Schools with a health science major?

College Search & Selection
1

I already applied to 5 schools and I am interested in potentially pursuing a career in the health sciences. At some schools I’ve applied for the speech language pathology program or the occupational therapy program since those are two careers I’m currently torn between. However, I know some schools have an actual major that is just called health science, which is very broad and I feel like that would suit my needs much better since I am still undecided on what career I want exactly.

One school I’ve noticed that has this major is Quinnipiac University in CT but I’ve read some bad reviews on the school not being very academically oriented.

Can anyone recommend some schools that have a good health science program as a major instead of specific careers?

I’m only looking for schools located in the east coast/New England area (I’m a NY native)

My stats are 1940 SAT (660 CR, 610 M, 670 W)
3.75 UW GPA
Money is not too much of a problem but ideally I’d like to go somewhere where I can be in the running for merit scholarships.

Thank you!

2

Well, I can, but with some caveats.

First, some of your difficulty may be because of the name of the major. It’s not always called “health sciences” everywhere. Sometimes it’s called something else: public health, global health, community health, health and society, or just health. There is also the really closely related major of human development and family studies.

Second, most colleges don’t offer this as a major, BUT the building blocks of this major are often in the social and natural sciences. Some colleges offer it as a minor, which you can combine with a social science or natural science major. You can also create your own major in this area at schools that allow individualized majors and have the offerings for it.

You may also be in the somewhat-related major of science, technology, & society. Also, if you are potentially interested in SLP, you may be interested in majoring in communication disorders, which is a major at the undergrad level (often at larger universities). For occupational therapy, an interest might be kinesiology or exercise science.

Your state’s public universities offer a wealth of options:

Stony Brook University (Health Science)
Binghamton University (Human Development)
University at Albany (public health concentration)
SUNY Old Westbury (Health & Society)
SUNY New Paltz (Communications Disorders)
SUNY Fredonia (public health minor, exercise science minor)
SUNY Oneonta (Human Ecology, and a cooperative program with occupational therapy)
SUNY Plattsburgh (Communication Sciences & Disorders, Medical Technology, and Human Development and Family Relations)
Hunter College (Community Health)
Lehman College (Health Sciences, Exercise Science)
Brooklyn College (Health & Nutrition Sciences)
Queens College (Nutrition & Exercise Sciences; Family & Consumer Sciences; health education minor)

And some privates in the mid-Atlantic area:

Adelphi University (Exercise Science)
St. John’s University (Health and Human Services)
Yeshiva University (public health)
Hofstra University (Health Science, Health Education)
Syracuse University (Health & Exercise Science)
Ithaca College (several! Clinical Exercise science; a BS/DPT program; Exercise Science; Health Education; Health Sciences; and a health science and human performance pre-professional program).
St. Lawrence University (Exercise Science)
Clark University (public health minor)
Connecticut College (Human Development)
Fairfield University (Health Studies)
Boston University (Health Science)
Suffolk University (Health & Society)
Brandeis University (Health: Science, Society, and Policy)
Johns Hopkins University (Public Health Studies and Medicine, Science, and Humanities)
University of Rochester (they have a couple: Health, Behavior, & Society; Health Policy; Bioethics; Environmental Health; and Epidemiology)
Brown University (public health concentration)
Hampshire College (no majors, but you can build your own concentration, and the Five Colleges have a certificate program in Cultural, Health, and Science)

3

I will second that caution about the name of the major. In some schools “human development” or majors with similar names that don’t reflect actual disciplines are euphemisms, and not for “premed” but rather euphemisms for “you can pass and play basketball too”, and they are considered jokes, easy A’s and are not usually selected by strong students. Human development is not a discipline, for example. So at some schools it means lack of rigor. That may be true of many of these but Human Development is particularly likely to be a “low level” major. Obviously I’m not talking about majors like epidemiology or physiology or even “public health” in very strong schools. But, I can tell you in the schools i know best, Human Development is considered to be simply a joke. So be careful not to take yourself out of the running for a competitive graduate program by selecting a major know to lack rigor. Investigate the reputation and trajectory associated with a particular major in each school.

4

Quinnipiac isn’t a terrible school, but they’re definitely overpriced. I received a lot of mail from them.

Look at these schools:
-Bennington College
-Boston University
-Connecticut College
-Fairfield University
-Franklin Pierce*
-Hampshire College
-Lesley University*
-Marlboro College
-Roger Williams University*
-Simmons College*
-Smith College
-SUNY Fredonia
SUNY New Paltz
-SUNY Oneonta
-SUNY Old Westbury
-SUNY Plattsburgh
-University of Connecticut
-University of Maine

*Your scores are a bit above average, so you may get merit aid.

5

I agree that Quinnipiac is overpriced. However, you could get a lot of scholarship money so you never know. Your SAT score and GPA are really great. Also, my friend is doing occupational therapy at Seton Hall University, which is in NJ. It’s a great school and people do get good scholarships from them. I know you’re not 100% sure about your specific major yet but I just thought I’d mention it anyway, since it is on the east coast.

