Choosing a major ? Pharmacy/psychology

[American Kimchi]

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Hello everyone, I'm a new member, so please bare with me if I'm a bit.. err.. newbish? here!

I'm a sophomore in high school.
I have wanted to major in pharmacy since I was six until I was in junior high. I used to plan everything out. The only reason I wanted to major in pharmacy at such young age was because that's all I've heard about from my parents/relatives (stereotypical asian family). I didn't even know what they did, but I felt pressured to go into those fields.

When I entered Junior high, my eyes opened. I realized I had many different choices. In fact, too many. I started to gain more interest towards psychology. I just LOVED (and still do) psychology.

And then High school happened. The thing is, I started to lean towards pharmacy again. Although I'm still influenced from my parents/relatives, I started enjoying learning about medicine (It all started from my mom telling me to translate the side effects/directions of prescribed medicine to my grandma).

So basically, my thoughts on:
Pharmacy: I don't really like biology (I have a B- in ap bio right now) but certain things about it does really interest me. But it's so competitive (my state doesn't have 6 year programs and ofs is too expensive)
psychology: More interesting but I'm not sure I can even get a job afterwards. I think it may also get more stressful in the end.

I'm a very indecisive person, as you can probably tell.
To anyone majoring in these fields - what's your opinion? Do you enjoy it? Do you regret/have regretted your decisions?

Sorry for this tremendously long question/explanation...
Thanks for taking your time to actually read/help though 😀

 

[Jude33]

Either field would offer ample job opportunities. You can always start out as a psych major as an undergrad, and take some additional science courses so that you can have the flexibility to apply to pharm. or med. if you change your mind later. In the meantime, try to get some job shadowing experiences to see if anything piques your fancy. You have lots of time.

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

My sister is currently a postdoc child psych fellow in New Orleans, having just finished her PsyD a few months ago. She said something to me the other day which blew my mind. By the time she's able to work independently, she'll be able to start drawing a whooping $1000 salary for each of the 24 years she'll have been in a classroom.

Very good article on the subject recently in the Economist

 

[Richardh]

Not sure if this aritcle and threads will help you but here you go:

http://www.studentdoctor.net/2010/05/sdn-reports-pharmacist-job-outlook/

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=371205

 

[loveoforganic]

Pharmacy (PharmD) job market is becoming saturated. Psychology (PhD/PsyD) job market is already pretty saturated. With a bachelors in psychology, good luck. You'd be able to find a job in either, but if you're not impressive, it just may not be in your ideal location/pay range/hours.

Look into health psychology and neuropsychology. More medically-oriented psychology fields.

 

[pharm B]

Like the above poster said, pharmacy is becoming saturated. Residencies are becoming more and more competitive, since many new pharmacists want to be more competitive than their fresh-out-of-school colleagues when applying for a job. Jobs can still be found, but we're not in the same position we were five to six years ago where we could pick the job rather than have the job pick us.

A Psychology bachelors seems to be pretty much a gateway into a Masters or Doctorate program. I have quite a few friends with the BS who can't find work in their field, so they're contemplating going back to school. Beware though, as another poster above pointed out. You might get a fancy graduate degree finished only to be making peanuts (with 30% of your peanuts going straight to student loan repayment).

What attracts you to pharmacy and not to nursing, medicine, dentistry, etc?

 

[jeremmed77]

So basically, my thoughts on:
Pharmacy: I don't really like biology (I have a B- in ap bio right now) but certain things about it does really interest me. But it's so competitive (my state doesn't have 6 year programs and ofs is too expensive)
psychology: More interesting but I'm not sure I can even get a job afterwards. I think it may also get more stressful in the end.

Definitely do not major in Biology if you do not enjoy it. Your focus should be on getting a high grade point average and a high PSAT (A Test for Pre-Pharmacy, but you do not have to worry about this now). Start out your undergraduate by taking a general chemistry, physics, or biology. Maybe you are not interested because you are learning in high school (I myself hated Biology in high school). You should also try to take psychology 101 during your first semester.

You should consider getting a B.A. (Bachelor of the Arts) in Psychology. This would allow you to take the science prerequisites for Pharmacy school and study what you enjoy. Good luck!

 

[nitemagi]

Much much down the road could be medicine and then psychiatry. You get plenty of psychology AND pharm. Best of both worlds 😀

 

[BlackNGold]

Man, I haven't majored in either but just from taking classes I can definitely recommend psychology to you... so much more interesting!!

 

[pharm B]

Definitely do not major in Biology if you do not enjoy it. Your focus should be on getting a high grade point average and a high PSAT (A Test for Pre-Pharmacy, but you do not have to worry about this now).

Just for clarification, it's the PCAT. Isn't the PSAT a test sophomores take to qualify for National Merit?😛

If you decide that you want to seriously pursue pharmacy, keep in mind that a BS or BS isn't yet a requirement. The pre-req coursework usually ends up being about 2 or 2.5 years of classes. By picking a biology or chemistry track, you'll end up taking only classes that apply to your pre-reqs for the most part.

Start out your undergraduate by taking a general chemistry, physics, or biology. Maybe you are not interested because you are learning in high school (I myself hated Biology in high school). You should also try to take psychology 101 during your first semester.

I wouldn't recommend taking physics your first semester just because it is that much harder on the college level. Also, weigh your options before registering for it, since most schools have a regular trig-based physics course and a more thorough calculus-based course. If you don't need the calc-based course, you might consider avoiding it since it's primarily for engineering and math majors.

Definitely take Chem and Bio I so you can see how you adapt and how well you like the material.

You should consider getting a B.A. (Bachelor of the Arts) in Psychology. This would allow you to take the science prerequisites for Pharmacy school and study what you enjoy. Good luck!

If you want to pursue this path, make sure you talk to an advisor so that you can finish your BA of choice and your pre-reqs within a short amount of time. You don't want to end up being in undergrad for 5 years if you don't have to.

 

[American Kimchi]

(I hope this is how I reply.. I am not used to this whole thread system yet..)

Well I'm not sure why I never leaned towards nursing; I just never had an interest in them.. Maybe I'll research on that more. Same for dentistry, I just never liked it. I've also had bad memories of going to the dentist (I know it's childish to be against it for such reasons, but I can't stand it.) I still avoid going to the dentist even if I have problems with my teeth unless it's unbearable.
I've actually thought about med, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do after premed. What are the options ?

I think I don't enjoy biology as much because all we do in my class is basically learn on our own. All we do is look at occasional power points from online resources, memorize everything from the book, take a test, and move on. It just seems like I'm just memorizing things that doesn't make any sense. Which is why I'm afraid to go towards pharmacy since I'm not that good when it comes to memorizing. I have to learn why things are that way. Or it just doesn't stick.

Haha, actually, us sophomores can't qualify for the National merit.. only the juniors, i think. Not that my scores are even good enough -sigh-..

Also, I'm planning to take ap physics next year to get it out of the way.
If all fails, what other things could I do in the biology/chem field?
(Music is my back up for now)

I'm sorry for all these questions and such. I don't really have anyone to ask in my school because the councilors' main focus are on senors and it's almost impossible to actually ask them anything.

Thanks everyone 🙂