Thinking about switching from science major to english major.

College Majors Humanities Majors
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Hello everyone,

Right now I have finished my first year at a community college. I am currently majoring in chemistry, hoping to transfer to a university and get a BS in Biochemistry. For months, though, I have felt unsure of my decision. I find my classes a breeze so far, and have gotten all As. I have this fear niggling in the back of my mind that eventually I will lose interest in the subject, and I feel as though I have already, and I’m only convincing myself I like it when really I don’t.

I have had a passion for writing for the longest time. I find myself writing a lot in my spare time, and I read far more than I watch TV. If I majored in english, I would probably go with a creative writing minor. Other than using the skills learned to enhance my writing to publish books, I don’t know what I would do. And frankly, I don’t know what I’d do with a biochem major either. I don’t want to go to med school, that’s for sure. I guess my biggest worry right now is switching, and finding I don’t like it, or sticking with chemistry/biochem and finding out I do indeed hate it.

Also, at this point I am not extremely worried about money. I would rather get a job that pays less (but enough) and liking it than a job that pays big bucks and really hating it.

Either way, I will maybe go to the career counseling office if I can soon and see if they can offer some advice. I know you guys can’t make the decision for me, but if any of you could share some experiences in your humanities/english major or if you were able to find jobs after, or such, I’d really appreciate it.

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Writing is a skill. It is used across many fields and many majors…not just English. Simply liking to read and write are not, by themselves, good reasons for majoring in English. Do you like reading and analyzing literature?

You will also read and write a lot in pretty much all of the humanities (philosophy, history, religion, etc.) and social sciences (sociology, anthropology, political science, economics, etc.) majors.

There are lots of things you can do with a BA in English with the appropriate skills and experiences, and they need not be related to literature or publishing.

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OK, I’m making this up as I go along, so take it for what it’s worth:

Would you consider majoring in English, and keeping a Chem Minor? I’m thinking that eventually you could work in textbook publishing, or perhaps some sort of professional writing. You could take your love of Chem an combine it with your love for English.

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