Effects of Changing your Area of Interest as a Junior
Ever since I was a freshman, I have been on a mission to become a marketing manager (meaning a marketing/business major in college.) i enjoyed its creative outlets and thought it was a good match for my skills and personality. Almost all of my extracurriculars align with marketing, including my classes and my leadership positions (I run 2 Instagram accounts, 1 for my class and 1 for a club I’m in).
But, throughout high school I have found a love for volunteering and helping others. I’m in multiple service-based clubs and have found the most joy in those compared to other clubs I’m in. Through these clubs is how I found that I would be happy in a job that directly helped other people.
I’ll save the rest of the story to make this a less lengthy read, but eventually, I started to become less interested in the business field and more in the medical field. Specifically, as an OBGYN. But, I’m afraid my academics and extracurriculars are unconnected and too weak to become a science-related major (or have a pre-med track).
I’m considering taking AP Chem next year as well as a pre-med workshop at a local college. Is there anything else to do? Or should I maybe stick with marketing my freshman year and attempt to change my major for my sophomore year of college?
Volunteering/service in general is great no matter what field you go into. Your career goals don't need to line up with what you did in high school at all, although like the other person said, you might have had more of an advantage for the pre-med track at top colleges if you had say, done research. There might still be some time for that, an internship, and/or selective (don't pay for them! it's not worth it for the resume!), free or low-cost summer programs. Also unless you don't like any other schools (I get only liking public OOS schools cause that was me last year), if you think you have a shot at UTAustin or UNC I would apply to a few more similarly selective, maybe private schools that have about the same acceptance rate but for everyone. UNC takes about 18% and UTAustin under 10% OOS.
Baylor, Penn State, and Pitt (in-state for me) are also on my list! Unfourtanetly, I do not think I'll be able to get a summer internship due to my job (I need to save money for tuition haha!), and my internship application for school credit has already passed. Like I said though, I am going to be taking a summer program at a college near me, so hopefully that will familiarize me with the subject a little more. Thank you for your advice!
hi!! i completely understand this. it'll be difficult if you try to get into top schools but not impossible. it's always better to go with what you are passionate about. There's no point in sticking with marketing freshman year and going through a whole year of something you're not into. try volunteering at a hospital or starting your own club about volunteering and such. there are some good resources on the internet.
I’m definitely looking for a volunteer opportunity at a hospital :) My only big reach schools as of right now are UNC Chapel Hill and UT Austin (oos lol), so even if I don’t get into those I have about 5 other schools I’m interested in. Thank you sm!!
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