<p>So, I thought I knew what I wanted to be when I grow up, but obviously I don't know what I want to major in. I had my mind set on forensics but my dad told me that it might not be a great idea because I'll have to move a lot due to the fact that there's not plenty of labs around here. My dad wants for me to be an accountant like him, which I don't really think I'd enjoy so he said maybe computer science but I don't know exactly what they do. I was thinking about journalism, like tv stuff (anchorwoman, talk show host, etc.) or nursing but I heard journalism doesn't pay much and it's hard to find a job. While, nursing seems good for me but I don't know if I have the drive and focus to go for it. I'm good at math and don't really like reading/writing. And I like science a lot but I enjoy biology more. I'm applying for college admissions and don't have an idea of what to major in. HELPPPPPP!!!!</p>
<p>You don’t like reading/writing? Journalism is pretty much out, as though I’m not involved in it myself, I’d imagine you’d need to do a lot of reading up on topics, and possibly doing writeups on them too. </p>
<p>Biology is science, and it’s an awesome science, as is math; these show you’d likely be good at labwork, if you chose to go into forensics. Don’t worry about moving around too much, as you usually stay at one lab for quite awhile, rather than bouncing around between labs with different procedures and policies. Nursing is great if you love people, and love helping people directly using science.</p>
<p>Computer science is generally geared towards tech support or programming. Programming can be used for tons of things, from video games to phones to music mixers to medical devices. You really need to enjoy coding to get by in this field, but my friends all love it! :)</p>
<p>Don’t worry about picking your major right away. Just take as many intro courses as you can, and keep taking the ones you enjoy. :)</p>
<p>I have VERY similar interests. I’m also going into 12th grade. I’ve been thinking about going in to nursing for a while, and I’m also into forensics! At the same time, I’ve always had a passion for the film industry, but its a very hard industry to get into, so I don’t think having a degree in film will really get me anywhere. I tried to get a film internship but it didn’t work out. Im afraid that if I go into it then I really will be stuck after college with a pointless degree. It really scares me.
I’m taking a forensics class this year to see if I like it. Maybe your school offers it also? Or if you already took it, do they have an advanced class or an elective relating to it? You have to make sure its what you want to do before committing. I live in New York, so my options are really wide open. Theres a CUNY school called John Jay college of criminal justice, so they specialize in forensics and majors like that. If you’re serious about forensics or anything like that I would suggest going somewhere where you can use your college degree to the fullest extent.
As for nursing, try volunteering in your local hospital to see if you like the environment. If you know any nurses, talk to them about it. Or go to the hospital and tell a nurse your doing a school report and need to interview them. Do what you have to do.
DO NOT go into accounting just because of your dad. You’ll ask yourself everyday for the rest of your life why you didn’t go after what you wanted to do.
For now don’t go to a specialized school just for nursing or just for forensics. Go to a school that offers both. I think I’m going to go to Hunter college. They have an excellent known nurse program and if I hate it I know I can still stay in the same college but go for a different major.
Good luck! I hope you’re able to decide by the time we all have to pick a college.</p>
<p>Volunteer in a hospital to find out if you are interested in a health care career. Don’t quickly limit yourself to nursing - there are many other health care professions. You might look at colleges that offer a variety of health care majors to keep your options open.</p>
<p>You might also look at health care administration, that involves some accounting, but does not involve majoring in accounting.</p>
<p>I’m under the impression that everyone wanted to study forensics at the same time because of CSI and other TV shows. Any major that becomes extremely fashionable is also going to become very crowded in the job market.</p>
<p>I had one kid who majored in health care administration. The health care administration kids often have double majors in accounting, HR, or business/insurance to make themselves more marketable. </p>
<p>I recommended that my kids browse Monster Board when trying to think of careers. It gave them a sense of the jobs that are actually available, the salary ranges and necessary backgrounds (I used to recommend reading the newspaper want ads, but now most jobs are posted on line). As parents, we tend to suggest jobs in the fields that we know. This is a way to get ideas outside of our own experience. I agree with Charlieshm that any career on tv always gets a boost in popularity. (That’s one of the reasons why the legal field is tremendously oversaturated right now.) I’ve heard that there’s been a boost in nutrition and culinary science majors right now as a result of the new popularity of food shows.</p>
<p>Some of the larger universities have “what can you do with this major” links on their websites. You just have to be careful. Sometimes they make jobs sound really great (filmmaking, photography etc.), but you then have to research whether there are jobs available, if you need advanced degrees to have a career (social work, psychology, etc.). Another suggestion is to review the programs of study for a major. You don’t want to find out that a particular major requires four classes of chemistry if you hate chemistry. Check more than one school for a major though, since sometimes the course of study varies from school to school. A major that requires four classes of chemistry at School #1 may only require two classes of chemistry at School #2, and School #2 may require something that isn’t needed at School #1. This is part of figuring out which school is actually a good fit.</p>
<p>I think it’s great that you’re doing research. Another thing to think about is whether you plan on getting an advanced degree or not. If so, then financially you’ll want to be careful to avoid getting too much undergraduate debt, since graduate programs are so expensive.</p>
<p>Neonzeus - That is very useful advice to everyone to research jobs on Monster.com before you pick a major. You may also find that jobs in a field are concentrated in certain geographic areas, and not others. You may find a strong demand for a certain type of health care field, for example, or find that every job in a certain field requires a graduate degree. The job ads also may help you pick a marketable minor.</p>