Is It A Problem If I Like Everything?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I came to the conclusion about a week ago that, as a female high school junior, I have no idea what I want to do with my life.</p>

<p>Random? Maybe. Irrational? Not so much. Here's the background...</p>

<p>I am a strong student, and I'd say that I'm fairly well-rounded--well-rounded meaning that I have similar grades/abilities in all of the subjects I take at school. </p>

<p>However, I've always detested history because I never saw the point in learning about the past as it always seemed more worthwhile to focus on the future. I have always enjoyed and excelled at math and as a freshman was particulary interested in a unit in my biology class that explored genetics. As a result of my interest in biology and my distate for history, I assumed that I definitely wanted to go into engineering, medicine, or something biology- or science-related. Or a combination of the aforementioned categories. </p>

<p>However, this year I chose to take a U.S. Government & Politics class en lieu of European History or Mock Trial--taking social studies quite against my will, for I hated history and I was under the impression that history was synonymous with social studies. As it turns out, I adore my Government & Politics class and have accordingly begun to reconsider my options. </p>

<p>After attempting for some time to find a potential career/major/program that would combine biochemistry, mathematics, and political science and/or government, I found myself stumped. </p>

<p>I've heard about 7- or 8-year B.S./M.D. programs but I'm not sure if that is for me. I have also tossed around the idea of doing an M.D./Ph. D program and become a research physician, but I'm not sure about that and what it would entail. </p>

<p>So I'd like to pose two questions:
1) The career question: does anybody know of a career that merges these unrelated fields?
2) The college question: do any colleges come to mind that would be a good place to merge these fields?</p>

<p>Additional information about college preferences:
- West coast schools are not an option.
- My parents would like me to be looking for schools in the Northeast, but I am open to other suggestions.
- I would prefer schools that are not all-women's colleges.
- As for now, the idea of a midsized university is appealing to me. The enormous amount of people at a large research university is intimidating to me, but I'm afraid that I won't meet anybody new after freshman year at a LAC. I am, however, totally open to considering different sizes.</p>

<p>Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated!</p>

2

<p>I think you'd be best off at a school that's not too artsy or too technical - but otherwise any fine college/university will probably have decent math, bio, poli sci departments. In terms of merging these fields, perhaps you would be interested in something to do with public health - such as epidemiology or biostatistics, health policy. Public Health is a graduate school program, however. There are many people who combine MD/PhD to do research in a variety of fields. But it's early... Lots of students go into college thinking they will major in medicine, and they wash out in Organic Chemistry. Since you're interested in so many things, it might be wise to take a sampling of courses in your first year. The great thing about college is that you can try things - and if you don't like the course after the first week or so, you can switch into something else.</p>

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<p>It sounds like what you need is a well-rounded liberal arts curriculum from which to choose. You mentioned a "mid-sized university"--there aren't too many of those, but here are some, not all of which are Northeast: Emory U in Atlanta, Vanderbilt U in Nashville, Washington U in St. Louis--all are about 6,000 to 7,000 students.</p>

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<p>dg5052-- What I meant by "mid-sized" was larger than a LAC but smaller than a major state university, maybe between 3000 and 8000 students. Again, not carved in stone at all. </p>

<p>Any suggestions in the Northeast?</p>

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<p>Maybe U of Rochester? Also some of the ivies if you are that kind of student -Dartmouth is the smallest, I believe.</p>

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<p>Tufts maybe? Hard to say without knowing your SAT scores, GPA and class rank.</p>

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<p>I have a 4.0 unweighted GPA. As a junior, I rank in the top 10 in a class of about 400 students. PSAT scores aren't out and I haven't taken the SAT this year, but as a sophomore I scored a 204 on the PSAT. Does that help?</p>

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<p>So I'd like to pose two questions:
1) The career question: does anybody know of a career that merges these unrelated fields?
2) The college question: do any colleges come to mind that would be a good place to merge these fields?</p>

<p>1) health care policy; HMOs, FDA, hospital administration, Surgeon General</p>

<p>2) I would lean toward a midsize university or small liberal arts school as you would be able to sample a variety of subjects in a small-class environment and would likely find academic advising to be more accessible and useful. Double-majoring may be easier to do in a four-year period. Anyway, dozens of schools would be very good for your interests (which I might add, will likely change over the next 5-6 years.) Of the top of my head I'd suggest Yale, Washington University, Tufts, Brandeis, Swarthmore, Wellesley, Carleton, Pomona, Colgate, Smith and Macalester.</p>

<p>PS - If you take a course from a good HS or college History teacher you will change your mind about History as a subject.</p>

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<p>igrok writes "After attempting for some time to find a potential career/major/program that would combine biochemistry, mathematics, and political science and/or government, I found myself stumped.</p>

<p>Actually I think you should have the opposite problem, too many choices!! Lets list a few. You could work in a biotech company in a management or public relation area, specializing in dealing with regulatory agencies. Or you could work for a regulatory agency handling hi-tech firms. You could broaden the science a bit and consider the field of medicine or public health, from either the business or governement side. As a side branch you could consider something like statistics (that emphasizes the mathematical part of your preferences) but work in a biochem-related area such as on studies required for drug approval by the FDA; flip that and work for the FDA reviewing the submitted studies. As another side branch consider working in a legislative area such as the Congressional Research Service <a href="http://www.loc.gov/crsinfo/whatscrs.html#staff%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.loc.gov/crsinfo/whatscrs.html#staff&lt;/a> or the Congressional Budget Office specializing in biotech-related areas.</p>

