Searching for College/Career advice (long post/all opinions welcome!)

[TeeBeez]

First off, hey! I'm new here a friend suggested I come here with my issue to get your opinions..... so here i am

I'm 19, in my 3rd semester and have had 2 majors so far. I came to college as a biochemistry major because that was the program I was apart of in high school. I did good usually 90-95s on most of my tests (exams were a diff story!). I don't like biology at all. My chemistry work was way more relevant to me than my biology work.

So I got stressed out with biology and all my other classes and stopped going. My chemistry grade was fine, everything else.. Ds and an F. Needless to say I got a 1.x GPA that semester. I decided to take an "easier" major to pull my GPA up. I became a psychology major and brought my GPA up a little. I figured it was great that I was making progress and I'd go to grad school, get a Ph. D. in psychology and live a cool life.

Then I read an article that my school has increased the acceptance GPA for graduate programs to 3.0 following the lead of other universities in America. This freaked me out and I realized I'd probably never get into a grad school with my 1.9. And only having a Bachelor's in psychology gives you limited career options. The department tells you that the day you sign up to be a psych major.

I know I'm not going to grad school. I can't get into med school. My psych B.A. that I can have in Dec 2007 is going to get me no where. So I decided to switch back to what I orignally always liked, Chemistry. I already have a decent background in it. I already took many of the required chem major courses when I was a biochemistry student. I think this major would be more useful to me. Plus I'd rather get Cs in chemistry than getting Cs in psychology.

Another issue with me is I really want to move on and begin living my life making my own living. I feel like not having a set career goal is keeping me behind. I want to get a good degree as soon as possible.

My questions are:
-Should I stick with psychology just so I could get out of school faster to start my life?
-I really don't think a B.A. in psych is worth anything. What do you think?
-I'm not looking to be rich or have a $100,000/yr salary. I just want to have a good degree that could get me a nice/steady entry level job. Do you think going back to chemistry is a good choice?
-After hearing what I enjoy to learn (chemistry, and sciences related to humans) and what I'm looking to get out of college (a 4yr degree that would lead to a decent job without going on to graduate education) do you know of a different field of study I should look into that I haven't tried yet?

Yeah, stressful. I'm pretty sure if this happens to me again I'm gonna drop out. ..

Sorry to be so long! Props to anyone who actually reads all this.

 

[dbighead2]

do the chem, everybody does psych or business

What do you enjoy doing, have you ever thought of going to a trade school instead of a 4 year? I'd look into that too, a lot of your credits would transfer over.

 

[fairnymph]

It seems like you really like chemistry, and are good at it. How are you at math and physics? If you are good at those, I say go for a straight chemistry degree.

You can get a good job with lots of potential for promotion/advancement with a chemistry BS.

 

[TeeBeez]

dbighead2: at times I considered a trade school, but I'd feel more acomplished graduating with a 4yr degree from a university. Yeah, someone was telling me to do business, but thats definitely not the route I want to take. Everyone is trying to "start a business".

fairnymph: I'm basically good with anything that has definite answers and formulas. I took only one year of physics in high school and I did fine. Mostly 85-90 grades. I'm good at math, but I'm afraid to take calc. But either way I've come to the conclusion I'm going to have to take it...

 

[fairnymph]

Yes, you will def have to take calc. You should anyway -- it's basic knowledge these days.

If you're good at physics, you'll do fine with calc.

I definitely think you should go the chem degree route based on what you've said.

If you get some good research/lab experience as an undergrad you should be able to get a job upon graduating making $40-70k/year, with lots of room for advancement and raises.

 

[protovack]

Should I stick with psychology just so I could get out of school faster to start my life?

NO

-I really don't think a B.A. in psych is worth anything. What do you think?

That is somewhat correct. The value is that you learn about psycholgoy. However, if you don't want to pursue it further, don't get it.

-I'm not looking to be rich or have a $100,000/yr salary. I just want to have a good degree that could get me a nice/steady entry level job. Do you think going back to chemistry is a good choice?

If you love chemistry, do it! Don't ignore the other stuff though. Take biology too. Biotechnology and genetics are fusing with chemistry more than ever.

-After hearing what I enjoy to learn (chemistry, and sciences related to humans) and what I'm looking to get out of college (a 4yr degree that would lead to a decent job without going on to graduate education) do you know of a different field of study I should look into that I haven't tried yet?

It sounds like you like chemistry alot. You could switch to a business major but would you like it? Probably not. If you like science do science. And don't be afraid to minor in something like psych or political science or whatever (get your writing/communication skills up).

 

[JerseyGirl]

See about possilby doing a little bit of extra work and getting a secondary education degree and find a job teaching chem. Psych degrees definitly help, and it'll help pay off student loans and give you a chance to deicde on what else you want to do. a lot of teachers in my school have had a lot of psych classes. If you like chemistry, teaching it might be right up your alley, and you make a nice bit of money depending on where in teh country you are (here starting salary is 36k/year)

 

[Pct]

If it's only your third semester you have plenty of time to bring your 1.9 GPA above a 3.0 as long as you can maintain a B+/A- for the remaining semesters. If you still would like to apply to grad school, I'm sure the admissions people will pay more attention to your second and third year grades. I don't think its that uncommon for people to screw up their first year because they are confused as to what they want to do. As long as you can show that you know what you want and are a serious student by the time you apply to grad school, youll have a good shot.

I think in any program there are going to be classes you dont like, but youre still going to have to take them. Even in the chemistry major you will see that there are class requirements that you don't like as much as others. You can try chemistry, but don't expect it to be much easier than biochemistry. Like JerseyGirl said, if you like teaching, you should think about becoming a chemistry teacher. They are needed very badly in most places so getting a job will be easy. It also pays higher than being a lab technician (which is probably all you'll be in the lab with a chem BS) and I think its much more rewarding.