Deciding a major/career?

[sakuraZaKi]

Some people early on have an idea on what they want to be when they get out of high school or start college.

Others, like me, don't know what the heck they want.

After reading through a thread here in the Pool Room titled, 'What's your major?', something dawned on me. I'm currently majoring in Biochemistry as a first-year undergraduate in college, but I've never truly had a solid hold on why I chose it, and what I want to do with it. You can say that I'm trying to throw an accurate dart while drunk.

As a child, I was given the impression to become a doctor. The impression is still there at present, evident by my current major, but over the years I've taken up very enjoyable hobbies that seem nothing related to being in the medical field. I love art, and I do well in mathematics. I love messing around with computers, learning languages, and enjoy playing music.

I'm sure many of us have been told something along the lines of 'it's better to be in a career you enjoy rather than be in one devoted to money'. I personally don't know what to make of the statement, to be honest.

Based on what I've seen, this is actually common question among young students. I was wondering if any of you (preferably) experienced people could give insight on how to approach this question that haunts our minds.

 

[theeboredone]

Honestly, from the things you said you like to do, you can still make a respectable amount of money. I am definitely on the belief that you should enjoy what you want to do in life. Understand that if you want to become a doctor, but have no interest, it may make you less effective in your studies. On top of that, you are essentially committing 11 years of your life to just get that final degree (MD, PhD, w/e.)

I think you have a rather healthy like of interests. Any company will take you if you know more than 2 languages. That is something rare to have. If you enjoy computers, why not ask your career advisor what kind of jobs you can get from that? Always best to talk to your career advisor.

 

[SuperBowser]

I didn't know what I wanted to do in school and chose very late. I think it's normal to not know what you want. It's better to be unsure than prematurely decide what you'll do the rest of your life. I originally wanted to be a vet but was horrendously allergic to animals . I found it really hard deciding what to do when I was 17, but settled on medicine eventually. I was lucky it turned out okay.

I don't recommend medicine if you're looking for a career full of money. The pay is decent, but the workload is far out of proportion unless you actually enjoy it. It's possible to have an impressive income, but you can work far less and earn far more in other careers. Medicine is nice but people have a skewed view of doctors and their lifestyles.

I know four people that studied biochemistry. One is a dental nurse, one is in laboratory research, one went into business and one is a medical student. You've got plenty of options to explore, especially since you've got lots of interests.

I'm sure many of us have been told something along the lines of 'it's better to be in a career you enjoy rather than be in one devoted to money'. I personally don't know what to make of the statement, to be honest.

There's lots of factors to consider in a potential career.

-Money
-Hours you put in
-Required skills
-Stress
-Interest
-Training (how many years are you willing to climb a ladder?)
-Compatibility with your future social/personal/family life

It's up to you to decide what factors are most important. Personally, I don't see the point in earning lots if you're too busy to spend it

 

[Chronodiver Lokii]

If you are talented/proficient/can manage for yourself/whatever in a certain subject and really enjoy it, then go for it.
It's better to enjoy yourself and be able to do okay/well than to be good at something you hate and can't stand to do for the rest of your working life.

 

[Elyssa Xey Hexen]

Random two cents.

It does not have to be something you love, but at least something you can handle without too much care. When your picking a major, you are going to be getting deeply involved with it and doing stuff you did not imagine doing, but find yourself learning and doing them anyway because your already in it deep.

I'd say do this.
1) Look at the majors your college offers.
2) Pick out ones you feel are interesting and might like doing. Even something totally unrelated.
3) Do more research on them such as what exactly are the classes you have to take. Some require you start right away in your freshman year or else you have to stay on longer. Some you might find your classes you have taken already fit in well with the major. Talk to other people in the major and what work you end up doing. Talk to people about opportunities outside of college.
4) Eliminate them down to one you will pursue no matter what, or a few that have close enough requirements that you can experiment with them a bit until you decide.

It honestly depends upon your priorities. My top priority was to attend college to gain skills so that I could get a decent job after school that would not have me surviving on paycheck to paycheck. Second, I wanted to complete it in four years to minimize my debts after school. Thirdly, pick a major I either loved or was satisfied with doing.

 

[SuperBowser]

maybe a silly question...

what exactly is a "major"? is it a degree like a BSc? can you change your major after you start your course?

the american system is so weird. we just pick a degree in school.

