Anyone else really struggle picking a major?

[numbersloth]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I know that major doesn't matter at all for medical school. I just really find it hard to choose!

On one hand, I know either Psychology or Anthropology would be the "easier" choices alongside my pre-medical courses.
However, I am honestly genuinely fascinated by how the human body works, making me consider Biological Sciences or Neuroscience. I'm also planning on taking two gaps years as a Research Assistant after medical school and these science majors seem like they would make it a lot easier to get the kind of job I'm interested in.

Basically the choice is between easier but less interesting, or harder and more applicable to my interests. I know I'm not a genius, just a hard worker... Any advice? Anyone been in a similar situation?

 

[ProspectiveKidd]

I haven't decided on a major but i'm leaning towards English just because I enjoy it and think it will be the most beneficial for getting into med school and beyond. I love science as well but I also know we will learn it in medical school, and I am under the impression that prereqs will suffice for the MCAT. I also kinda want to major in something other than 75% of the premed population.

Still, nobody is going to hold it against you if you major in the sciences, because thats simply what most premeds are interested in. Go with what you enjoy over all else.

 

[takeurmeds02]

To me, it always seemed harder to major outside of the pre-reqs. It felt like my hardest classes were the pre-reqs. You're taking the bread and butter of everything that I took in my major plus a bunch of stuff that I didn't. I suppose it's like a having a minor though which I did.

Edit: Sorry, I think I misread your question.

 

[Crayola227]

I know that major doesn't matter at all for medical school. I just really find it hard to choose!

On one hand, I know either Psychology or Anthropology would be the "easier" choices alongside my pre-medical courses.
However, I am honestly genuinely fascinated by how the human body works, making me consider Biological Sciences or Neuroscience. I'm also planning on taking two gaps years as a Research Assistant after medical school and these science majors seem like they would make it a lot easier to get the kind of job I'm interested in.

Basically the choice is between easier but less interesting, or harder and more applicable to my interests. I know I'm not a genius, just a hard worker... Any advice? Anyone been in a similar situation?

Major in something that helps you toward career goal B in case you don't get into med school.

 

[numbersloth]

Major in something that helps you toward career goal B in case you don't get into med school.

So if my "back up" is scientific research, I should focus on Biological Sciences or Neuroscience?

 

[Lyoness]

Major in what interests you, because you will WANT to learn it. I always find that my easiest classes are the ones I do worse on, just because they are tedius and boring and do not interest me in any way.

 

[WedgeDawg]

My advice, which totally isn't applicable to everyone, is study something that's relatively higher on the interest curve than it might be on the easiness curve. I'm a firm believe that up to a certain point, interest and motivation will trump difficulty (though after a certain point, you get diminishing returns and the effect of difficulty overpowers the effect of interest). However, you also have to take into account your functional career goals.

If you're trying to do research work post-undergrad, having a science background will help immensely, especially if you get your feet wet during undergrad. Both biology and neuroscience would help with that. Psychology might, particularly if you're interested in doing psych or maybe softer neuroscience research, but biology and neuroscience would be better. Anthro isn't bad, but research methods in anthro are different than they are in the sciences (speaking from experience having written theses for things related to both).

One thing you could try is (assuming you're a freshman or sophomore) take intermediate level classes in each area and choose based on which classes you liked better. You could also major in one of the two sciences and minor in one of the social sciences - neuro major and anthro minor might be your best bet (though is obviously dependent upon you and what you decide you like).