Best second degree?

[MyGPAsucks]

My GPA isn't the greatest (refer to my username) so I'm considering doing a second degree. I've already done all the self-reflection and determined how I need to improve, etc etc, the main thing I'm wondering now is: what second degree should I go for?

 

My first degree (which I'm graduating from this year) is a BSc in biomedical sciences. At the moment, I'm thinking of doing the second degree in psychology. I took a couple of psych courses throughout my degree and always did very well in them (85 minimum, 90s in most of them). I'm not just talking about the bobo social psych courses either- I took an upper year physiology based psych course and got a 98. So I think I have a good chance of performing very well GPA wise.

 

My biggest hesitation is how med schools will view this. First of all, never mind the whole second undergrad thing- how do med schools consider psych degrees? Secondly, will it look like I'm just trying to boost my GPA, going from biomed to psych?

 

All things considered, would it be wiser to pursue another degree in the sciences? I like the idea of psychology because I really think I can get top marks, but if med schools won't look at it as favourably, I'll go for something more sciencey.

 

Sorry about how long this is, I'm just trying to figure out what I need to do. I'd really appreciate any insight/opinions here!!

[jojoluvsu2]

Psych is fine, your degree doesn't matter. Schools won't think twice about you going from biomed to psych.

[futurepediatric]

My GPA isn't the greatest (refer to my username) so I'm considering doing a second degree. I've already done all the self-reflection and determined how I need to improve, etc etc, the main thing I'm wondering now is: what second degree should I go for?

 

My first degree (which I'm graduating from this year) is a BSc in biomedical sciences. At the moment, I'm thinking of doing the second degree in psychology. I took a couple of psych courses throughout my degree and always did very well in them (85 minimum, 90s in most of them). I'm not just talking about the bobo social psych courses either- I took an upper year physiology based psych course and got a 98. So I think I have a good chance of performing very well GPA wise.

 

My biggest hesitation is how med schools will view this. First of all, never mind the whole second undergrad thing- how do med schools consider psych degrees? Secondly, will it look like I'm just trying to boost my GPA, going from biomed to psych?

 

All things considered, would it be wiser to pursue another degree in the sciences? I like the idea of psychology because I really think I can get top marks, but if med schools won't look at it as favourably, I'll go for something more sciencey.

 

Sorry about how long this is, I'm just trying to figure out what I need to do. I'd really appreciate any insight/opinions here!!

 

They don't (should not) care about what degree you have either way

 

PS change your username if you can/want, it's not very encouraging I'd imagine

[Real Beef]

Secondly, will it look like I'm just trying to boost my GPA, going from biomed to psych?

 

 

But you ARE just trying to boost your GPA.

 

There will be another 2000-3000 applicants for a few spots I dont think they sit down and get an FBI criminal profiler to review every persons application.

 

If you dont boost your GPA you have no chance at medicine. Dont try and be tricky about it, people will either see through it or not care and just put all your grades through their respective formula calculation and see whether you make the cut.

 

Beef

[Outlaw]

As others have already stated, it doesn't matter which degree you pick. As for schools thinking you are boosting your GPA by going into psych, you are boosting your GPA in any degree you do at this point. Try to pick something that you can finish in 2 years if possible. Many schools won't let you apply until your graduating year or after so if you can shave a year off, do it. Read the sticky about second undergrad policies and try and mold your situation to meet the requirements for as many schools as possible. At this point, you're going to need all the help you can get so don't limit your chances. Dig around a little bit in the forum and you will get many little tidbits of information that can help you out.

[MyGPAsucks]

Thanks for all the replies!

 

PS change your username if you can/want, it's not very encouraging I'd imagine

 

In two years, after boosting my GPA in psych, I'll change it to "MyGPAsucksLess"

 

But you ARE just trying to boost your GPA.

 

True. I'm sure premed students do a lot of things just to meet med school requirements (ie boost their GPA, rescue children from burning orphanages and other such ECs). The only problem is if med school admissions sees through it and frowns upon it

 

I'm going to keep reading and digging around of course, but I'm glad to hear that it doesn't matter what my second undergrad is. Like I mentioned, I think I can get a really good GPA in psych, so maybe all isn't lost yet!