<p>I think with a little time you could come up with lots more areas. Which doesn't help your original problem, of course; what to do if you like everything? These days a "career" doesn't necessarily entail just one area of focus. Given a good grounding you can move from one position to another. What I would do if I was you is start to get real-world exposure to some possibilities thru reading and internships, and by talking to people. When you're at college you will have access to alums in many areas who are happy to share their experiences with undergrads; you just have to ask. But internships, really spending some time in an area, are your best bet for really finding out what given jobs are like and getting exposure to other types of jobs in the company that may not have occured to you.</p>

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<p>I also recommend the following schools:</p>

<p>Columbia University: Excellent overall reputation, serious academics, NYC, good Political Science and Mathematics departments and top 10 Medical School.</p>

<p>Cornell University: Excellent overall reputation, amazing in the sciences, quaint little college town for outdoorsy types and top 10 Medical School.</p>

<p>Duke University: A little bit South of the Northeast, but still close enough. Great reputation, great academics, strong Political Science and Biology departments and a top 5 Medical school. What's not to like.</p>

<p>Johns Hopkins University: Arguably the biggest name in Medical education. JHU is also excellent in International Relations and Biology. Excellent Medical school placement.</p>

<p>Northwestern University: Obviously, Northwestern is not a Northeastern school...but Chicago is not too far away and it is an awesome city. Northwestern is a great university with a very gifted student body and excellent med-school placement.</p>

<p>University of Chicago: Also not Northeastern, but still worth looking at. Known for very serious, high powered academics, many undergrads shy away from Chicago. But if you want an intellectual atmosphere with a great faculty and challenging academics, I would check out Chicago.</p>

<p>University of Michigan-Ann Arbor: Another school that is not Northeastern and certainly not midsized, but Michigan does fit some of your interests. It is arguably #1 in Political Science, especially in American Politics, and top 10 in Mathematics and Medicine. The overall reputation of Michigan makes it very effective at Medical School placement. Finally, as an undergrad, you will have more opportunities to do research that is pertinent to your field of interest at Michigan than at any other university in the nation.</p>

<p>University of Pennsylvania: Another university with a great reputation, great academics, strong International Relations and Pre-Med programs and a top 5 Medical school.</p>

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<p>Wow... I never thought of any of these career ideas. Thank you all for your help! </p>

<p>As for colleges--one more question. What about any colleges that would offer strong programs in bichemistry, goverment/politics, mathematics, engineering(?) that could be considered safeties... and might offer a good amount of merit money?</p>

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<p>I know you said you were looking for a school in the northeast...but other than that I think you should really consider looking at Washington University in St. Louis (I realize other people mentioned it...but wanted to emphasize it)...It's (in my opinion) the perfect size (about 6,000 undergrad.), very nice campus, good suburban location, friendly student body etc. ALSO>>> this school is very flexible when it comes to majoring...double majors are very common (30%, i think), and it is extremely easy to change between the different undergraduate schools (business, arts, arts & sciences, etc)...students I know who have done it say all you do is sign a sheet of paper, and you're done. Anyways, I've gone on long enough, basically the school just really encourages a variety of interests and academic pursuits, and I'd encourage you to check it out!!</p>

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<p>igrok, my take is that you have a good start in identifying what you want in a college but there are several more dimensions to consider. Since you're just a junior you have the leisure to become better informed and sample some alternatives on campus visits without the pressure facing the current seniors. One excellent book is Pope's "Looking Beyond the Ivy League" since it outlines a whole approach to deciding what you want in a college, how to explore options, etc. While focused a bit on LACs you could just as easily apply the ideas to the mid-sized U you are considering.</p>

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<p>With the proper training in biology, chemistry and medicine, (and nuclear science as well) along with a heavy dose of political science, you will be ready for a career as a UN weapons inspector!</p>

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<p>BTW since the OP was wondering how to put her interests to work in a career field, another industry area occured to me -- that of food and agriculture. Genetically modified foods are in the pipeline, and you could work in various positions in the industry from actually doing the science to working with regulatory agencies. Or you could work for the regulatory agencies or legislative bodies that set the rules. Agriculture as a whole has many areas outside of the genetically-modified foods that require knowledge of math and science, and there is plenty of government oversight/interaction. Food producers also use science in developing their products and in working with regulatory agencies. If you want to emphasize people more in your career, think about nutrition where you could be working for a government body involved with food programs. Emphasize the math a bit more and your doing epidemology studying what people eat and looking for links to ailments or developing healthy eating guidelines. In the food & ag area, just like in that of biotech, there are really boundless opportunities available. </p>

<p>Cornell, BTW, is one institution with an excellent nutrition program (see <a href="http://www.nutrition.cornell.edu/about.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nutrition.cornell.edu/about.html&lt;/a&gt;) They also have a Food & Nutrition Policy Program <a href="http://www.he.cornell.edu/cfnpp/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.he.cornell.edu/cfnpp/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>mikemac: Thanks for the pointer on the Ag school at Cornell.. it might be a great option considering that that is one of the state-funded schools. </p>

<p>Does anybody know of any schools fitting the original description that might offer merit aid to somebody like me?</p>

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<p>igrok: Take a look at Dickinson (small, but very nice) and Alfred University for merit aid in the northeast. You might want to look at Kalamazoo (don't let the name put you off), Ohio Wesleyan, Wheaton (MA), and Canisius. If you click the College Discussion Archive button at the bottom of the page and do a message search in the Parents Forum, title, Best Merit Awards, you will find lists of schools that have given merit awards in the past to CC students. Good luck, and relax! It is good to think about your career, but be open to exploring and enjoying your exploration. When the time comes, apply for outside scholarships too, both local ones and national ones found at sites like Fast Web. All the best.</p>

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<p>I was thinking that you might also want to look at honors colleges within a big university like Michigan or Maryland. That way you are in a smaller community within a large university and get the advantages of both worlds. Might want to look at SUNY-Geneseo or other SUNY's if you are a New Yorker.</p>

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<p>Thanks for all your help!</p>