Please help - university options

[yara560]

Hello. I'm very confused and I feel like I can't talk to my parents about this anymore or any of my teachers, so I'm trying here. My dilemma: I would say I'm quite wishy-washy in terms of what subject I want to study. I know I want to do something science related, but I don't know what exactly it is at this point. My parents want me to study medicine because their reasoning is that I should go for a job where I won't have to work for anyone (they're against me entering the corporate world and to an extent, I agree with them). Now my problem is that I'm not exactly against doing medicine, there are some aspects that I find interesting - what I'm trying to say is that I'm not absolutely against it, but I'm not sure I would be able to succeed as well. I'm interested in psychology and biomedical research, things like genetics and stem cells. I applied for medicine courses via UCAS, and I applied to Irish universities for med. I'm still waiting to hear back from the Irish universities, but right now all I have is an offer from St. Andrews for psychology with biology (major minor thing) and an offer from an Irish uni for medicine. In terms of the medical offer, they're asking for 6 in chem, math and bio, and the psychology offer they're asking for 6 in bio. I don't know if I can achieve a 6 in chem because I find it quite hard and I've been consistently getting 4 and 5. Now my issue is this: I don't know what to do. I know this is a bit premature considering I haven't done my exams yet, but I have no idea which path to take. I feel like both my parents are contradicting each other and I don't want to talk to my counsellor because, well, there are reasons. Does anyone have any advice? This is really stressing me out to the point where I can't focus on studying for the exams, so I just want to come to some sort of resolution. Sorry this is a bit long and rambly, but I'm really not in the best state of mind right now. 

[kw0573]

There are still 2 months till final decision dates. Before then you can spend 6 days a week following a study schedule and on the 7th you can spend doing more research on universities. Definitely if you work diligently, getting 6s in those subjects is very doable. For chemistry if you have questions you can try posting them in the forums. In general it's just a matter of asking your teacher questions when you are unclear on the topic, as well as to not "memorize" answers but instead really try to understand them.

 

Edited March 16, 2018 by kw0573

[Befuddled]

This is a very challenging time for you, but trust me, don't take a hasty decision. First and foremost, focus on IB now. 

Medicine is great, but comes with lots of responsibilities and pressures - cliché but true. I don't know if you really want to do medicine yourself, but definitely don't push yourself into something you're doing out of a need to please others. But if you're having serious second thoughts about medicine, careers in genetics are especially intriguing as you say so yourself  The biological field is vast, and there are definitely cross-overs. You wouldn't have to 'work under' someone. 

If I'm wrong there, and medicine is your own desire; good job! And as @kw0573said, there's lots of time to improve your grade. Use websites like msjchem, the study guide, talk to your teacher and friends, explain your situation to your teacher, ask for after-school help, join amazing forums and whatsapp groups. You can definitely improve. 

 

Edited March 16, 2018 by Befuddled

[yara560]

@Befuddled @kw0573 thank you very much for the responses! I am feeling a little better than I was when I posted this, and I'll keep in mind what you guys have said. I think I will just try and focus on getting my grades up. Thank you guys again!!