[Dking168]

I'm doing the exact same thing. My first degree was in Health Sciences with a minor in Biology. So essentially I got a BSc.

 

I realized that my strong suit is Health politics, so I'm basically doing a BA in Health Admin as my second degree.

 

The issue isn't whether your second degree is looked at or not. It is whether your pre-req courses (chem, bio, orgo, etc) are looked at from your first degree.

 

As a person who took all of the pre-req courses and bombed it. Will med schools see the courses and be like;"Yes, he did well in his second degree and what hes passionate about, but he barely does well in the core sciences that he took in the first degree." So, as an adcom, I would believe in my mind that their thought would be: "he does well in what he excels in; but he gets crappy to barely mediocre marks for the program that encompasses much of med school itself."

 

So if you were to do your second degree, I'm still wondering if I should re-do all the core science courses again in the summer, since A) Most schools that I'm applying to only look at your fall/winter semesters and If my above statement is true; it will help extinguish that doubt from adcoms.

[Outlaw]

I'm doing the exact same thing. My first degree was in Health Sciences with a minor in Biology. So essentially I got a BSc.

 

I realized that my strong suit is Health politics, so I'm basically doing a BA in Health Admin as my second degree.

 

The issue isn't whether your second degree is looked at or not. It is whether your pre-req courses (chem, bio, orgo, etc) are looked at from your first degree.

 

As a person who took all of the pre-req courses and bombed it. Will med schools see the courses and be like;"Yes, he did well in his second degree and what hes passionate about, but he barely does well in the core sciences that he took in the first degree." So, as an adcom, I would believe in my mind that their thought would be: "he does well in what he excels in; but he gets crappy to barely mediocre marks for the program that encompasses much of med school itself."

 

So if you were to do your second degree, I'm still wondering if I should re-do all the core science courses again in the summer, since A) Most schools that I'm applying to only look at your fall/winter semesters and If my above statement is true; it will help extinguish that doubt from adcoms.

 

I'm not sure on this but I think many schools will see your academic career essentially as a number once you meet the basic requirements. Schools that have a hard cut off wouldn't pass any judgement. Your marks are your marks so as long as you fit the criteria, you shouldn't have any subjectivity issues. Others that have a more holistic approach may have these type of questions. Also, keep in mind that you are going to get some of these doubts/questions no matter what you do from here on.

 

Somebody who has been through the process could probably answer your questions better than I can.

[MyGPAsucks]

I'm doing the exact same thing. My first degree was in Health Sciences with a minor in Biology. So essentially I got a BSc.

 

I realized that my strong suit is Health politics, so I'm basically doing a BA in Health Admin as my second degree.

 

The issue isn't whether your second degree is looked at or not. It is whether your pre-req courses (chem, bio, orgo, etc) are looked at from your first degree.

 

As a person who took all of the pre-req courses and bombed it. Will med schools see the courses and be like;"Yes, he did well in his second degree and what hes passionate about, but he barely does well in the core sciences that he took in the first degree." So, as an adcom, I would believe in my mind that their thought would be: "he does well in what he excels in; but he gets crappy to barely mediocre marks for the program that encompasses much of med school itself."

 

So if you were to do your second degree, I'm still wondering if I should re-do all the core science courses again in the summer, since A) Most schools that I'm applying to only look at your fall/winter semesters and If my above statement is true; it will help extinguish that doubt from adcoms.

 

I've been wondering about this same thing myself, because I'm in the same boat- good marks in most of my courses, but crappy marks in some of the core courses (orgo chem, biochemistry, histology). I think it really depends on the school. For McGill, which has specific science prerequisites (and if I'm not mistaken, they calculate a separate 'science GPA') bad marks in these courses would be a disadvantage. But for the schools that strictly look at the overall GPA of your best/ most recent two years (like Western), I don't think it matters.

 

I was reading another thread where people were saying the whole GPA calculation process is automated (meaning, there aren't a circle of adcoms in jedi robes debating specific parts of your transcript). If this is true, it's definitely a good thing for me, because it means they won't hold my 60 in organic chemistry (or my 50 in histology) against me.

