Torn on major

<p>I really have an interest in sociology and criminal justice and would love to double major in it, but im not sure if this would let me be able to concentrate on my premed courses, have time for EC's and a social life, and be prepared for mcat in my junior year. Is it possible to do all? I am willing to take summer classes. should I just pick one?</p>

<p>Do you have some kind of goal…such as doing forensic medicine? </p>

<p>I would pick one major.</p>

<p>One of D’s pre-med friends is graduating with triple major. Her other 2 majors are not related to her main major in Zoology at all. My D. had 2 minors, although she had to drop one of them later, because one of her Med. School added couple requirements. D. is graduating with Music minor though, without single summer class (taook MCAT at the end of Junior year). She also needed to do all of her EC’s during school year because it is impossible to get any positions (including volunteering) at home. D. was working, interning at Med. Research Lab, volunteering, was on Sorority board (very time consuming) and minored in Music Composition (for R&R, which was very helpful). She also tried to be with club sport team, but it lasted only freshman year, not enough time, but she was going to gym regularly to work out. She is graduating with GPA=3.98. Everything is possible as long as you have time management skills and enjoying all your activities. </p>

<p>You can start out with 2, then drop one if time is an issue.</p>

<p>Thanks for the responses…</p>

<p>@mom2collegekids</p>

<p>Not really, I’m just interested in the subject. I would like to study it, considering if I matriculate into med school it would be a really long time before I could have a chance at studying it again.But I guess I could put it on hold or minor in it…not sure.</p>

<p>@MiamiDAP Did your daughter’s friend spend extra time in UG?Out of curiosity what was your daughter’s major & schedule like? Fitting in the prereqs with her major and her minor. I’d like to finish the prereqs by end of junior year also.</p>

<p>I’m thinking maybe major in sociology, and minor in CJ instead… I dont want to burn out.</p>

<p>Also if I minor in CJ, do you think I’d have time for other sciences besides the prereqs? There are lot of sciences classes that I’m interested in but I dont want to major in a science persay.</p>

<p>It’s fine to choose an unrelated major - my bachelor’s is in Sociology. I found the subject fascinating and there are some major themes that I encounter everyday while working as a physician.</p>

<p>I think though you’d be best served by picking one major (from a time standpoint) - and in this case, it needs to be sociology. I’m not saying this because I was a sociology major but because the wise thing to do is choose “academic” rather than “vocational” majors, which I think you’ll have a hard time convincing people that CJ isn’t just designed for future cops. If CJ is your first love, it’s not an awful choice, but it is less than ideal.</p>

<p>I agree that choosing a science major is in general a poor choice - mainly because you get stuck taking a whole bunch of classes that probably don’t interest you and won’t ever be used again once you’ve left that class. By not being a science major, you get to pick and choose the classes that interest you, the ones that have great professors or are otherwise outstanding courses.</p>

<p>@ bigredmed
thanks for the response. I think Ive finally decided on sociology for my major, and my minor will be science-related because of the prereqs</p>

<p>also to be sure, after the requirements for the sociology major, I can choose whatever classes I’d like to fill in the other hours for the degree right? Its 120 hours for my school. Im thinking I could still pick one or 2 CJ classes along with the sciences</p>

<p>If you have some AP credit (and your school takes it), that will give you some flexibility for your majors as well. You may find that it isn’t really necessary to major in something to take some classes and enjoy learning about the things that interest you. What my daughter has discovered is that her two majors had so many requirements that she had almost no opportunity to take fun classes just for the sake of learning. She has scaled back a bit (in her second year) and will probably end up with a major, a minor, and a certificate for regional studies.</p>

<p>Thanks for the response MD Mom,</p>

<p>I’ll definitely take the advice and pick and choose CJ courses instead of majoring in it.</p>

<p>“MiamiDAP Did your daughter’s friend spend extra time in UG?Out of curiosity what was your daughter’s major & schedule like?”</p>

<p>-D’s friend spend 4 years in UG, no extra. She is going to Med. School next year, just like my D. My D’s major was Zoology, the most common for pre-meds at her UG. Most pre-meds have AP Bio and some AP Chem, but they usually start with very first class at college. It is different from school to school though, at D’s UG it is a good idea to start from the begninning, since first Bio is covering much more than AP Bio and next Bio classes are based on material in first class. So, use AP’s carefully, check, talk to current pre-meds.</p>