Programs I need some life advice about possibly changing my major.

[AbstractlyAlgebraic]

Ok, so I'm a third year math student, and... I don't like it. It's just really not for me. I took Real Analysis and hated it. I took Abstract Algebra and hated it. I took Complex Analysis and hated it. I know it's supposed to be beautiful or whatever, but I just don't care at all, and I am noticing a strong correlation here. I still love math, but I didn't like the major after about linear algebra and the introductory analysis course.

What I really want to do is Nuclear and Radiological Engineering/medical physics. Doing physics problems is fun to me, I take those classes just because I like them.

The problem is, my school doesn't offer those programs I listed above, so I would have to transfer. It would set me back a while to graduate, but I am set to graduate in like a semester. If money wasn't an issue, it's not even a question to me that I would do it.

What should I do?

 

[AbstractlyAlgebraic]

How do I move this to the academic guidance section?

 

[Mark44]

How do I move this to the academic guidance section?

I moved it...

 

[jrmichler]

You have to make your own decisions, but here's some observations and thoughts:

An uncle of mine changed his major to civil engineering in his senior year, so it took him 5.5 years to graduate. He's been retired for 24 years now, and says that he has never regretted making the change.

I figured out that electrical engineering was not what I wanted to do after starting my third year of college, did not know what I wanted to do, dropped out, came back four years later and changed to mechanical engineering. I have never regretted making the change.

Have you considered finishing on your current path, working a few years while paying off loans/saving some money, then going back?

I worked in a plant engineering job for ten years, decided that was not what I wanted to do any more, then went back to school. There were several other students in the same age range doing exactly the same thing. None of us thought we made a mistake in going back to school.

 

[Choppy]

With respect to medical physics, it's something you can specialize in during graduate school. You don't need to do an undergraduate program in it.

You do however need to complete something that looks like a physics degree. If you're really interested in this route, start having a look at a few accredited medical physics graduate programs and what they list as the prerequisite courses/programs for admissions. Some are a little more flexible than others. You could then orient the rest of your program in that direction.