Premed questions? Ask here.

celestial605
Fri, 13 Apr 2007 14:31:34 +0000

I absolutely applaud everything jwj said, especially point #2 and his final argument. Yay.

At first, I was actually somewhat against the idea of “exploring” in college. I came in as a determined premed (I have wanted to be a doctor since I was 6), and I thought I was going to be a chemistry major. I just wanted to get through college and move on with life. My advisor convinced me to pick a class that looked interesting to me and just take it; I decided to go for it, and I took Brain and Behavior my first quarter of freshman year. Before college, I had never even thought about going into neurosciences. It surely wasn’t a topic that had been taught in high school. I actually fell in love with the subject, and while I’m still premed now (and about to start applying to medical school), I’ve become a biology major pursuing honors in neurobiology with a psychology minor.

My point is that many students come into college and find that there are classes available that they had never dreamed of. My high school had basic chemistry, US history, English, US government, physics, calculus, etc. There’s so much more in life than what you see in high school, and you never know what subject you’ll become passionate about until you get those opportunities to take those classes. Some people have fallen in love with unexpected subjects and decided not to be premed anymore. Others, like myself, have stayed premed but pursued majors and research that they had never expected to pursue. I think that it’s very important during this time of growth to have lots of opportunities and options available and to not find yourself bound into a particular fate, which you may or may not appreciate. (I’m saying “you” to be general; I know that you were asking for your son.)