Engineering vs. Business....to med

[rien]

I'm sure i've read all the eng threads on this forum so don't link me please! please none of the "follow your heart", "do what you love and the money will come" "do what you're better at" talk because i'm willing to work hard and stick it out to the end to attain the later benefits.

Despite contemplating over a few months, I still don't know if I want/should to go into business or engineering. The goal is to get into med school but through an "alternate" faculty, not science like everyone else. Science = nothingness if not med, optometry, dentistry or pharmacy. My HS chem teacher who supposedly had a 99% average in chem at UBC is teaching HS which is the absolute last place I want to end up. I know i know… there are other jobs out there in the sci field and I shouldn't be so narrow-minded. Business or eng as a plan B in the case that my plan A…becoming a doctor.. fails so at least I would have some degree to fall back on. I would *think* there are good job prospects in either field.

Med school -->
- doesn't matter degree, as long as prerequisites are fulfilled
- high GPA
- everyone wants to be a doctor -_- so very competitive

engineering
- hard to get high GPA
- no social life
- I know at UBC through eng there is a "pre-med alternate path" that you can apply into first year so for electives you take all the science prereqs. I hear that's what where the sci rejects go.
- no other girls….
- more technical
- my optometrist has a bachelors in eng physics at ubc so that could be an option

business
- more of social life
- can take sci electives
- easier workload in comparison
- more applicable to real life? practicality?

----> can get MBA after engineering but can't go from business to engineering

I'm not looking for life changing advice on RS, just like to see what people think, seeing as i have to apply in a few short months. i thought you could apply to 2 faculties and get acceptance/rejections for both before having to decide but it's not that way---if you get your 1st choice, they don't evaluate your second---at least for UBC. So... job prospects, personal opinions, experiences? which is the better out of the two? i appreciate ANY output on biz, eng, med, etc!

PM me if you don't want to post here

[JHatta]

not everyone can make it though engineering. I suggest you go into business if you are just using it as a stepping stone into med school.

[twitchyzero]

take arts...find an easy major...get killer marks and do lots of volunteering and such. you'll end up with a killer gpa and have a nice application of extra-curriculars.

sure it's not much of a back-up..but why not do it right for what you really want instead of falling on your back-up? You'll have more fun this way and not have to stress about homework every night..which is completely the opposite in engineering.

if for any reason taht doesn't work out..you can always return and take the DAP as back-up.

and i think your chem teacher is exaggerating..that or he had no real-life skills other than getting good grades.

[SiRV]

why not apply to pharmacy?

[yameen]

in terms of self-fulfillment and a rewarding job, i would definitely choose med over pharm. unless you're doing clinical pharm, which has more patient interaction, working behind the counter can be quite stale. however, if you're in it for the money, pharm gives you a good salary, but so does med.

this gives you an idea of what you're getting yourself into: http://www.funadvice.com/q/wich_one_should_i_be

i'm in the nursing program right now which i totally love, and i thought about med for a long time but i don't think i could handle the stress and program. read through that link and it gives a pretty good outline of what to expect from the beginning to end of medicine.

as long as you have a good gpa, a great mcat score, and extracurricular activities/volunteer, this will give you a good chance. concentrate on the mcat though because that gauges more of your understanding of sciences. a friend who was nearly failing most of his biochemistry courses was getting all A's in business.

[rien]

Originally Posted by SiR_vfung

why not apply to pharmacy?

I don't think you could apply to pharmacy unless you are in a science program

Originally Posted by twitchyzero

take arts...find an easy major...get killer marks and do lots of volunteering and such. you'll end up with a killer gpa and have a nice application of extra-curriculars.

sure it's not much of a back-up..but why not do it right for what you really want instead of falling on your back-up? You'll have more fun this way and not have to stress about homework every night..which is completely the opposite in engineering.

if for any reason taht doesn't work out..you can always return and take the DAP as back-up.

and i think your chem teacher is exaggerating..that or he had no real-life skills other than getting good grades.

What is DAP?

Originally Posted by TG

in terms of self-fulfillment and a rewarding job, i would definitely choose med over pharm. unless you're doing clinical pharm, which has more patient interaction, working behind the counter can be quite stale. however, if you're in it for the money, pharm gives you a good salary, but so does med.

this gives you an idea of what you're getting yourself into: http://www.funadvice.com/q/wich_one_should_i_be

i'm in the nursing program right now which i totally love, and i thought about med for a long time but i don't think i could handle the stress and program. read through that link and it gives a pretty good outline of what to expect from the beginning to end of medicine.

as long as you have a good gpa, a great mcat score, and extracurricular activities/volunteer, this will give you a good chance. concentrate on the mcat though because that gauges more of your understanding of sciences. a friend who was nearly failing most of his biochemistry courses was getting all A's in business.

Thanks for the link...but nursing definitely is not for me.
Are you at UBC?

[Okami]

Originally Posted by rien

I don't think you could apply to pharmacy unless you are in a science program

i dont think they care as long as you took the 10 first year courses and pcat. you can also lie at the interview, finish pharmacy then apply to med school after and have a $35/hour part time job while studying.

[twitchyzero]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=DAP+UBC

[kaitamasaki]

definitely business or even better, arts as a stepping stone.
engineering is a no-no unless you plan your courses well and that is your true interest. and if you are actually doing very well in engineering, you might as well just become an engineer. you can also consider biomedical engineering i guess..

[TheNewGirl]

Have you looked at the psychology route? The course load is a lot lighter but you can still cover a lot of the medical fundimentals (through psych I did neuro, pharm, biological research and so on). I was going into research but I'd looked at the med school requirements and they fit the bill.

[rien]

Originally Posted by rice_demon

i dont think they care as long as you took the 10 first year courses and pcat. you can also lie at the interview, finish pharmacy then apply to med school after and have a $35/hour part time job while studying.

I emailed the pharm admissions at UBC to conform and yeah you're right. I'll keep this in mind

[jcxzero]

Originally Posted by rien

My HS chem teacher who supposedly had a 99% average in chem at UBC
engineering

I am 100% certain that is impossible. Even if it were true, someone who has a 99% average in chemistry would not be teaching in HS unless that is their dream job, which is doubtful.

Originally Posted by rien

- hard to get high GPA
- no social life
- I know at UBC through eng there is a "pre-med alternate path" that you can apply into first year so for electives you take all the science prereqs. I hear that's what where the sci rejects go.
- no other girls….
- more technical
- my optometrist has a bachelors in eng physics at ubc so that could be an option

Unless you are interested in engineering at all, good luck getting even an A- average.

[twitchyzero]

i like how i brought up DAT in here and 2 DAT threads pop up