<p>I have just started thinking about what I want my major to be, but it seems hard to narrow it down to something. I would like to do something involving China/ Chinese. I have been learning Mandarin for a year and really enjoy it. I also like math! For awhile
I was thinking the medical field, but that is just another thought. </p>
<p>Any suggestions...
also how did you decide what major you wanted,,,,???
any advice on how to begin deciding... perhaps websites or books..</p>
<p>I’d say pick a major involving math (such as Chemistry, Physics) that you can do pre-med in and minor in Chinese. That seems like your best bet.</p>
<p>Or you could be a Chinese major and math minor if you’re more interested in culture. </p>
<p>It all just depends how you pair it together.</p>
<p>If your applying to med school dont choose a medical related topic. They want to see your well rounded and have more skills than medical. So major in chinese or math may do. Also maybe consider psychology? Anyways you could go undecided to</p>
<p>How much do you want to be related to China? You could literally be related to China in a job in practically every way possible as long as you know how to speak Chinese. Practically every business job would love you, and you would probably travel there frequently (or less frequently if you move up and gain seniority). Most jobs in business that get to travel is marketing. However, you like math, so having a dual major in Chinese/Accounting or Finance would be perfect!</p>
<p>If you want to do medical school, try to pick an uncommon major. They like having variety in their students besides biology, chemistry, psychology (one of the most common majors), etc. If you major in Chinese, you would be a rare kind and more likely to be accepted than a Biology major, assuming you have the necessary 4.0 and extra curricular activities.</p>
<p>Since you asked how to decide, I search job postings. I search a job title like accountant, and see it’s requirements and look at the responsibilities and duties to see if they appeal to me. Also I would look at a school’s coursework for majors, too. I’d start by finding what job you would like to do, then decide an appropriate major.</p>
<p>(Assuming you’re not yet in college)…You don’t need to choose your major right away—generally, you have until the end of your sophomore year. In your first couple of years, you can take courses in several areas that meet general ed requirements and serve as prerequisites for the majors that interest you. For your stated interests (China/Chinese, math, medicine), you would probably continue your study of Chinese and take the pre-med courses (general biology, general and organic chemistry, calculus, and general physics). Based on how well you do and which courses most interest you, you could then decide on a direction for your major.</p>
<p>Math is a good major for prospective medical students and it can lead to other professional areas that combine well with medicine (e.g., epidemiology, biostatistics). If you can your mind or don’t get into medical school, it is good preparation fora number of other careers and fields of graduate study. If you do decide to pursue math, you should at least consider a major applied math or statistics. Having a liking for and ability in math opens the door to any number of fields from economics to psychology to physics, so you don’t necessarily need to major in it.</p>
<p>Studying Chinese can be very time-consuming, even if you’re not majoring in it, so if you continue it, you should be willing to commit to studying it at least to the 3rd year level (and preferably more) and plan on studying abroad in a country in which it is spoken in order to gain an adequate level of proficiency. You also might consider a major in East Asian Studies, which would include coursework in Chinese language, since this could allow more flexibility and give you more options in China-related social science and humanities courses. </p>
<p>In theory, you have until the end of your sophomore year. In reality, both a Chinese and a math major would require a sequence of courses that if you waited to declare until your sophomore year, you’d delay graduation. Most upper-level math classes require calculus, which takes 3 semesters; you’d ideally take them freshman year and first semester sophomore year - or less ideally, second semester freshman year and through sophomore year. Then you can take your upper-level math classes junior and senior year. In Chinese, there may be some upper-level classes you have to take in Chinese that require 4 semesters of Mandarin before you can take them. Of course, if you already know Mandarin it’s not as big a deal because you can test out.</p>
<p>I agree with the above - there are a lot of things that you can with a liking for math. One suggestion is economics - you could study the economics of China, which would bring together your love for math and Chinese. Another is political science - you can emphasize the quantitative aspects of it (and even minor in math) and study the political aspects of Asian cultures, specifically China.</p>
<p>Or you can take Chinese and major in math, statistics, or physics.</p>
If it is med school, then either one is fine. Chinese will almost certainly net you a much better GPA, Math will probably train you better for the mcats. If you’re 100% sure about going to med school, I’d probably go for the foreign language, GPA matters a lot for med school (from the sounds of it, you should do well on the math portions even if you did not major in mathematics).
Both are good majors in their own right, and luckily both I think are fantastic minors.
If you want to work in China, you should probably learn Mandarin (albeit, you can get a job in China just speaking English very easily, but you’ll eventually need to learn Mandarin while you’re doing business over there).