 

[sakuraZaKi]

Yes, it's basically something similar to that. If I 'major' in Biochemistry, I'm aiming for a BS in Biochemistry.

They say you can change as many times as you want, and you can. It's just that I don't think that's the way to go, lol.

Anyway, thank you guys so much for your inputs so far. I will do research this weekend.

 

[SuperBowser]

Interesting. It's good you can change your major so easily. In England, we would have to drop out and reapply which kinda sucks. What's a minor?

Forgot to add a few more things: If you decide you are interested in medicine, you should definitely organise work experience/voluntary work. It's useful to see if you can imagine yourself enjoying the job, for admissions and takes time to organise. Ignore the science. Just pay attention to the social aspects - the healthcare team, patients, lifestyle, does it interest you, would you be happy working there etc.

Most medical students have totally unrelated interests and hobbies. It's a good thing. I always find it weird when people's lives revolve around one single thing.

 

[Elyssa Xey Hexen]

Major is like a focus of your degree. A minor is like a sub-focus of whatever you choose and you get a spiffy title for it. As far as I know, minors do not mean much other than something to add to you list of credentials. A ton of people I know liked doing a langauge, so they minored in say german, even though they majored in psychology.

 

[Fire!]

I'd like to get everyone's opinion on "those" majors.

Right now I'm a sophomore intending to major in Communication, but I'm having second thoughts. All I hear is that there's no job market for Communication students because the degree is too general. I'm almost done with a extra minor in Applied Computing and in doing so I've realized that I have a knack for Information Technology so I could switch to that. I plan on minoring in Business regardless, but now I'm unsure about my major.

If I take Communication, I would end up with a more wide array of skills. If I take IT, I would end up with more refined skills. I'm equally interested in both majors and my goal is just to make a steady and stable income. Is it better to get a degree that is more broad/general or should I actually take a focus?

 

[Crimson King]

You tangentially touched on it, but don't let the illusion the doctors make a lot of money fool you: that's just an exaggerated myth.

Sure, eventually, you will be significantly more comfortable, but think about all the images of rich doctors. They are older, usually in their own private practice. That takes A LOT of work and a lot of time to get there. If a family is important you, then that is another one that will be put on hold for a while.

It's not across the board, but you can find a myriad of stories where doctors don't live too comfortably for a while.

As for deciding what to do, I stumbled on mine. I was going to do music to be a music producer. The school I planned to start with didn't have strings or production, so I did computer science since the first year are all basically the same classes, so whatever I chose didn't matter that much. I did a poetry contest, and I got first place in the contest. This was the first time I know of where I actively did poetry outside of personal items for friends.

By this point, I switched to Business because I still wanted to produce, but I wanted to have a business sense. I took some extra English classes, and I did okay. 102 had a teacher who was the antithesis of college English major. I think I made my first non-A in that class in an English course, and it was a D on papers. He was pretty stringent, but that class really helped my writing go from novice to whatever I was supposed to be. At that point I switched to English in major and mindset (stopped reading books for class and still doing As on papers), and that was it.

I think a lot of people stumble on to what they want to do with their lives. That's why a good portion of prodigies fail out; they burn themselves out on something that comes so easily to them.

 

[Elyssa Xey Hexen]

I was surprised that an actuary had to complete a test after graduation to even certify. Random other requirements pop up in places you least expect it too.

 

[CAOTIC]

undertake a major in economics. then pair it up with something actually fun (or vice-versa, do something fun first). then you will graduate, learning of pro ways to make money doing what you actually like.

i made the mistake of being an exclusive public policy ******. ****'s only good if you know how to leverage funds

 

[The Ben]

I found that business administration is a decent major to double up with anything. It has the same perks as a major in economy but also teaches a lot about management skills so you come out a good people-person with a good business sense. You can usually do anything with that as long as you know the right people.

 

[Pokegirl21]

I was thinking of going back to school to relearn everything properly.

 

[Mota]

I always hear people bag out Psychology for one thing or another, but it's the only subject I was really interested.

What are your opinions of Psych as a Major?

 

[Teczer0]

If I was in your position, I'd probably try to dabble a bit more in the stuff that you seem to do well at and see if it can catch my interest more.

You should also think about how much time you're willing to put into school. If you pursue with Biochem, and decide you want to be a doctor thats potentially 4 + medical school (7?) years.

