For High Schoolers: What major do you plan to pursue? And Why?

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I've always wanted to major in Biochemistry, mainly because it's a "behind the scenes" thing. Learning about the chemical reactions in the human body always fascinated me, and I like the fact that it's really detailed and specific. It's so neat how numerous reactions occur in our body everyday.

I would also love to minor in music performance. I enjoy playing my violin and taking music theory classes. It's like learning a whole new language. :)
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I'm going to be an economics and international studies major this fall. If somehow getting into med school didn't work out for me, I always thought about becoming a foreign service officer or maybe working in international business.
 
Thinking of Majoring in Psychology with a minor in either business or biology
 
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i plan on doing animal biology, zoology, or some kind of pre vet major with specialties in equine/large animals and aquatic animals.

then, i'm definitely double majoring in classics, with a specialization in greek language and literacy.

i'm not quite sure about the animal biology major because i haven't decided on a school yet, and there are so many options throughout the nine places I applied for what's essentially the same interest area.
i'm pretty much interested in everything besides companion animals- just too overdone in my opinion.

langauge skills are a particular talent of mine and ancient greece has always seriously interested me.

i'm pretty ridiculously excited :)
 
I have a passion for Dentistry, but I'm also on the fence with Computer Engineering.
Computer would take 5 years for a masters degree.
Dentistry would take 8 years for a professional degree.
To be honest, I'm just not all that sure about another 8 years of school right now, but I know it pays off after while.
Anyone wanna help me decide? Don't both engineers and dentists have comfortable lifestyles and job security?
 
did anyone else notice this random 1.5 year bump?
 
I'm still debating on whether I want to major in biochemistry or zoology. I took a semester of organic chem last year and we explored some biochemistry towards the end. To my surprise, I found that I really enjoyed it. So yeah, I'm a bit torn at the moment, but I am a junior so I suppose I still have a little bit of time to figure it out :)

Hello by the way, this is my first post on SDN :)
 
after a long hard decision im planning on majoring in Medical Laboratory science :) because i love it and its pretty cool. your like the doctor behind the scene. you basically confirms your finding and report them to the physician, pathologist etc. because whatever information you give to the doctor that influence the medical treatment a patient will recieve. you have the power to interprete the results.
 
Definitely planning to major in biochemistry because i love chemistry and biology. Also most likely minoring in psychology since understanding the behavior and mentality of people is probably key to be becoming a good doctor since it allows to prescribe more effective treatments.
 
in bio right now, wish I would have done Chemical or Biomedical Engineering
 
Disregarding the recent bump, I'll be majoring in European History with a minor in German. That way I'll have my start to a history education requirement in the event I decide medical school is not for me, or it doesn't work out.
 
I plan to study medicine . But ,I will take a foundation first =)
If can't get in to the medicine ,I will do my ballet !!
Becoming a ballet dancer or teacher nt bad for me =)
 
Medicinal Chemistry.

I am loving Chemistry in High School and will be taking AP Chemistry next year. With my strong interest in Medicine, I feel that Medicinal Chemistry is the right area for me. I might even do a minor in Accounting or Theatre, as accounting is something that effects me and I enjoy working with business type things, additionally, theatre is a strong area for me on both sides of the curtain, I am currently working with my School District's Middle School in a technical and directing stand point (HS Crew Assistant, Microphone Technician and Student Director).

I had pondered the Biology thing, but, I don't find it as fun or interesting as I find chemistry. While, I know I will be working with Biology in Med School, but I am just really interested in Chem.
 
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I'm going to major in Cognitive Science with a minor in Business Administration.

I think learning about the way people think is interesting, plus I can also get a MBA and go into business in case med school doesn't work out for me. :)
 
altruism101 said:
Definitely planning to major in biochemistry because i love chemistry and biology. Also most likely minoring in psychology since understanding the behavior and mentality of people is probably key to be becoming a good doctor since it allows to prescribe more effective treatments.
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For me my most anticipated major is Pharmacology & Toxicology, while Biochem and some other chem background majors are my backups for getting into specific college programs. And I was definately considering Psychology as a minor too.. it's just so easy and interesting to get down pat.
 
bigwill11205 said:
I plan on either majoring in Biology or Math. I know Biology is a chiché major, but I love the subject. Also, I just always enjoyed Math because it's easy. Once you know the formula, you can apply it to anything.
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Just to let some of you guys know, it really is ok to wait until you have a year or two under your belt. I have taken classes for two years now and am just now figuring out what I really am interested in (public health and anthropology). Lucky for me, the school I transferred to has serious overlap between these to and I might be able to double with little to no extra effort. It just seems like a lot of colleges pressure high school applicants to be ready made with a a major decision (asks you for all that in applications etc). College will spark interests that you never even knew you had, or at least it did for me, and if you don't give yourself that chance you may regret it.
 
