<p>Well as an undecided i really am having an issue firguring out what to do considering combined degrees have to (or should) be completed in a timely matter so i wont have alot of chances to switch around</p>
<p>my choices are:
BS/MPH with applied mathematical statistics
BA/MA Political science/Public policy
BS/MS health science and occupational therapy</p>
<p>lets start with the science ones shall we. my high school major was bio med and included genetics, anat&phys, org chem, along with chem, physics, regular bio, and four years of science research with competitions on the side (intel etc). i would really like to pursue epidemiology since i like learning about populations and diseases so the science combined degrees would make sense. thing is...
I REALLY DON'T LIKE (BAD AT) MATH
...if its something im really passionate about im willing to suffer a few courses but im afraid that the bad grades i may get will keep me out of the program completely and ruin my transcript. completing the entire AMS requirement sounds like a nightmare. The BSHS/MSOT while would be okay would not be as helpful in epidemiology.</p>
<p>as for the pol sci/public policy, i love anything surrounding social sciences and would really enjoy this program. i just afraid that the oppurtunities wouldn't be as great as if i had gone into a science orientated field.</p>
<p>Why dont you not do the combined degree program and make your life easier. </p>
<p>If you have an interest in epidemiology and want to do public health, then get a bachelors in what you enjoy and do your masters in public health, not in something else because that something else is offered in a combined degree program.</p>
<p>You ONLY and ONLY go to grad school to do what you are serious about and love, otherwise you are wasting your time, money and effort to speacilize in something you would rather not speacilize in and do it at the expense of something you want to do.</p>
<p>If you do not like math and are bad at math, you dont major in Applied Math and Stats- simple as that. Math IS HARD and it gets weird at times, and you better at least like it because otherwise you cant really major in it.</p>
<p>You are just a freshman, you have a lot of GE courses to take and can make up your mind later, why dont you just focus on the bachelor degree you want and then if it so happens that there is a combined program available too you can start it your junior year, if not then just apply for MPH seperatly.</p>
<p>its just that i would like to be as well prepared as possible and combined degrees seem more convenient. I’m pretty sure im crossing out the BSAMS/MPH and just do the occupational therapy or pol sci i like both and don’t mind doing either.</p>
<p>can anyone give me pointers on those two.
And thanks Malishka for the advice</p>
<p>out of those two i would do poli sci/ public policy. I feel it would leave more options open to me after graduation and considering that i would be going straight through into a masters program i may change my mind regarding where i would apply my degree training in terms of employment. I feel health sciences bachelors leaves things open but the occupational therapy narrows it down too much for someone that didnt go out there and work in the field prior to opting for a masters.</p>
<p>Great points malishka thanks. i may go back to school to pursue that and stick to pol sci/publuc policy now. its just that BSHS/MSOT would open the doors for a public health masters rather than really tie me down (since in stony the MPH requires some kind of health background).</p>
<p>any occupational therapy grads or polsci out there?</p>
<p>Oh jeez. DON’T try to do the OT program if you don’t want to go into OT. Seriously, that makes zero sense and is a perfect example of why trying to plan this stuff out before you start freshman year is ridiculous. The OT program is a professional program designed for people who want to go into that field. I can’t imagine not hating it (or at least resenting it) if you just wanted to use it as a stepping stone. Occupational therapy would completely dominate three years of your life; does that make any sense if you don’t want to be an occupational therapist? Plus, only one of the MPH concentrations at SBU requires previous healthcare experience. The other two don’t. You don’t need an MSOT for public health.</p>
<p>Similarly with the AMS/MPH program–TERRIBLE idea. I’m pretty sure the MPH program is only 2 years if you’re doing it full-time, so you’d really be willing to do an undergrad degree in AMS that would make you miserable for 3-4 years just to save two semesters? Do you see how ridiculous that is? Plus if you’re really bad at math, I find it highly unlikely you’d be able to keep a high enough GPA to get into the MPH program as an AMS major.</p>
<p>kk let me clear up why i want to try and have some clue about what i would like to do.
I’VE CROSSED OUT AMS/MPH completely it wasn’t a serious consideration really just a notion. Secondly im doing this based on experience. the school im going to works on a major system as well and i went into my major without any planning. yes i know its early but i don’t want to do that again.
As for OT i wouldn’t mind doing occupational therapy, im not just using it as a stepping stone, its actually a serious option. i wouldn’t subject myself to countless lab hours ii i didn’t want to do them</p>
<p>Also only the concentration requires it? i was reading the requirements but i got confused. thanks for clearing that up. but wouldn’t some experience be better than none? Ah well im just asking these questions now. ill probably be on the fence again for everything except pol sci next week</p>
<p>I agree with this. In high school, at least it seemed like to me, you were more so doing math as a chore and just learning to pass some tests so you could graduate.</p>
<p>Math in college is very different than math in high school.</p>
<p>In high school I didn’t do so hot, I think I got an 80 on NYS Math B regents. In college, I have yet to get lower than a 95 on any math exam and I’ve been through precalc, Calc I, II, finishing up Calc III this semester, and Linear Algebra.</p>
<p>If you suck at math in HS it doesn’t mean you can’t excel in college math. I’m living proof.</p>