<p>Currently a Senior in HS and I'm 95% sure I'll be going to U of R next year. Just have a few questions on major selection.</p>
<p>I'm interested in public policy, specifically the combination of science and policy. I'm not exactly sure what I'd like to focus on yet, but am currently interested in: ocean policy law, oceanography in general, international health, nutrition in 3rd world countries, and environmental policy.</p>
<p>A big limiting factor for me in choosing colleges was that the school have an ROTC unit on campus. If I go to U of R, I'll participate in NROTC and serve for at least 5 years before going into the private sector--I don't think I'll make a career out of it (though I can't say for sure) but its definitely something I want to do. With that being said, prospective midshipmen are muchhhhhh more likely to receive an NROTC scholarship if they major in engineering or science. I think my core interests are in the social sciences and I plan on double majoring in Political Science or Econ with a science....the only problem is...I don't know which science would best suit my interests. I thought about environmental sciences and health policy, but the navy still considers them to be social sciences. I'm not sure if I should major in Bio, Geology or create my own major.</p>
<p>I haven't seriously thought about creating my own major, but I've perused some other college websites and might give some thought to majoring in: Biology and Society, Biology of Global Health, or Environmental Biology. Would I be able to focus on these elements through the Biology/Geology departments, rather than creating my own major? How hard is it to create your own major?</p>
<p>As long planned, we are continuing work to develop one more new major in the domain of Public Health, and it will be a Natural Science degree. The working title is “Environmental Health.” Campus review is down to details (one significant concern is not loading it up with too many required courses). When that issue is resolved it will require state approval. I’m mentioning it here because there’s a chance it will be approved and in place for this fall.</p>
<p>Also, I know at least one student, a junior, who has an approved self-designed major in Global Health. Often the students’ self-designed majors have presaged the development of a formal new major program.</p>
<p>We already have a major in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology that might match some of your goals.</p>
<p>Take your time: here majors aren’t declared until sophomore year, to ensure that students who want to will have completed a variety of courses and are better-informed about their options.</p>
<p>thanks for the help. I was looking on the UR website for course descriptions but obviously wasn’t looking intently enough…I didn’t realize you had to click on the course to see the description of all available courses :/</p>
<p>I was also a little disappointed when I first noticed the health policy majors were in the social sciences, though I completely understand why. If I don’t feel comfortable majoring in Bio, I think I’d be able to make an interdisciplinary major within the departments sort of like Georgetown’s “Biology of Global Health” major:</p>
<p>[Program</a> Requirements for Students who matriculated in 2011 or later (anticipated graduation in 2015 and later)](<a href=“http://biology.georgetown.edu/198245.html]Program”>http://biology.georgetown.edu/198245.html)</p>
<p>Does anyone have personal experience with creating their own major? How often do proposals get shut down? I noticed in the interdepartmental studies website that they don’t want programs where the answer is yes to the following question : "“Is it possible for me to follow a similar course of study through some combination of existing majors, minors or certificates?” </p>
<p>And to be brutally honest, in this case, I definitely feel like any of my prospective majors could be achieved through a major in bio with a minor in medical anthropology/some sort of public health or geology. But I think the same is true with some of their examples (Biostatistics,Bioinformatics,Linguistics Anthropology,integrative neurobiology, middle eastern studies). That’s why I’m not completely sure if I’d be able to pursue something like this through an interdepartmental program.</p>
<p>EDIT: RochesterDean, I didn’t see your latest post. I will definitely pursue the “Environmental Health” Major if it is available by the time I start to choose my major. Thanks everyone for the responses!</p>
<p>RochesterDean, would it be a BA or a BS? This might sound insignificant, but part of what the Navy uses to determine whether something is Tier II (math and science) or Tier III (everything else) is the scientific core behind the degree. I know specifically that an Econ B.A. is Tier III but if a school offers a BS in econ, then it is Tier II. </p>
<p>I know that Georgetown’s Biology of Global Health is Tier II and Cornell’s “Biology and Society” major is Tier II, so this should be fine, I just was curious.</p>