Silverman780 said:
The pre med requirements do give you a somewhat good basis but this goes takes all of that to the next level, such as the difference between just taking biology I and being able to do Biochemistry, Plus the four year of Bioengineering gets you a starting salary in the neighborhood of $45,000 and a whole lotta research opportunity through college and summer internship.
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A. Bioengineering is not four years of the MCAT. MCAT=first 1.5ish years of bioE curriculum. No one asks you how to design a simple circuit to process EKG signals on the MCAT.
B. Starting salary listed above is on the low end for bioEs. If you enter pharma straight out with an engineering BS think up to ~$65,000.
 
Music performance! With bio/chem minors

I'm surprised not very many have been music majors here, they're supposedly the number one accepted major out there...but whatever. Stats change every year.
 
Biochem/ Psych double major with a focus on Neuroscience, (basically a Neuroscience Major) with a minor in astronomy or physics, haven't decided yet.
 
<p>I'm shooting for a major in business and a minor in biology. If somehow dental school doesn't work out, then I can always fall back on my major, and on the plus side, having a geared thought on business is essential for dentists since most of em run their own practice. Like someone said previously, I choose to minor in biology so I don't look weak in science. (Its also my favorite counterpart in science)
 
I want to go into pharmacy but if I don't get into the pharmacy programs I applied to, I'll major in chemistry. I legitimately enjoy chemistry and it's just so awesome =)
 
I'm going to study the fine arts, so that's like, a studio art major. I've always enjoyed drawing, and I really want to learn to paint and sculpt. :)
 
Biomed Engineering, because I might just need the fall back. And probably a minor in either chem or writing
 
Probably something completely unrelated to medicine. I definitely believe in the ideals liberal arts colleges tend to advocate, as I think a well rounded health professional should have a background in numerous areas outside of the life and physical sciences.

So I may pursue something along the lines of sociology, computer science, or environmental science. I think analyzing medicine from several sociological perspectives could be very helpful, while computer science is useful simply because computers are becoming more and more prevalent in every profession, and environmental science just stems from my desire to find ways to offset my carbon footprint, "go green," etc. Actually, I think every health professional should be an environmentalist to some degree. I mean, if you're talking about "helping people," why not think large (the entire population of Earth) and think forward (the near future)?
 
Eh, maybe I should have just posted here instead of making a thread. In retrospect, that probably would have been a better idea.

At any rate, I'm stuck between doing a major in Astrophysics or a double-major in International Relations and Russian. I find all of those subjects to be very interesting, though I'd have to say I'm a little intimidated by astrophysics. Compelling, yes, but who knows if I'd be able to handle the math? I was the gifted slacker my junior year of high school - I remember the principal telling me I was the smartest kid in the school, yet had some of the lowest grades for third trimester - and never took anything higher than Algebra II.

It's easy enough, but I haven't taken anything that's given me even the faintest glimmer of an idea at how well I'd do in calculus.

Kind of sucks, coming here. I know I could be going to a good school; instead, gotta go to an overcrowded community college for at least two semesters. Everybody on this forum seems to be getting accepted to some of the best schools in the nation...

That's what I get for slacking. :D
 
^ never too late to fix up your problem

I am thinking of doing Physiology
 
El Nino said:
I plan to major in Philosophy because, it's interesting enough to spend four years studying, and I am inspired by my role model Cornel West.

Class of 2010!
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:love:I think the same as you when I was in high school , but it turns out that I am better good at Maths....,my Philosophy was so bad....:scared::scared::scared:
 
Probably a double major in either history/Medieval studies and some type of science-- Neuroscience, Computer Science, or Astrophysics really interest me.

