likely with a much tougher curve!</p>
<p>I’m with blackeyedsusan above - I’ve been a lawyer for 25 years and of the literally thousands of attorneys I’ve worked with over the years, I can count on my two hands the number who actually loved what they do. (I am most definitely not one of them). </p>
<p>I wish college freshman at 18 years old were not expected to know what they wanted to do with the rest of their lives, it’s crazy. In the olden days, college was for pursuing lots of different areas of study so you COULD figure out what you wanted to do with your life. </p>
<p>There is a reason they call it work - it’s a job, and you have to have some passion, some love for what you do with your life. I agree with the other posters that you don’t have to necessarily declare a major going in to college - tell your parents you are keeping your options open.</p>