I keep changing my mind on major!

[CmichStudent]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hey guys!

I keep changing my mind on my major! I know that it really isn't a big deal, but I just keep changing my mind every other month. I'm going into my sophomore year, and I have a 3.86 overall GPA and a 3.92 pre-req, with chem and physics, along with physiology still left to take.

I started my freshman year off assuming I would major in Health Fitness. It's the largest major on my school's campus, as everyone uses it as a stepping stone for our PT, PA, and soon to be medical school. I soon realized that due to the amount of people in the major, it would be difficult to graduate in 4 years.

Towards the end of my year, I learned of our Therapeutic Recreation major. Upon completion, I'd be eligible to sit for the exam to be a certified Recreation Therapist. This major requires me to devote one whole semester to a 15 credit hour internship. I would be getting hands on clinical experience as a rec therapy intern. The experience was my major draw to the course. In addition, the major is typically thought of as "easy", and would most likely keep my GPA up, or boost it.

And then recently, I've been thinking of switching to Health Administration. With a Bachelors in Health Administration, I wouldn't be in any position to be the president of a hospital, but I feel it would open doors for me in the future. I eventually would like to open my own clinic, or, depending on circumstances, become a rehab director. The courses don't seem too interesting, although they do seem to be relevant to my future career as a PT. This major also requires an internship, but a smaller, 6 credit internship. I am not familiar with it enough to know if it is possible to graduate within the 3 years I have left, but I would assume so.

So, what does everyone think?

 

[markelmarcel]

I've never heard of Therapuetic Recreation-- what does it entail?

Health Administration would probably be a very good idea, in my opinion. It could definitely help you score a director position within PT later on in your career.

 

[CmichStudent]

I've never heard of Therapuetic Recreation-- what does it entail?

Health Administration would probably be a very good idea, in my opinion. It could definitely help you score a director position within PT later on in your career.

Therapeutic rec was new to me also, up until about a month and half before this last semester ended. To quote a few websites on it,

"Therapeutic Recreation is a specialized area in the field of recreation that focuses specifically on providing recreation and leisure services for people with disabilities or as a preventative measure for maintaining health and wellness in order to avoid developing disabling conditions."

It's really quite hard for me to explain. I want to say that they provide rehabilitative therapy to clients in the form of recreational activities. I believe that's the most accurate way I could explain it. Their pay is low for a rehab field, about 25-35k a year, but it is only a bachelors degree and not masters or doctorate. I actually am starting to feel that the whole rehab field (rec therapy, OT, PT) is underpaid.

I just wonder about the Health Administration though...I keep wondering that if in 15 or 20 years, anyone will care that I got a bachelors in Health Administration. I'll probably talk it over with an adviser over email, see what they have to say. College sucks sometimes!

 

[markelmarcel]

That's really awesome! And of course, as per usual, the people are underpaid. There really needs to be a MAJOR overhaul in how therapy (as a whole) is viewed in society.

Anyway, it is true that maybe in the future, who would care that you had your bachelor's in Health Admin... I wonder if you did the T.R. if you could take one or two courses from the Health Admin program- that'd be a nice way to get a little knowledge to use for later!

The thing that I hear over and over again here on SDN is that you should do something that you can fall back on, in case something would happen that you decided not to go for PT; it's wise to choose something that gives you a useful degree that can be used itself and get you a decent paying job!

 

[premed4christ]

To: Cmich Student & markelmarcel
Kean unviersity offers a degree in Recreational Administration and a concentration in therapeutic recreation. You get the best of both worlds and you'll be certified to sit for the national recreational therapist exam. My girl friend is majoring in that, and I was wondering how would a degree like that stand to the ADCOMS ?