Some food scientists have majored in microbiology.
My point is for the OP to challenge whether the path he’s mapped out makes sense.
I received a 1340 on my PSAT. I did do better than I did on the PSAT10 (1310), but I’m not sure that this qualifies for the National Merit Scholarship.
@MaelstromMonkey, it is not necessary or helpful to mock the food science major. Google the major and you will see it is not at all the same as being a chef, it’s more like science applied specifically to food. Sure, biology and chemistry and chemical engineering and other majors work in food science but there are plenty of jobs for food science majors. Even the apple you’d grab instead of a Twinkie has likely had a food scientist involved somewhere in its chain of custody. Enough with the snark please.
Traveler- agree with your post, but it is NOT necessary to major in food science as an undergrad to work in the industry, whether with a PhD or not. HS kids often assume that an undergrad major is a gating vehicle (i.e. if you don’t have the words “Food Science” or “International Relations” or “Urban Planning” stamped on your degree you can’t work in your desired field) and I think OP is suffering from that misconception.
A major in Nutrition could also work for your goals. Go bak and read carefully through the courses offered at the public Us in AZ. Especially the colleges of Agriculture and whatever used to be Home Economics (the name probably has changed).
@blossom, of course. As I said in my post there are many majors that can lead to a food science career. My issue is that there is no need to mock the food science major. It is just as viable a path to a career in food science, and not the same as what a chef does. Similar to the engineering field; for example many different majors can be successful in a petroleum engineering career but that doesn’t make petroleum engineering a wasted or useless degree. @MaelstromMonkey is implying the food science degree is useless and no different from being a chef, neither of which is true.
Food science is interesting. Granted I only worked as a lowly chemical lab assistant and mostly in quality control, but I found it fascinating. We did a variety of food analysis from microbiology to pesticide testing of hops.
I can definitely see how someone could be drawn to something like this. Not everyone needs to be a doctor or engineer to benefit society.
@whenderson272, depending on your education and career goals you might consider chemical engineering as a path to a career in food science. With just a BS you can be involved in food production; all major food companies use chemical (and other) engineers from the small (lab) scale to the large (factory) scale. If it’s important to have the option for a high-paying job after undergrad, chemical engineering is good to consider. It’s not for everyone of course, just something to think about.
You probably won’t make nmsf in AZ, but use Khanacademy to prep for the SAT so you can qualify for automatic scholarships and be competitve at places like Ohio State.
Why not Tuskegee?
@nw2this it’s just not a college I would like to attend, that is unless I get a full-ride there. That being said I will be more open to colleges. As for all the comments suggesting I choose a different discipline that sort of aligns with what I want to do as a career, I appreciate them, but there is one thing. I don’t necessarily enjoy Chemistry, and that’s why I chose food science, because it is chemistry but more appealing to me. So I wouldn’t work on a chemical engineering degree, with per se, a concentration in Food Applications because it simply wouldn’t make me happy, and my only goal in life is to be happy (not just in the end, but all throughout, even in college).
You would get a full ride there.
http://www.tuskegee.edu/scholarships/freshman_scholarships.aspx
@whenderson272, if you don’t like chemistry then you need to look very carefully at the full degree requirements for any major you’re looking into at all your colleges of interest. I suspect that even if you major in food science, you will still have to take plenty of regular chemistry courses that are not tailored specifically to food. You would probably have to take organic chemistry also, and that tends to be challenging even for people who DO like chemistry. Majoring in food science because you’re hoping to get away from non-food chemistry might not set you up for success unless you find a program that fits your desires AND has good outcomes for graduates. If you find a program that limits general chemistry courses but its graduates have poor placement outcomes into industry or graduate school you wouldn’t be doing yourself any favors. So be sure you do very careful research on degree requirements.
It looks like Howard offers a Nutritional Science degree and they offer full ride scholarships (Founders or Presidential) for certain stats (ACT 32+/SAT 1400+ and GPA 3.5+).
I don’t know if they have a major that works for you, but University of New Mexico would give you a full ride for your stated GPA and the right test score.
Someone who didn’t do well in chemistry as an undergrad is not getting into a doctorate program in food science.
OP- you need to shift your perspective somewhat. Would you go to a doctor with a bad rash on your arm if that doctor ONLY liked dermatology and skin related classes, but wasn’t interested in allergies, immune disorders, etc? Of course not- and that doctor wouldn’t have made it through med school let alone residency. Science is interconnected- the line between food chemistry and “chemistry chemistry” is only in your head, not in reality. A doctorate in food science is going to require work in genetics and biology and chemistry and math- the value of which may not be apparent to you until you have been working for 10 years (or maybe never).
Take a look at the full degree programs at the grad level (what you need to get in, what you need to get out) before you go too far with this. I’ve hired Food Science PhD’s for industry- and they were mostly chemists except for a couple of biologists who had strong interests and research experience in genetics (seeds, organic produce, how to grow different foods more efficiently with less water/less fertilizer, etc.) Their core discipline is science- not food.
I think OP is saying that s/he likes food science and that would make chemistry-chemistry palatable, as a goal to an end but not an end of itself (chem for food scienc degree= OK, not chem for chem’s sake). There is no indication OP isn’t good at chemistry BTW. Even true scientists may not like some branches of what they do yet they go through it because they know it’s a foundation for their degree. Many doctors didn’t like physics but they took it and did well anyway - never would they have majored in physics but they took enough to get to where they wanted.
Myos- all well and good. And a kid with an unlimited budget for undergrad gets to like food science chem but not chem-chem. But a kid with a budget needs to think more broadly-- especially if grad school is in the picture as the OP indicated it was. If there are dozens of schools which are affordable which offer a degree in chemistry which will lead to grad school, and only 5 with a degree in food science, it is short-sighted to knock the affordable schools off the list due to nomenclature. Especially since I suspect the “food science” programs have the students taking “chemistry chemistry” alongside their pre-med classmates.
^we already found two “non food science but food-related” programs in Arizona for OP 
Yup, you’re right, they take chem alongside premeds, in fact in some programs they are premed themselves - UA actually discusses this. But if OP means “I’ll bear with it because it’ll also do other classes”, it works too.
Let’s wait till OP comes back and explans that aversion for chemistry 
What Myso said is correct as far as my approach to a degree in Chemical engineering (which is what some suggest). I passed high school chemistry honors with an A last year (and did it online, so I had less lab experience, though I am more of a kinesthetic learner). And I will be taking chemistry at the community college in fall 2017. What I was referring to is that I don’t mind the chemistry as long as it if food related, or dealing with gastronomic chemicals. So Id rather not go to university for chemistry then grad for food science or university for chemistry then job in food science industry unless the chemistry I’m taking is more geared towards, well food. If I understand, though, the best route would be for me to major in Chemical? I do certainly appreciate the eye opening. I take the ACT in February then again in April so my scores will definitely get me closer to my goal.