<p>I'm a senior now, and my parents have been bothering me nonstop about my future plans. I was considering going to med school one day (hopefully), but that's pretty much it - other than that, I have absolutely no idea what major I'll decide for college, and my parents are ANXIOUS. "What if I don't get into med school or decide I don't want that path anymore? What will be your backup plan? You need to find a major that will land you a job after college!" How am I supposed to know?! I don't even know what other majors are good for, and my parents keep telling me to do engineering or nursing or pharmacy. I don't even know how to pick my major yet because I don't know if I'll like it or not or if it's some hidden strength or not. Point is, I'm not in college yet, and I feel as though they're asking me things I don't have access to yet. I DEFINITELY know I want to do something science-related, and from my personal experience, I like biology and chemistry a lot. Other areas just don't seem as interesting to me as those two. Other than that, I have no idea. Is there any way to calm them down for now? Am I being foolish for not knowing EXACTLY what I want to do during college? And if there's a way to know 100% what I will be getting myself into, can you please help?</p>
<p>You are not foolish at all. I believe 50% of college students change their major. </p>
<p>Tell your parents you are interested in a science based field but you are unsure which yet. All of them require undergrad chem and possibly bio, calculus possibly physics so you have time in that first year and even second year to get a feel of your direction without “losing” time.</p>
<p>Anybody thinking of premed needs a back up plan since it is so hard to get into med school. It may be that you will go on to be a Physician assist or Nurse practitioner and still be involved in patient care.</p>
<p>Or it you decide you love chem (I did when I was in college) you may go on to be a chemist.</p>
<p>It really isn’t possible to know your future for sure at your age. I guess just remind them of how the life they are living now is probably not the life they envisioned they would have at 18 years old.</p>
<p>One book I bought for my son was called “10 Best College Majors for Your Personality Type” - it might be worth getting or borrowing from a library to go through. It’s a fun approach to coming up with some ideas for careers, and doesn’t take long to go through.</p>
<p>To learn more about engineering:
[Engineering</a> Your Future - Explore the Field of Engineering](<a href=“http://www.futuresinengineering.com/]Engineering”>http://www.futuresinengineering.com/)
[Explore</a> Engineering - TryEngineering](<a href=“http://www.tryengineering.org/explore.php]Explore”>http://www.tryengineering.org/explore.php)</p>
<p>Since you are interested in medicine perhaps a major like biomedical engineering (or chemical engineering ) would be good - it would give you some options if you choose not to apply to medical school and you would find it interesting and meaningful.</p>
<p>Yes, it is normal to not know what you want to do with your future. Some of us adults still struggle with that question too ;-)</p>
<p>At this point, picking a major hardly matters since kids change their minds. If your parents won’t get off your back, then just pick something that you LIKE and could be a Plan B. That will “shut them up” for now…and if later you change your major, then you’ll be like most kids…no biggie. </p>
<p>However, keep in mind that there is a glut of bio majors and not enough good-paying jobs for all the grads. I don’t know if chem majors face the same issue. </p>
<p>Do you like any of the engineering disciplines? Again, you may not need to decide which discipline at some schools at first.</p>
<p>BTW…in most cases, “pre-pharm” isn’t a major either. It’s a similar track as pre-med…with whatever major you like.</p>
<p>What other subjects do you like?</p>
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<p>Actually, an undecided student needs to consider each possible major and plan his/her freshman schedule to make progress in all of them, in order to avoid delayed graduation due to deciding major late and discovering that it has a long prerequisite sequence that will prevent graduating on time. Science and engineering majors commonly have long prerequisite sequences, so an undecided-but-probably-science-or-engineering major needs to be especially careful. In addition, there may be different tracks of math, physics, and chemistry for biology majors versus those majoring in those subjects, so an undecided-but-probably-science-or-engineering major may need to take the most difficult version for students majoring in the subject until s/he decides.</p>
<p>Note also that, in some schools, changing major, especially to a popular major (commonly engineering majors) requires applying into a competitive admissions process.</p>
<p>Of the sciences, biology and chemistry tend to have the worst job and career prospects in the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html</a> . Chemical engineering tends to do better than chemistry.</p>
<p>No specific major is required for pre-med, although there are pre-med course requirements. These pre-med course requirements are mostly automatically covered by a biology major, which probably why so many pre-meds major in biology. But it also means that lots of biology majors who did not get into medical school flood the job market at graduation.</p>
<p>Remember, though, that you don’t have to be a biology major to be pre-med. You can complete the pre-med requirements in addition to any major.</p>
<p>If you like math, you might want to consider a math or economics major. People in those majors get jobs.</p>
<p>Ask your parents if they knew exactly at age 18 what they wanted to do in their adult careers. Remind them that you are fully aware that you need to find a job after college, and that you are sure whatever you choose, you will do well in and eventually find employment. If you are interested in medical, start by getting training as an EMT during college (lots of colleges offer training). You can work summers, or even during the year part time after you are certified, and that would be better money than flipping burgers. Your parents are nervous because they hear about all the grads without jobs, but I know lots of grads who got jobs…more than who didn’t. The ones who got jobs maybe aren’t making $50 thousand like they dreamed, but they are making enough for one person to live, building a resume, and have health insurance and money to pay loans. They worked hard to find a job, and didn’t wait for mom or dad to rescue them. The one recent grad I know without a job is too “picky”, doesn’t want to “settle”, thinks because he went to a good school he is entitled to a job with the corner office already, and has no idea of working from the ground up. His loss. He has to live with mom and dad, who are also thinking he is worth more than hard work. Their problem. If you are already motivated, a hard worker no matter what type of job you have, and goal oriented, you will be fine. Parents these days want everything to be easier for their kids, but sometimes struggling teaches you more than having everything come easy…remind your parents you won’t be destitute or homeless. YOU will find work because that’s just who you are! And then, work hard at college to prove it.