For me, I chose my major as a Computer Engineer simply because I 'liked' computers. It was an incredibly vague reason, but I never really intended to go past my BS so I figured why not. I ended up switching my major to Electrical Engineering during my 3rd year because I randomly found myself really enjoying the academic life and because I loved physics.

Mota - My opinions on psychology is that a lot of people pick it for the wrong reason, because it seems to have a reputation for not being too difficult. I think Psychology is a fine major, but to do something related to psychology in the work force you're definitely gonna need to go beyond a BA degree.

 

[sakuraZaKi]

The great Tec speaks...

(You're not drunk? ... What am I saying?)

You guys seem to just stumble on major changes. I'm afraid of major changing too late since I'm doing my science pre-reqs right now. I mean, what if I want to switch my major to something that doesn't need all this? Lol.

To be honest, I know that I'm capable of going to medical school. I'm actually fine being in medicine/the medical field. I just don't know if that's 'it'.

But what I think I should do is try out different things to truly understand what I have more of an aptitude for. If that's a good way to figure it out, how should I go about doing that?

 

[SuperBowser]

I always hear people bag out Psychology for one thing or another, but it's the only subject I was really interested.

What are your opinions of Psych as a Major?

It's supposedly difficult to get psychology related jobs after graduating so you'll need more than just your degree if you pursue the subject.

 

[Teczer0]

The great Tec speaks...

(You're not drunk? ... What am I saying?)

You guys seem to just stumble on major changes. I'm afraid of major changing too late since I'm doing my science pre-reqs right now. I mean, what if I want to switch my major to something that doesn't need all this? Lol.

To be honest, I know that I'm capable of going to medical school. I'm actually fine being in medicine/the medical field. I just don't know if that's 'it'.

But what I think I should do is try out different things to truly understand what I have more of an aptitude for. If that's a good way to figure it out, how should I go about doing that?

You could always sit in on a class or two and gauge the difficulty. Make sure to ask the professor if you want to do that.

 

[Lixivium]

Doctors make decent, not obscene money. There are much easier ways to make money that don't require 7-12 (!) years of training AFTER you finish undergrad.

Speaking as someone who's finishing med school right now (4th year, about to start residency), you can do pretty much whatever you want in undergrad as long as you fulfill the premed requirements. I had an engineering degree, we have people in my med school who were art majors, music majors, you name it. If anything, NOT majoring in bio or biochem gives you an advantage because you will be more unique.

As far as a career, my priority would go like this:

1) something that pays the bills - most jobs will fulfill this, but may not if you have family or a spouse who is dependent on you.

2) something you're good at - if you really have a skill for something, you will eventually learn to appreciate what a gift this could be. Most people can be competent at anything, few are truly excellent at it.

3) something you love - it makes the training process more tolerable. Once you do something for a living, it is no longer as fun as it was as just a hobby; there is no getting around this, but it's still better to be doing something you enjoy than not.

 

[sakuraZaKi]

I've been looking at Computer Science and Computer Engineering. What are the differences?

How are the careers/jobs?

 

[Teczer0]

Computer engineers and CS majors have similar jobs. The difference is that CS is totally software based major, while computer engineering is mainly computer based but also emphasizes how to handle hardware.

A lot of people consider computer engineering to be like a bridge between electrical engineering and CS.

 

[sakuraZaKi]

Anyone familiar with bioengineering can tell me about it?

 

[M@v]

I'd like to get everyone's opinion on "those" majors.

Right now I'm a sophomore intending to major in Communication, but I'm having second thoughts. All I hear is that there's no job market for Communication students because the degree is too general. I'm almost done with a extra minor in Applied Computing and in doing so I've realized that I have a knack for Information Technology so I could switch to that. I plan on minoring in Business regardless, but now I'm unsure about my major.

If I take Communication, I would end up with a more wide array of skills. If I take IT, I would end up with more refined skills. I'm equally interested in both majors and my goal is just to make a steady and stable income. Is it better to get a degree that is more broad/general or should I actually take a focus?

Kinda late reply, but I'm majoring in IT and computer security, and the biggest advantage to it right now is that theres a big job market for it. I'm likely gong to get a job offer soon, and that offer is going to be in the ballpark of 45k a year starting, plus essentially free healthcare(its a computer security job for a hospital system). I've seen people start all the way up to 61K in IT.