Major I enjoy vs. Major I can rely if not accepted to med school?

[coolcucumber91]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I want to major in psychology b/c it interests me. However, if I do not get accepted to medical school, it's probably gonna be hard for me to get a job with that. Should I major in that or major in something that can get me a job such as economics, etc. ?

 

[Iapyx]

My initial response: Yeah, the job market for economics majors is absolutely booming. That is definitely your best decision....


(My initial response) - (Sarcasm) = (Actual Response)

Actual Response: Major in what you enjoy. Psychology is a lot of fun and I am willing to bet you that there are just as many careers available in counseling and other related services as there are in economics. I considered majoring in psychology for a long time and it is, in fact, much more employable than you think.

🙂

 

[LuciusVorenus]

My initial response: Yeah, the job market for economics majors is absolutely booming. That is definitely your best decision....


(My initial response) - (Sarcasm) = (Actual Response)

Actual Response: Major in what you enjoy. Psychology is a lot of fun and I am willing to bet you that there are just as many careers available in counseling and other related services as there are in economics. I considered majoring in psychology for a long time and it is, in fact, much more employable than you think.

🙂

You just scared the living crap out of me with that avatar

"wtf...I don't remember posting here..."

but seriously though, the job opportunities are probably equal. Unless you go to a school like UPenn economics isn't going to increase your employment opportunities any more than psychology.

 

[Iapyx]

(directed at vorenus) It is rare that I find someone with similar interests, so I would like to ask...

1. Are you a history/classics major

2. Are you familiar with "I Claudius"

Also, I will try and find another pic that I like. Sorry for stealing yours.

 

[anonymousername]

 

[docelh]

Jobs that recruit for liberal arts majors usually don't make a big enough distinction b/n economics vs. psychology.

At the undergrad level, the most visible demarcation is for engineering vs. non-engineering majors where your major would filter you out.

 

[anonymousername]

i'm psych. i enjoy it, it's easy, fun, interesting, good opportunities, ect.

it's not that much different from bio, chem, physics majors who don't get into med school? (not the specific opportunities...just the options)

 

[rHinO1]

always major in what you're interested in b/c you will get better grades.

 

[Perrotfish]

I want to major in psychology b/c it interests me. However, if I do not get accepted to medical school, it's probably gonna be hard for me to get a job with that. Should I major in that or major in something that can get me a job such as economics, etc. ?

As many have pointed out, economics is not a good choice for something that can get you a job, at least not at the undergraduate level.

However, there are majors that can get you a high paying job out of undergrad. The problem is that most of them end in 'engineering', which will mean you will need to work harder for the same GPA. However, as you pointed out, it also means you have a real, high paying career if medical school either doesn't work out or if you decide you're just not interested any more. So you're decreasing the odds of getting in but improving your prospects if things don't work out.

Honestly I think it depends on your financial situation. If you're from a poor family and going to an expensive school on loans maybe it's better not to bet the farm on medical school. On the other hand if Mom and Dad are both physicians and paying all your bills then you'll probably have the money to retrain or go to grad school if medical school doesn't happen, so you might as well major in what you'd like.

I was a Mechanical Engineer, BTW.

always major in what you're interested in b/c you will get better grades.

I think he's aware of that. The problem is that when you graduate with a 4.0 in gameboy your career prospects might still be lacking.

 

[Cleavername]

As many have pointed out, economics is not a good choice for something that can get you a job, at least not at the undergraduate level.

However, there are majors that can get you a high paying job out of undergrad. The problem is that most of them end in 'engineering', which will mean you will need to work harder for the same GPA. However, as you pointed out, it also means you have a real, high paying career if medical school either doesn't work out or if you decide you're just not interested any more. So you're decreasing the odds of getting in but improving your prospects if things don't work out.

Honestly I think it depends on your financial situation. If you're from a poor family and going to an expensive school on loans maybe it's better not to bet the farm on medical school. On the other hand if Mom and Dad are both physicians and paying all your bills then you'll probably have the money to retrain or go to grad school if medical school doesn't happen, so you might as well major in what you'd like.

I was a Mechanical Engineer, BTW.

I think he's aware of that. The problem is that when you graduate with a 4.0 in gameboy your career prospects might still be lacking.

a friend of mine went to an ivy league, she was eco majored and she just got hired by gold man sachs before she even graduated. starting salary is like 80k, not including bonuses lol. with B its gonna pop 6 figured easy.

