Hey guys
So I’ve been really looking at what I’m gonna do in college and have decided to go into a neuro- field with a minor on business.
But I am having a hard time choosing between neuroscience, neurobiology, and neuropsychology.
Which of the three is the most interesting, has the best career routes, leads to the best pay and the best longevity?
Thanks
To be quite honest, there’s not a whole lot of difference between these. They’re all about studying the brain; you are just going to have slightly different emphases depending on which one you choose. Neurobiology is obviously going to come more from a biological science approach and methods, whereas neuropsychology will have more of a psychological approach, but you will have to take psychology and biology classes in either major. Neuroscience is a catch-all term that includes both of those fields and could take any approach - depends on the major and the university.
Neurobiology and neuropsychology are very uncommon undergraduate majors, anyway. Usually the major is neuroscience.
Most interesting is a subjective question. And all three of these majors are going to have pretty similar career routes, which will have similar pay, because the coursework and focus is similar.
@juillet I’ve heard that neuroscience isn’t the most compensating major and can get quite depressing, is that true?
Your major isn’t the sole determinant of your career or pay - it’s probably not even the primary one, especially not after several years of work experience. A neuroscience major could become a consultant after college or a human services worker; they could become a clinical laboratory specialist or a finance guru. With graduate school, a neuroscience major could go into law or business or social work or education.
Neuroscience is generally not listed in most salary surveys - it’s not widespread enough - but life sciences majors, on average, make enough to live middle-class lifestyles but not big bucks. Life sciences majors tend to earn about $35K a year fresh out of college and and in the mid-$60K range at mid-career. Earning a graduate degree might result in higher salaries. But it is important to remember that these are just averages, and no indication of what you will actually make.
As for depressing…I’m not sure what you mean by that, exactly.