Hello! I’ve been accepted into a college, and I want to know what the best degree path would be. I believe that I want to do something in the vein of agriculture science, food science, environmental science, or forensic science. I am trying to keep all my options open, and not get a specialized degree that I can only work one job with. I was wondering if it is best for me to do Bio Science with a minor in Chem, Biochem, or Chem with a minor in Bio. I’ve been told that biology has less upper level math, which is appealing, but I am good at math so it isn’t going to make or break it for me if I have to do differential equations lol.
Which college? Many colleges have degree programs in each of those fields. If you want to get a degree in agriculture science, food science, or environmental science, Colleges of Natural Resources in many universities offer bachelor degrees in these fields. The programs will provide guides to your required courses and the academic trajectory.
I’m going to EIU. I don’t want a degree in any of those fields, specifically, because I want a broader degree that I can apply to multiple things. For example, if I get a degree in food science, I can only work in food science and related fields.
Why do you need to make any decision now? You have some areas of interest, once in college spend some time further exploring them via the resources available (career center, clubs, internships, alumni contacts, etc). And even students that start college with a specific major end up changing once they find out more about that major or start taking classes and realize they don’t really like them.
You could look at the specific majors at EIU listed in the 1st reply and see what their requirements are. Lower division they’d probably share some math, chem, etc. so you could start off enrolling in a few of those classes as well as the general ed you’ll need to get your degree no matter what your major. They’ll help you figure this out at orientation. Unfortunately it may be difficult as you close out your college years to keep “all options open” but that’s not a problem for you now, they all are open and while in college you can narrow down which one you really want to go into.
You can also look at the Occupational Outlook Handbook https://www.bls.gov/ooh/ to find out what degree is required for people in careers you are considering.