<p>I'm a high school senior and have declared my major as Nutritional Sciences - Human Nutrition/Pre-Med at the college I will be attending in the fall. I chose this major because it fits the requirements for Med school, Pharmacy school, etc. so that I could keep my options open. I have my career narrowed down to three options: Genetic Counseling, School Counseling, or Pharmacy. I have been thinking about changing my major to psychology. I took AP Psychology at my high school and loved the class. I also did very well in the class. If I change my major to Psychology, I would just add Pre-Pharmacy to it. I think I would be more interested in the psychology classes than in the nutrition classes. I also think that psychology would be an "easier" major than Pre-med, although I don't know that. Any advice?</p>
<p>-For school counseling, you would need at least a master’s degree. School counseling programs are relatively easy to enter. If, however, you change your mind and decide to do a doctoral level clinical or counseling psychology program, these are very competitive and the core of science and math coursework that makes up the pre-med requirements will serve you well.</p>
<p>-Doesn’t pre-pharmacy require more chemistry than pre-med? If so, completing pre-pharmacy requirements + a psychology major might not be any easier than doing the pre-med requirements + a psychology major. </p>
<p>-BTW, pre-med isn’t a major. Though most pre-meds major in a bioscience field or chemistry, for medical school admission, you can major in just about any liberal arts (or engineering) field as long as you complete the pre-med requirements (usually 2 semesters each of general and organic chemistry, general physics, general biology, and English). Some medical schools recommend or require some additional courses. You would probably take one of those (genetics) if you have a possible career interest in genetic counseling.</p>
<p>-More and more psychology depts. require calculus and some chemistry and/or physics as supporting courses. Sometimes, in a dept. that offers both an BA and BS version of the major, those courses are only required for the BS track, which tends to be designed for students who plan to apply to doctoral programs in psychology. For some subconcentration programs in a psychology major (e.g., neuroscience), you pretty much have to complete the equivalent of the pre-med requirements to be competitive for graduate admissions. For admission to a master’s program in school counseling, you probably could do fine without the more science-oriented psychology major.</p>
<p>-If you did decide to pursue a doctorate in clinical psychology, a double major in nutrition + psychology could be an awesome combination if you had an interest in certain clinical areas, e.g., eating disorders, obesity, feeding disorders in children with developmental disabilities, etc.</p>
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<li>Before deciding on psychology, wait until you take an intro college course for prospective majors. I don’t think that an AP course is necessarily the equivalent. I know several students who never took it, but passed the AP exam with minimal studying on their own. I think a lot of high school psychology instructors focus on the “soft science” aspects. However, if that wasn’t the case with your class, then perhaps, you do have a good basis to decide.</li>
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<p>I’m not interested in going to med school, and I know Pre-med isn’t a major. I never said it was. It’s a PART of my current major. I never said I Wasn’t interested in science classes. If I wasn’t interested in science, my career options would not include Genetic counseling and pharmacy. I’m not going to double major, I never said I was thinking of doing so. I was looking for advice on what to major in, not a lecture on how to get careers I never said I was interested in. For genetic counseling, I only need a master’s degree; I don’t have to go to med school. I have no interest in going to med school. I chose that major only because it meets the requirements for Pre-med, Pre-pharmacy, Pre-dentistry, etc. I’m not thinking about majoring in psychology only because I passed the AP test. I am interested and enjoyed the class. I said nothing about taking/passing the AP test.</p>
<p>Well, you kept comparing “Pre-Med” to other “majors” so it’s not surprising the previous poster (in a nice manner mind you) reminded you that Pre-Med isn’t a major, but a collection of classes. Your hostile response isn’t justified.</p>
<p>As for you not wanting to go med school:
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<p>If you want help, perhaps you should more clearly define what it is you are seeking. The original question was a bit of a jumbled mess to be honest, and is probably why you haven’t received many responses. If you look at what you original wrote, zapfino actually responded to pretty much the information you gave.</p>
<p>I compared my Human Nutrition/Pre-Med major to one other major one time in my previous post. I never claimed Pre-med was a major. My original post was asking whether I should change my major. I’ll figure it out myself. Thanks.</p>
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<p>These are the comments that would lead someone to think that. . .</p>
<p>In any case, just a bit of advice as you transition into “the real world”: you’ll catch more flies with honey. Good luck.</p>
<p>Human Nutrition/Pre-Med IS a major at the school I’m going to. Apparently you all think I’m wrong.</p>
<p>Some colleges offer a pre-med major, but it’s not often recommended. I think it’s partly because what happens if you don’t wind up going to medical school in the end? What will you do with a pre-med degree? And for the rest of your life, you’ll have that “not quite finished” look to your academics, as it’ll be clear to anyone that you intended to go into medicine and didn’t make it.</p>
<p>I’ve been lurking on Student Doctor Network a lot lately and highly recommend it to anyone considered medicine, pharmacy, or any advanced-degree medical field. I’m not in those programs myself; I’m just lurking for no decent reason. :)</p>
<p>That was actually really helpful…I’ll check out that site. Thank you!</p>