Kind of broad, but I've soooo many college credits for CS already in high school that it would be a super easy major, but then the other two are really really interesting to me... Any suggestions as to which would be best for med school?
 
Something chemistry related.....cause' I like chemistry!
 
I might try to get into a BS/MD which I do have a shot at, considering I have the grades (my school doesn't have A-'s) and can handle tough courses. Ironically sucks that the one B I have is because of weird medical crosswords in gym (I suck at crosswords).

Anyways, I plan on neuroscience or biochemistry (or both). Neuroscience is amazing plus I probably know more about it than my bio teacher now. It's really interesting and a really diverse field. Biochemistry looks cool plus considering I'm taking Latin AND Chinese right now, I've become so used to memorizing everything it shouldn't be too difficult, plus it's fascinating.

Maybe I could do some sort of violin performance and neuro/physiology but that would involve some sort of a BFA/BS program which is probably 5 years. Music education could be a good career backup compared to academia.
 
i would love to major in linguistics! i haven't seen anyone else doing that, but i'll see how it goes...
i'd specifically likely to concentrate on the cognitive science and psychology behind linguistics. i'd like to do research with that area too... would that be something i could put on a medical school application? some sociology and study of actual languages and language structure would be cool too. =)
 
Currently weighing the backup career value of Mech Engineering (my #1 doesn't offer BME) and struggling to fit in premed requirements against going to another tier 1 school on a non-engineering major. Or going to my #1 on a non-engineering major and preprofessional track.

Basically so confused that I'd like to just pick out of a hat at this point...
 
Is majoring in something like law a bad idea?

Will medical schools think I am on the fence between medical and law school? Law just seems like a good thing to know a thing or two about, especially once you become a practicing surgeon (or doctor in general).
 
wrestler445 said:
Is majoring in something like law a bad idea?

Will medical schools think I am on the fence between medical and law school? Law just seems like a good thing to know a thing or two about, especially once you become a practicing surgeon (or doctor in general).
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If you mean you're going to do a Pre-Law program, that'll be just fine. As long as you do well in your pre-req classes. I have a pre-law friend who was accepted into med school. He actually wanted to be a law student, but chose medicine halfway through college.
 
Internal Medicine.

I might take computer engineering as a back up, considering I already know programming.
 
I'm thinking about either majoring in Biomedical Engineering or Cognitive Science. I have interests in both and believe that both would be very interesting.

The only trouble is... I don't know how high my GPA will be if I major in BME.
 
I was admitted for biochemistry but I'm planning to switch my major to mollecular and cellular biology. A lot more of the majot requirements merge with the prereqs. Plus, I heard biochem is much harder.
 
Possibly nutritional sciences? It's basically all the pre-med courses with some extra advanced bio and nutrition courses (not the same as a dietetics major). I absolutely love nutrition and would want to relate it to a possible career-path (medicine? :D).

Unfortunately, if I change my mind a little too late in regards to pre-med, the nutrition major isn't really the best to fall back on. To become a registered dietitian, one must graduate with an accredited dietetics major before doing the required one-year internship. The difference between the nutrition and dietetics major is a good 30-credit amount of courses :-/. Also, as far as I know, the only nutrition-related careers (aside from being an RD or MD) I know of are fitness/training-type careers.

Oh, decisions :-/
 
I'm either thinking, Psychology, Computer Science, Philosophy

Psychology really interests me and it might help me in the future, Computer Science is just backup, Philosophy is a interesting subject and would like to take some classes in it.
 
Most likely Biology. I got a 5 on the AP exam and still am very interested in learning more and more.
 
I am absolutely in love with physics, and therefore am majoring in it.
 
If I major in psychology or history, and minor in spanish, biology and history/psychology (whichever isn't my major), would that be too hard? I really like psychology, history, and spanish, but I feel like I should at least minor in biology to get a strong science base.
 
Word of warning to those wanting to study psych...
Good major if you want to go to med school and you're 100% sure you're going to go (which is extremely unrealistic to think for you at this pt....things change)
However, it will not get you far in a backup plan unless you combine it with something more science heavy based like bio or neuro
Too many people major in psych making it very hard to get a job without any real lab experience that other majors give you.
 
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