6

Rochester Institute of Technology
College of Heath Sciences and Technology

RIT COA is around $48k, cheaper than a lot of private colleges. And you would be eligible for merit-based aid.

7

http://www.duq.edu/academics/schools/health-sciences

Duquesne was giving merit of $10,000 to $20,000 last year. They do have the major you want.

8

https://www.stvincent.edu/academics/occupational_therapy/

There is also an allied health program/ 5yr OT cooperative program with Duquesne at St Vincent College.
I guess they are transitioning that to a 6 yr Doctor of OT program.

Run the net price calculator for an estimate of merit you might qualify for.

9

<<<
However, I know some schools have an actual major that is just called health science, which is very broad and I feel like that would suit my needs much better since I am still undecided on what career I want exactly.
<<<

You can also look at schools that allow you to “design your own major.” Some schools have something like, New College, where you can create your major from taking courses from 2+ majors. That option seems to work out well for those who are pre-professional.

As for merit. Since your M+CR isn’t high, the schools that would offer you “real” merit are likely lower academic schools. Some highly priced schools may offer virtually every student $10k off, but that’s just smoke and mirrors.

What ELSE do you want in a school?

10

Thank you to everyone for all your help and suggestions! I really appreciate it.

As for what else I’m looking for in a school: Location is definitely a big one for me. I need a school thats in reasonable proximity (car drive) to where I live (NY). Also, prestige does not really matter to me. I just care about being around people who care about academics. Some of the schools I’ve already applied to are Loyola Maryland, Fairfield, and UScranton. I got accepted to my safety school, Adelphi, yesterday.

Basically, location and student body are probably my top factors that I look in to with a school. It needs to be in an accessible place and not in the middle of nowhere.

11

@littlel4lks did you visit fairfield?? i went last year & it’s a nice school, but very very small. it also has no greek life & the sports are eh. i’m not a party person at all but i would make sure that they at least have events going on every few days or else you’ll be extremely bored. i love going to events that clubs run, like christmas parties, karaoke nights, dance competitions, musicals, etc. to destress. i’m also very academic oriented like you but definitely need fun things to do sometimes :slight_smile:

btw congrats on getting accepted to adelphi!! i go there right now :slight_smile: we do have a build your own major type of program. i dont know too much about it but the website says “the interdisciplinary studies program, which combines studies from two or more departments for a one-of-a-kind education.” Check the website if you’re interested! http://interdisciplinary.adelphi.edu/

12

@mjmansuria15 Thank you! And yes I did visit Fairfield. I actually really liked it because of its size and all. I’m not looking for a school thats super big and all.

Do you dorm or commute at Adelphi and how do you like it so far?
And what is the student body like for those who are not big party people?
I have a interview for the honors college in a few weeks as well. :slight_smile: Thank you!

13

@littlet4lks aw, i’m glad to hear that!! :slight_smile:

as for adelphi, i’m from NJ and the college is in NY so i currently dorm. i actually really like living on campus!! all the dorms are pretty nice and dorming is basically like having a sleepover every night lol. i am a room bug so i tend to just stay in a lot & do work, but there are tons of opportunities to have fun. clubs are always having events (like almost every day) & the city is only 40 minutes away by train. plus, i love that theres a train station right down the road (within walking distance). i have yet to learn how to use public transport in NY but i’m assuming as a new yorker, you probably know lol. anyway, overall i really like the college. all my professors are great & i feel like i’m at the proper academic level. classes aren’t impossible to pass, but they’re also not freebies. i definitely am learning and pushing myself to do well, which is what makes paying for college worth it. i do think that i should have gotten more scholarship money compared to what some of my other friends received, but there are a lot of jobs on campus and off campus to help. plus i’m from out of state, so i guess it makes sense that i didn’t get as much money. i also sometimes find it uninteresting that a lot of kids here are from NY because some of them look down on NJ and i can’t relate to the NY lifestyle. the student and professor population is very racially diverse though. & i’m not a party person at all, which is totally okay. a lot of people do go out on thursdays and fridays but i usually do homework or watch netflix, and nobody calls me out on it. i find that the weekends can oftentimes be quiet since half the students are commuters, but i usually find that to be a good thing because i can relax/sleep/study in peace.

i imagined myself going to a big school so i could meet tons of new people, attend football games, have a lot of spirit, etc. but i’m learning now that my quiet academic oriented personality would not have fit well in that atmosphere. i actually think that’s why adelphi was perfect for me. i have the low key atmosphere on campus that’s perfect for getting an education and then i have the loud crazy atmosphere of NYC which is great to have fun. aka i have the best of both worlds :slight_smile:

also i’m not in the honors college but i do have many friends in it & they seem to like it!! you can live in honors suites and go to a lot of cool events, like operas, ballets, dinner at the dean’s house, etc. good luck at your interview!!

14

@mjmansuria15 Thank you so much for all the info! I’m definitely highly considering attending now! :slight_smile:

15

@littlet4lks aw no problem!! I’m glad I could help!! :slight_smile: you definitely have a bunch of other equally great options to consider so I wish you all the best!! if you need help with anything college related (doesn’t matter if it’s about adelphi or not), let me know!