 

[docelh]

a friend of mine went to an ivy league, she was eco majored and she just got hired by gold man sachs before she even graduated. starting salary is like 80k, not including bonuses lol. with B its gonna pop 6 figured easy.

Elite school students face a different experience from the 3,000+ other normal school graduates. Yeah, yeah, there's that occasional University of Miami grad working at Morgan Stanley, but as a rule, ....

As a rule, business majors out of undergrad earn less than engineers. It usually requires them to either open their own business or progress past middle management before they start moving beyond engineers.

 

[Perrotfish]

a friend of mine went to an ivy league, she was eco majored and she just got hired by gold man sachs before she even graduated. starting salary is like 80k, not including bonuses lol. with B its gonna pop 6 figured easy.

I know several liberal arts majors who got excellent job offers, and of course a top student from an ivy league will always have a lot of doors opened to them, but the OP was asking about a major he could 'rely on'. There are way more economics majors than economics jobs, so that major isn't something you can rely on to get you a job. There are no where near as many engineers as there are engineering jobs, so that major is something you can rely on to get you a job.

 

[rHinO1]

As many have pointed out, economics is not a good choice for something that can get you a job, at least not at the undergraduate level.

However, there are majors that can get you a high paying job out of undergrad. The problem is that most of them end in 'engineering', which will mean you will need to work harder for the same GPA. However, as you pointed out, it also means you have a real, high paying career if medical school either doesn't work out or if you decide you're just not interested any more. So you're decreasing the odds of getting in but improving your prospects if things don't work out.

Honestly I think it depends on your financial situation. If you're from a poor family and going to an expensive school on loans maybe it's better not to bet the farm on medical school. On the other hand if Mom and Dad are both physicians and paying all your bills then you'll probably have the money to retrain or go to grad school if medical school doesn't happen, so you might as well major in what you'd like.

I was a Mechanical Engineer, BTW.



I think he's aware of that. The problem is that when you graduate with a 4.0 in gameboy your career prospects might still be lacking.

Actually no it's not, you can get into med school with a "4.0 in gameboy" as long as you did the pre-reqs 🙄

Sure, majors like engineering do offer better career opportunities coming out of undergrad, but I thought the goal was to get into medical school, right? If you truly want to go to med-school then major in what you really like, do well in it, and enjoy your career as a physician.

If you go after an engineering degree just b/c you think the jobs opportunities are great then what will happen is you will get one of those jobs, and hate it b/c you're just doing it for the money.

Take the classes you like to get the job you'll like.

Major in what you like, after the first 2 years of getting the pre-reqs and GE's done see where your grades are at, then decide if med-school is 1) realistic 2) what you really want to do. If either 1 or 2 is no, then consider switching majors to something more lucrative.

 

[Iapyx]

I know majors in lots of liberal arts who got excellent job offers, and of course a top student from an ivy league will always have a lot of doors opened to them, but the OP was asking about a major he could 'rely on'. There are way more economics majors than economics jobs, so that major isn't something you can rely on to get you a job. There are no where near as many engineers as there are engineering jobs, so that major is something you can rely on to get you a job.

You could look into magic. To my knowledge there is only one person with a degree in magic

http://www.geekologie.com/2010/04/student_creates_own_magic_majo.php

However I would imagine that there must be at least 3 or 4 jobs around the world that would hire a magic major. That like a 300% shortage.

 

[docelh]

Unless you are exceptional and go to an average state school, doing engineering is certain to hurt your medical school candidacy.

My brother got a 2.75 coming out of chemical engineering. Then he didn't get a job in engineering. Waste of time... for him.

 

[Cleavername]

I know several liberal arts majors who got excellent job offers, and of course a top student from an ivy league will always have a lot of doors opened to them, but the OP was asking about a major he could 'rely on'. There are way more economics majors than economics jobs, so that major isn't something you can rely on to get you a job. There are no where near as many engineers as there are engineering jobs, so that major is something you can rely on to get you a job.

i am doing biochemistry, is that good or bad for job openings?

 

[Perrotfish]

Sure, majors like engineering do offer better career opportunities coming out of undergrad, but I thought the goal was to get into medical school, right? If you truly want to go to med-school then major in what you really like, do well in it, and enjoy your career as a physician.

