Unsure About Major and/or Future Career

[Magnetosphere]

Yep. I'm proudly contributing to the mass of "I don't know what to do for my ______"-type threads.

To get to the point, I don't know whether or not I should do a double major comprised of International Relations and Russian or a single major of... astrophysics. I'm pretty sure that I want to go to medical school after my undergraduate studies are complete (so my choice of major doesn't much matter), but I've lately been tinkering with the idea of trying to get a PhD in Astrophysics. Though I haven't done much work in the field or with the subject, I find the study of the workings of the universe to be highly compelling. On the flip side, I've always loved psychiatry and the study of the brain, explaining why I've been considering medical school.

What I'd like to do is get a bachelor's degree in Astrophysics and then apply to medical school. Michigan State University (which is where I'll be going, once I transfer from community college) has one of the Top 10 physics programs in the United States, as well as decent programs for physics sub-specialties. I believe our nuclear physics graduate program is the best in the nation.

My problem is that I'm not sure if my math skills are anywhere near good enough to get through an astrophysics major and come out with a GPA worthy of a medical school application. The whole situation is odd for me, because I never went past Algebra II (advanced algebra) in high school. I only got a 19 in math on the ACT (compared to >99th percentile scores in Reading and English), although I was way better at math than most kids in my school (who were at the same level as me), and just as good, if not not better at general high school physics than one of my friends who scored 35 on the math portion of the ACT.

Of course, I know physics at the university level is going to be much tougher than the junk we had to do in high school. I also think that it would be much more interesting, and could satisfy a lot of my intellectual curiosity regarding the cosmos and whatnot.

Um, I guess my point in all of that was that the ACT says I suck at math, my personal experience tells me that I could probably do pretty well (provided I pay attention, which I didn't do in high school), and I just don't know what to do. I've been on the Student Doctor forums, and nearly everybody tells me that if I don't think I can maintain a stellar GPA I should go with a major I think I'd do better in. In my case, that would be the International Relations and Russian gig. I'm good with political problems and I'm typically gifted with languages. It'd be interesting and I'm confident that I could keep a good GPA. I just don't know if it's what I want.

Does anybody have any tips on figuring this out? Better yet, can anybody astro/physics experience elaborate on it? Do you have to be some kind of human calculator from Calcutta to succeed in astrophysics, or can a person without an immense background in math do just as well if they put in the extra effort?

 

[pjoa09]

I don't know much but, why are you doing a major in International Relations or Astrophysics if you want to go to medical school?

 

[EvilScientist Trainee]

I don't really understand the education system outside of my own country's system. So, I have to ask: How does astrophysics can get you into med school? And how are you going to use that knowledge in your medical career?

Sometimes, I think it's better to specialize in your future work area, but you don't have to ignore your own favorite subjects. I'm a pharmacy/biochemistry student, but I still enjoy reading lots on astronomy and physics, but I do that as a hobby. I'll pick on books on the subject and read it by myself (Quantum physics, anyone?), but I know I won't be willing to give up on my biology to become a physicist.

If you really need to choose, choose the one that will make you feel better by spending a huge deal of your time dealing with. Can you imagine yourself doing a job that you're not passionate about? Neither can I.

And when we're talking about the health care, lack of inspiration can kill someone else.

 

[Zensunni]

Medical school is a lot of memorization, just as is math. Politics is a lot of learning the fundamentals and then opining, which is not memorization.If you want to do something for the rest of your life, choose it and don't let the difficulty of it dissuade you. Astrophysics does involve a lot of math which may help you on your MCAT's.

Honestly though, if you are interested in medical school you might as well take the classes as an undergraduate so that graduate school is not a complete shock to you: biology, chemistry, anatomy, etc. If you do this, graduate school will be a review. If you don't, and I have been to graduate school, your 60-80 hours a week of reading and studying turns into 100 hours because it is all so foreign to you. It is very difficult to learn something for the first time and learn it in-depth. In-depth learning is what graduate school is about. I do not recommend having your first exposure to an entire field of study occur at the graduate level. Some schools may not even take you and, as in most graduate programs, will require you to take undergraduate courses which are lacking from your academic record as primers before letting you take any graduate classes. I do not know if that is the case with medical schools though.

For medical school, however, most people load up on science courses as undergraduates.

 

[Magnetosphere]

I'm using a proxy on a slow computer, so I'm not going to take the time to use the "Quote" function properly. I apologize in advance for that.To answer the question of those who asked why I'm considering either of those two majors for medical school - it's relatively common knowledge that medical schools don't much care what you major in, so long as you have a high GPA, good extracurricular activities, and score well on your MCAT. A friend of a friend majored in astrophysics and went to medical school not long after. I've known, or have heard of people majoring in everything from music to political science to packaging getting into good medical schools. Everything I've heard from people on various forums indicates that I should go with what I enjoy as an undergraduate, not what I think I'll have to do to get into medical school. I do think that the above posters have good points, though. I'd plan on taking a few "extra" science courses (in addition to the standard pre-med courses of organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, etc), but one of my main fears is getting sucked into a world of classes I couldn't care less about. If I can find a major that's more scientifically-geared (while still relevant to my future graduate studies) yet is still of interest to me (I can't say that I find general biology to be too intriguing. Then again, I've never taken any advanced classes), I'd happily go with that. If anybody has any ideas, based off of what I've said so far and my other areas of interest, that'd be fantastic. Thanks for the posts.

 

[Magnetosphere]

Okay, sorry for two things: ---1) The block paragraph in the above post. I had everything properly formatted, but the proxy must have screwed something up. ---2) The double post. ---Now I've noticed that I've formatted this post, too, and it likely won't come out correctly.

 

[pjoa09]

Why are you going to medical school again?

Besides astrophysics doesn't sound so lucky. Astrology + Physics = I did shit loads of math let me do some in another galaxy.

But then again, I am appalled by wife-swapping.

 

[Magnetosphere]

Astrology? Do you mean astronomy, or are you making a joke? Er...

To each his own. While it can't be quantified, I'm sure that there are plenty of people who share your sentiment on astrophysics. For better or for worse, I have an interest in how and why the universe works in the ways that it does. Earth is so insignificant and tiny when examined and placed alongside the vastness of even the Milky Way. I'd sincerely like to voyage to other places in deep space, if the technology were to come into existence in my lifetime - since we all know that isn't going to happen, I'm pretty content with theoretical speculation and tinkering with astronomical models.

I'm probably too dumb to handle calculus, though.

On the subject of medicine, I'd like to go into that field because it's the only one that I have any vested passion or interest in (astrophysics is a pretty new fascination for me. I love it, but I don't know nearly enough about it as I'd like). I've been volunteering at hospitals for several years and have not felt "at home" in any other environment. It clicks with me, and it's what I feel I'd like to do with my life.

I could go into greater detail about my life, but for some reason, I doubt that anyone would be too interested in that.