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Okay so this is as new to me as it is to you guys so bear with me because I have no idea what I'm done. Also, this is in the United States, so keep in mind that your advice might not apply to me if you're not from around here. Basically I want to switch from going to med school to going to pharmacy school. Since I was little, I've always wanted to be a doctor. As clichéd as that sounds, it's true. I've always loved science, and my experiences in medicinal research have been the ones that I enjoy and remember the most. After high school, I considered myself lucky because I entered my undergraduate career with a decided career path and already knowing what I wanted to major in. Because of my research specialization, I wanted to go for an MD-PHD program (basically getting an MD as a physician and a PhD as a research scientist), but I had to abandon that dream early on because of its rigorous admission process, my lack of publishing as an undergraduate, and overall no-life-ness. Moving to the present, college is treating me well, I just finished up my second year and I'm currently double majoring with a B.A. in Chemistry and a B.A. in Theater Studies. I've got buttloads of research experience, solid extracurriculars, I founded a fraternity last fall, but as a pre-med my grades are pretty bad. I started off my first semester with a 3.74, which was 0.01 away from my minimum goal of 3.75 (because med schools are superficial tyrants who just look at if you have an A or not), but I've been slowly declining from there from 3.74 to 3.57 to 3.34 to 3.10. Currently, my cumulative GPA stands at a 3.49 (which is a little more a B+ than an A-) and my major/chem/science GPA is an abysmal 3.01 (which is a solid, vanilla B). On the bright side, I've managed to get A's in all of my lab courses (which at my school is a feat in itself), and I don't think I've gotten anything that's not an A in a theater class lol. And it's not like I'm slacking either. I went to an elite New England preparatory school and I currently attend a Top 20 university in the States. I have a dedicated work ethic, I don't even go out that much, and (as the FE4THREAD can probably vouch) I'm rarely on the internets/SF while school is in session. Now I know that it's not like I'm failing out of school or anything, but I put some rather high standards for myself to succeed, and I've had to consistently lower the bar each semester, only to fail reaching the new bar time after time. Now as a chem major, I've come to expect that my courseload would be more demanding than most people. And as a Chemistry B.S. aiming for graduate school (e.g. an Masters or Doctors in Chemistry), it's "ok" to get a C+ in biochem or analytical or organic II (or all three, as in my case), because they understand what a chem major goes through. However, as a pre-med student, I'm in a pretty heinous situation, as medical schools in the States are notorious for only looking favorably at high-GPA candidates with solid MCAT scores, and pretty much dismissing the rest. And as for the MCAT itself, holy crap, I know that I don't do standardized testing well. And as a victim to this "new MCAT2015" thing (seven hours, twice the subject material), I really don't think that success is in my future. The only reason I got a 2400 on my SAT is because I took that thing three fucking times. I don't think I can afford to do that with the MCAT. I would put about six months—or more—of studying into this, and if I didn't do well, I would probably just get one more try, if at all. And the thought of that terrifies me. But what terrifies me even more is that even if I DO end up getting into medical school, the journey isn't over. The road to being a doctor is probably the most masochistic thing a young adult can experience in terms of workload, mental weariness, and physical exhaustion. There are still people who drop out every year, and then what happens? My logic in pre-med to pre-pharm is thus: 1. No standardized testing (well, there's the PCAT, but half the schools I'm considering don't even require standardized testing like wut how is that legal) 2. Less pressure to maintain a competitive GPA (i.e. 3.8+), even though it's highly unlikely that I can graduate with anything over a 3.7 at this point. 3. Lack of a "kill me now" environment in graduate school. 4. More conducive to my research interests. Plus I still get to study medicine. 5. Something about doctors making less money in the future where everybody's a doctor, but whatever they're still making like $70,000 more on average than a pharmacist gg. SO YEAH. Calling all pre-med/pre-pharm/med/pharm/chemistry/BASICALLY ANYBODY SCIENCEY PEOPLE: Am I just deluding myself? Am I lowering my standards by a lot? Is this really worth it? Do I still go for med school, maybe as a DO? Or am I over-exaggerating my situation? I really have no idea what I'm doing at this point. I'm planning on asking my major advisor later in the summer for career advice, but I'm not going to be back at school until later this summer, and I'm really like having a sort-of-crisis right now. but dude like seriously i don't want to go to med school in the Caribbean or something man like yes, you can get your degree that, but who's going to hire you ugh. tl;dr my GPA isn't going the way I want it to. MD-PHD seemed unlikely before, but now even MD sounds like a lot. Planning to switch to pharmacy school because pre-med sounds like torture and I don't think I can get into med school, much less succeed (i.e. dropping out would still be a reality). Asking older people for help.