 

Anyway, in that same thread (can't remember which one) there were a lot of posters who claimed that everything you learn in undergrad is irrelevant to the stuff you learn in med school. Meaning, a crappy mark in a general chemistry course isn't an indicator that you won't perform well in med school. Again, I hope this is true for my sake.

 

As for the summer school thing you mentioned, I don't think there's much point in doing that. For the schools that strictly consider your two best/ most recent years, it won't make a difference. And for the ones that look at you entire academic record, they usually have policies about not wanting applicants to redo courses (in which case, it also won't make a difference). I think my best option at this point is to get top marks in my second degree, ace the MCAT, and try to forget about those science courses.

 

Sorry if this is rambling or not making any sense. I'll probably read this in the morning and have no idea what the hell I was trying to say. Stupid lab report has been robbing me of sleep.

[paloma22]

I've been wondering about this same thing myself, because I'm in the same boat- good marks in most of my courses, but crappy marks in some of the core courses (orgo chem, biochemistry, histology). I think it really depends on the school. For McGill, which has specific science prerequisites (and if I'm not mistaken, they calculate a separate 'science GPA') bad marks in these courses would be a disadvantage. But for the schools that strictly look at the overall GPA of your best/ most recent two years (like Western), I don't think it matters.

 

I was reading another thread where people were saying the whole GPA calculation process is automated (meaning, there aren't a circle of adcoms in jedi robes debating specific parts of your transcript). If this is true, it's definitely a good thing for me, because it means they won't hold my 60 in organic chemistry (or my 50 in histology) against me.

 

Anyway, in that same thread (can't remember which one) there were a lot of posters who claimed that everything you learn in undergrad is irrelevant to the stuff you learn in med school. Meaning, a crappy mark in a general chemistry course isn't an indicator that you won't perform well in med school. Again, I hope this is true for my sake.

 

As for the summer school thing you mentioned, I don't think there's much point in doing that. For the schools that strictly consider your two best/ most recent years, it won't make a difference. And for the ones that look at you entire academic record, they usually have policies about not wanting applicants to redo courses (in which case, it also won't make a difference). I think my best option at this point is to get top marks in my second degree, ace the MCAT, and try to forget about those science courses.

 

Sorry if this is rambling or not making any sense. I'll probably read this in the morning and have no idea what the hell I was trying to say. Stupid lab report has been robbing me of sleep.

 

This is confusing me and I am in a similar boat. Did a BSc. and did science prereqs for med school (chem, bio, orgo, physics) but did very poorly, getting an average of C when I took them all first year. This is what killed my GPA.

 

So, given I am returning to do a second degree, is it better to redo these prereqs and ace them to 'prove' to the adcoms I can do it, or will they frown upon redos of prereqs?

 

I'm also a bit confused because for applying to schools that take the best 3 years, do all of the science prereqs have to be taken within those three years to count?

[MyGPAsucks]

This is confusing me and I am in a similar boat. Did a BSc. and did science prereqs for med school (chem, bio, orgo, physics) but did very poorly, getting an average of C when I took them all first year. This is what killed my GPA.

 

So, given I am returning to do a second degree, is it better to redo these prereqs and ace them to 'prove' to the adcoms I can do it, or will they frown upon redos of prereqs?

 

I'm also a bit confused because for applying to schools that take the best 3 years, do all of the science prereqs have to be taken within those three years to count?

 

Specific policies vary from school to school of course, but I'm pretty sure you don't have to take the prereqs within those three years.

 

As for retaking prereq courses... I think it is generally frowned upon, since

most schools don't use repeat courses in GPA calculations. Not too big of a deal, though. Lots of schools have prereqs but don't necessarily look at the marks (if, say, you took them during a first degree but then used your GPA from a second degree to apply). Doesn't matter what mark you got in them, just so long as you have them.

 

Of course, McGill has a separate 'science GPA.' But if I'm not mistaken, I think they allow you to take upper year science courses in the place of the basic science requirements. So if you bombed intro chemistry, you could replace it with some upper year course and get a better mark.