Changing majors Options

[Melissa]

This is kind of hard for me. All my life, I've been told that I was going to be a doctor. Yeah, I enjoyed anatomy class in high school, I really liked interning for an ENT, I would live an excellent life as a doctor, it sounded like a good plan so I went with it.

The thing is, I'm not really interested in it. I hate chemistry, biology, AND physics. I'm trying to be a Neuroscience and Behavior major because I thought I would be interested in psychology and because its requirements overlap with the premed requirements. And yeah, I do like psych, except it isn't enough to make me actually want to go to class. I have no motivation for it whatsoever.

I was thinking about this through the span of the year and feel that I really ... don't want to be a doctor. I'm more interested in writing and studying human rights, sociology, maybe even political science. The problem is that ALL of my classes I took this entire year go toward the premed/psych path and I'm not sure if it would be wise to switch at this point.

I'm going to email my dean about this and see if it would work out, but then there's the parents to worry about. My mom is crazy and I highly doubt she'll pay my tuition if I decide not to be premed. The one time I brought it up, she bitched at me, saying that if I wanted to "waste my life," I should've just gone to Baylor (I got a full ride there, but seriously... BAYLOR??) instead of choosing Columbia, which is expensive as f**k.

I just know that if I look ten years into my life, I see myself as a journalist, an author, something that has to do with writing and debating. Maybe even a lawyer. I DON'T see me working in an operating room and being on-call nearly 24/7. It's just not me.

I don't know. This is sort of a rant... and me wanting encouragement. I'm not sure how I'll work through this.

[fig]

I haven't taken any college classes yet, of course, since I'm just now finishing up my senior year. I've taken AP Bio and Anatomy, and the classes fascinate me (I'm more interested in genetics and infectious diseases more than anything, really, but you can't major specifically in those, can you?), but I don't think the limited amount of information you're fed through high school is enough to truly measure your fondness of the subject. I'm fairly certain I'll enroll in a variety of subjects once I've started up in college, however.

And Nicki, I completely agree about the hesitance in declaring a major. The concept of a single major is completely ridiculous to me. There are just too many fields of study in the world, it's unimaginable to have to limit yourself down to one or two. Not to mention that I get worried about what I'm going to do myself so easily; without the benefit of peeking into the future, it's so easy to get terrified of all the potential mishaps that could occur, and how much you'll like your field, et cetera.

And it's completely ridiculous to major in something you're uninterested in, even if it is for the greater good.

[Melissa]

And Nicki, I completely agree about the hesitance in declaring a major. The concept of a single major is completely ridiculous to me. There are just too many fields of study in the world, it's unimaginable to have to limit yourself down to one or two. Not to mention that I get worried about what I'm going to do myself so easily; without the benefit of peeking into the future, it's so easy to get terrified of all the potential mishaps that could occur, and how much you'll like your field, et cetera.

Well, declaring a major isn't really so bad. You can major in anything you want, for example, and still go to law school or med school. Many colleges also have the option of just concentrating in something, which opens up a lot more choices for electives and extra classes. While choosing a major is kind of scary, it just narrows things down for you. It doesn't really restrict you all that much.

What college are you going to next year?

Oh, and Christina, I've decided to keep majoring in Neuroscience and Behavior and concentrate in Premed; I realized that I'll have enough classes free to still take a few Poly Sci classes.