And, BTW, if everyone majors in engineering, nursing, etc, all that does is increase competition for jobs in those fields. If you have an interest in something a little outside the box, look into it. Take a course to feel it out. You could do much better off the beaten path than on.</p>
<p>HS students and college freshmen do not need to know their major. Schools such as UW-Madison admit students to the university as a whole as they know most entering students either don’t know what they want to major in or will change their major. Once you are in college you will take several introductory courses to meet breadth requirements and hopefully will choose some that pique your interest. One of these courses could lead to your future major. You will also likely choose some math and science needed for medical school admissions. Your interest and ability in these courses may help you decide on a major and/or whether you still want to become a physician. </p>
<p>Premed is an intention, not a major. Remember to tell your parents that later- you can major in ANYTHING you want to get into medical school as long as you meet the course requirements, have good grades in them and good MCAT scores et al. It is easier on the schedule to major in a science but best to major in something you truly enjoy. Your post bachelor’s degree plans will evolve as you mature and experience different college courses.</p>
<p>At this stage you should be concentrating on applying to colleges that are a good academic, social and financial fit for you. once you are at that school things will fall into place.</p>
<p>Thanks A LOT, everyone! It’s a relief to read this. Looks like I’m gonna have to work hard during college and get the most out of it. </p>
<p>@m2ck: I like statistics, too. But then again, I’m only judging it based on how I did in AP Statistics</p>
<p>Statistics is also useful in a medical context, since many medical research papers use statistical analysis to determine how effective a particular treatment is. It may also (with careful elective choices) give you more (but different) backup choices than biology does if you do not get into medical school.</p>
<p>For a statistics major, you need to take the college freshman and sophomore math courses suitable for math majors, not the less rigorous ones sometimes allowed for biology majors.</p>
<p>^Oh cool! How marketable IS statistics, anyway? (besides medical-oriented jobs, although that’s a big plus)</p>
<p>Engineering(mainly mech, elec, chem, biomed, and nuclear), nursing, mathematics, and accounting will land you job offers very easily. Mathematics will make you one clever individual</p>
<p>Sent from my SGH-T959V using CC</p>
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<p>Finance and (with appropriate course selection) actuarial jobs appear to be common:
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Statistics.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Statistics.stm</a></p>
<p>There are a lot of analyst type jobs out there where math or statistics would be the perfect back ground in. I know we have a position up at work now looking for math, statistics or economics. </p>
<p>Sent from my DROID BIONIC using CC</p>
<p>Statistics is certainly useful in other fields as well, like political science. My D1 was a political science and public policy major, and has commented that she would have had an easier time with her job search if she had taken a couple of stats courses in college (she took AP Statistics in high school, but none in college). She did find a job, and now thinks it would be useful to know more in her current position!</p>
<p>Another note: here is a plan D1’s boyfriend used to pick a major. He identified 3 different possible majors before getting to college. When he got there he tried to take two classes in each of the 3 areas in his first 3 semesters. He also visited the college career office starting late in his freshman year to learn more about jobs and career paths that are available to those majors. Then he picked a major from among those 3 at the end of his sophomore year. As a side note, he also picked a second major that was not on his original list of 3 and double majored. But he now works in a field related to the major he picked with this “method”. You could lay out a plan like this for your parents, that may satisfy them. But I would agree with the poster that some majors like engineering, some sciences, or math have a lot of pre-reqs and longer paths that have to be taken sequentially. So you have to pay attention to that so you graduate in four years.</p>
<p>You don’t have to have it nailed down the day you get to campus, but having some idea of general areas and a plan to pin it down AND graduate on time is important. Another reason it is good to think about it now is to make sure you attend a college that is reasonably strong in the majors you are considering.</p>
<p>I think that stats or math can also be used for analyzing retail and purchasing data so that companies can target their advertising and marketing to individuals to increase their sales and revenue.</p>
<p>You are not foolish for not knowing about what majors lead to what jobs and what you want to major in. Asking questions here on cc is a great resource. You might want to borrow books from the library as well. College Board puts out a “Book of Majors” that talks about careers based on different majors.</p>