Hello, I am a graduating senior who was thinking about becoming a transfer student.
In my application I applied to be a physics major because that is what I originally wanted to do, but I now was thinking about going into the medical field. My stats in high school were okay, and the only school I got into that I am considering was UCSB for physics.
I could change my major to something more related to premed (biopsychology for example), but from my current understanding UCSB is not the most ideal university for a student interested in pre-med (lack of pre-med culture, little research opportunities for bio/chem, no hospital). I also realize that housing could be very pricey there, and I am worried that I would harm my family financially for something that is not really worth the money.
My question is if I were to go to community college for my first two years, would my time in cc negatively affect how med schools view my application? And would it be worth it to go to UCSB as a pre-med?
You can be a physics major while also doing the pre-med courses. About half of medical school applicants and matriculants had undergraduate majors other than biological sciences. Biology just happens to be convenient in that the major courses have the most overlap with specified pre-med courses.
Some medical schools look down on pre-med courses taken at community colleges, so that may constrain your major choice to one which includes enough upper level BCPM (biology, chemistry, physics, math) courses, or one with enough unallocated schedule space to take the needed BCPM courses after transfer.
I did not realize that you could be a pre-med as a physics major, thank you for that information! Although I enjoy physics, my main concern with this option is that I may not be able to keep a competitive gpa with that major (3.8+) while taking upper division physics courses my junior and senior year. I am not bad at physics, but I feel like there would be so much pressure to excel in these very difficult classes on top of my already difficult pre-med requirements because if I fail to get mostly A’s I will be screwed for med school.
I see, so would that be the case if I were to solely take gen classes in cc just to get the necessary credits to get my Associates in Bio? Or if I were to go to the cc route should I get my associates in something that does not require many science classes and do my pre-med requirements at the university that I get into instead?
My family has assured me that they can afford it, but I have a sibling currently at UCSD and I know that they had a hard time paying for that, and I also have another sibling trying to get into a good school so I don’t want to add to that financial pressure to go to a college that may not benefit my goals enough.
The example I love to give to potential pre-med students worried about their choice of major is my radiation oncologist who got her BA in English Literature and went on to Harvard Medical School. You really can major in anything you like.
OP, most pre-med students never go on to attend medical school. Some students eventually change major, other never got accept to any medical school. You may not want to make college decision solely based on medical school plan in the future. Good Luck.
I know that it’s stressful to worry about causing financial harm to your family, so I really feel for you.
Maybe it would be helpful for your family to get together and have more conversations about financial planning. It would be good to feel more confident that your family can afford college for all three of you. And on the other hand, if it really will cause financial hardship to pay for college for all three of you, I think it would be better to make any cost savings decisions as a family, instead of trying to take on the cost savings burden independently.
One daughter was pre-vet (the required classes are the same as the required premed classes). She thought of the required maths and physics classes as solid A’s to offset a few B’s (and one B-) that she got in other classes (eg, organic chemistry). This will of course vary from one student to another, and she did not get into upper year physics classes such as relativity or quantum physics.
My favorite example is the art student who went on to medical school and became a surgeon who specializes in robot-assisted surgery. There is a video on-line of him using a robot-assisted surgery system to paint a very small picture of the hospital where he works.
My older daughter was a physics major who went to med school. It can be done. It just requires a bit more planning on your part.
But before you start rearranging your life… how do you know you want to be a doctor? Have done any shadowing of healthcare providers? Volunteered at a clinic or hospital?
Think deeply about how you envision your future career. Do you want to be involved in hands on patient care or do you prefer to work in a lab setting?
I would recommend starting there first. Then once you’re convinced that medicine is the path you want to follow, only then worry about what’s the best way to approach it.
BTW, there are careers that combine physics with healthcare. These range from radiation oncologist to medical physicist to nuclear medicine technologist to radiation therapist to MRI technologist. Only one of these requires a MD. (Had my daughter not received a med school acceptance, she would have pursued medical physics. She dual applied to med school and grad school and had been accepted–with a scholarship!-- to a health physics grad program before her first med school acceptance came.)
But in regard to your original question–doing 2 years at a CC then finishing your degree at a 4 year college will absolutely NOT keep you from being a viable candidate for med school, but you will have to be mindful of what classes you take at the CC and be prepared to take a gap year or years post college to help you prepare a strong med school application profile. (You won’t be alone. 2/3rd of successful med school applicants take 1-3 gap year post college to strengthen their CVs before applying to medical school.)
If you transfer, I would not complete all the premed requirements at CC but instead leave some to be completed at UCSB so medical schools can see you can succeed with a four-year university’s rigor and grading scheme.
Upper level biochemistry and genetics, and calculus based statistics, would generally need to be taken at a four year school. With a major in a BCPM subject, a pre-med will have plenty of upper level BCPM courses at a four year school, although if medical schools want specific lower level courses taken at a four year school, that can make scheduling more difficult.
Included in “if medical schools want specific lower level courses taken at a four year school”, since organic chemistry is usually a sophomore level course for chemistry and biology majors.
It’s great that you’re thinking of a career in the medical field but as @WayOutWestMom already pointed out that isn’t enough to conclude you should become a doctor.
In addition to medical physics already mentioned, some of the myriad medical careers include physical therapists, radiology techs, perfusionists, speech pathologists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, to name but just a few as shown on http://explorehealthcareers.org Careers that pay well and take less than 11+ years of education and training plus the immense debt incurred when becoming a M.D.
Until you’ve carefully considered the alternatives and have first-hand volunteer experience I suggest thinking of yourself at the stage of considering medicine. You can start this summer with volunteering at a hospital or clinic in your area and then work with the career center at college to figure out what’s right for you.
