I am a sophomore in NOVA community college. I am currently “pursuing” a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Thing is, I have absolutely no interest in it. I HATE math. HATE HATE HATE it. I honestly view it as mental torture. Sciences such as biology and anatomy only interest me. I love everything about sports,fitness, and health. I would like to be physical therapist but I am really looking for a bachelor’s degree that will provide me with a decent wage out of school. I want to have an clear impact on people that I can physically see. My only reason for choosing Mechanical Engineering is because of the job opportunities it can provide along with a good salary. I just know that if I follow through with the degree, I would want to avoid engineering careers all together. People tell me to do what I love. If I currently followed that advice, I wouldn’t have a good wage or I would be in school for 7 years. Do you have a degree in mind that I could pursue? Thank you.
Nursing.
Thank you for your suggestion.
^Nursing is a great suggestion because you can indeed make a good salary out of college with a BSN AND you can also use it as an entry-point to get into physical therapy later. A BSN will probably require all of the prerequisites for a DPT program, and you’ll have some clinical work experience which always looks good. And of course, nursing has a heavy emphasis on the natural/life sciences. There is some math, but it’s not nearly as heavy as an engineering major.
Another suggestion for you: since you are already at a NOVA community college, why not consider pursuing one of the many 2-year allied health programs that are usually offered by CCs? You are interested in health, anatomy, and biology, and sports and fitness. These training programs often lead to excellent jobs in hospitals and other health-related organizations after graduation. But you can still transfer to a four-year college and earn a bachelor’s degree; in fact, you may have more flexibility in the BA you choose. Let’s say that you get a credential to be a physical therapist’s assistant and then transfer to a four-year college and get a BA in exercise science or kinesiology. Now you can work as a PTA, and you can earn hours that’ll be necessary when you apply to DPT programs.
A quick check shows that Northern Virginia Community College offers both occupational therapy and physical therapy assistant programs. PTAs average $52K per year, and OTAs average about the same ($53K).
There are others - there’s dental hygiene. Dental hygienists average $70K per year. There’s also radiation therapy, radiography, and nuclear medicine; all of those fields require only an associate’s degree, and average salaries range from $55-75K a year. Respiratory therapists earn around $56K per year. These salaries are better than the entry-level salaries for most BA graduates, and honestly are as good or better than the mid-career salaries for some majors. (And again, I’m not suggesting that you get one of these and stop - but I am suggesting that these offer entry into some guaranteed health careers. You can then get a four-year degree, work for a few years with these careers, and then get your DPT later if you wish.)
Old Dominion offers a major in medical diagnostic and translational sciences, which seems to be an entry point into a variety of allied health careers like nuclear medicine, cytotechnology, ophthalmic technology, etc. VCU offers a major in clinical laboratory sciences (but there’s going to be some math there). A couple of VA publics also offer a major in dental hygiene, which is an allied health career that leads to good job prospects and salaries. There are also majors in exercise science/rehabilitation science/kinesiology, but those don’t have direct leads to well-paid jobs outside of college. You can, of course, get a job in those fields with a BA (my sister was an exercise science major), but the positions aren’t well-paid.
A note, though: Some people will tell you to follow your passion and others will say pursue something completely practical; the truth is somewhere in the middle. It makes no sense to try to pursue a career that you hate, because no amount of money will make up for you feeling miserable every day for 8-10 hours. You’ll spend most of your waking hours at work: don’t be miserable. I’ve been in a boring job and I’ve been in a job I love and the difference is remarkable. On the other hand, though, you do want to pick something that pays well - but I think most undergraduates either overestimate how much money they need to support themselves or underestimate how much non-engineering, non-CS degrees pay.