If you go after an engineering degree just b/c you think the jobs opportunities are great then what will happen is you will get one of those jobs, and hate it b/c you're just doing it for the money. .

While the goal is to become a physician, I think you need to accept the fact that that goal doesn't turn into a reality for most premeds. There is something to be said for having a back up plan. Most of my premed friends did not get into medical school, even just counting the ones who still wanted it when they graduated. The ones who majored in things like psych either had to scrounge up money for grad school or they got stuck as perpetual scut monkeys in labs for $15/hour. On the other hand the pessimists who got engineering majors seem pretty happy in their new careers.

I know that most premeds have the attitude that they will madly love medicine and will hate any other job equally since they would 'only be doing it for the money'. It doesn't take much work experience, though, to realize that a good paying job where you have good hours and are a valued employee is way, way better than being the lab slave for minimum wage.

i am doing biochemistry, is that good or bad for job openings?

My second major was biochem. From my very unscientific survey of our grads it seemed like biochem basically guarenteed you a job, but the average starting pay was pretty low with a few high end outliers. These are good questions to ask the departments themselves, actually. Generally they know where their grads ended up (and if they don't it's a bad sign).

Unless you are exceptional and go to an average state school, doing engineering is certain to hurt your medical school candidacy.

I agree. That's definitely the trade off.

My brother got a 2.75 coming out of chemical engineering. Then he didn't get a job in engineering. Waste of time... for him

For all my time in undergrad ChemE had the single highest starting salary of any major in my school, at around $70K (yes that was average, for a state school). Your brother is definitely an outlier.

 

[rHinO1]

While the goal is to become a physician, I think you need to accept the fact that that goal doesn't turn into a reality for most premeds. There is something to be said for having a back up plan. Most of my premed friends did not get into medical school, even just counting the ones who still wanted it when they graduated. The ones who majored in things like psych either had to scrounge up money for grad school or they got stuck as perpetual scut monkeys in labs for $15/hour. On the other hand the pessimists who got engineering majors seem pretty happy in their new careers.

I know that most premeds have the attitude that they will madly love medicine and will hate any other job equally since they would 'only be doing it for the money'. It doesn't take much work experience, though, to realize that a good paying job where you have good hours and are a valued employee is way, way better than being the lab slave for minimum wage.

Yeah but more pre-meds would be successful if they set themselves up for success by doing things like picking the right major for them. Majoring in engineering is counter productive to getting a good GPA unless you really love the subject, or are able to work extremely hard despite a lack of interest.

 

[docelh]

Sorry, I can see how last post could be misinterpreted.

He could've gotten a chemical engineering job, but he didn't want it. He became a lab scut monkey to try to get into med school. When he finally got in after three attempts, he decided not to go. His experience is far from usual... for just about anybody.

He's doing fine now in an altogether different career.

 

[Cleavername]

While the goal is to become a physician, I think you need to accept the fact that that goal doesn't turn into a reality for most premeds. There is something to be said for having a back up plan. Most of my premed friends did not get into medical school, even just counting the ones who still wanted it when they graduated. The ones who majored in things like psych either had to scrounge up money for grad school or they got stuck as perpetual scut monkeys in labs for $15/hour. On the other hand the pessimists who got engineering majors seem pretty happy in their new careers.

I know that most premeds have the attitude that they will madly love medicine and will hate any other job equally since they would 'only be doing it for the money'. It doesn't take much work experience, though, to realize that a good paying job where you have good hours and are a valued employee is way, way better than being the lab slave for minimum wage.



My second major was biochem. From my very unscientific survey of our grads it seemed like biochem basically guarenteed you a job, but the average starting pay was pretty low with a few high end outliers. These are good questions to ask the departments themselves, actually. Generally they know where their grads ended up (and if they don't it's a bad sign).


I agree. That's definitely the trade off.



For all my time in undergrad ChemE had the single highest starting salary of any major in my school, at around $70K (yes that was average, for a state school). Your brother is definitely an outlier.

do you mean undergrad? cause i am an undergrad lol.

 

[christina30]

Unless you are exceptional and go to an average state school, doing engineering is certain to hurt your medical school candidacy.

My brother got a 2.75 coming out of chemical engineering. Then he didn't get a job in engineering. Waste of time... for him.

My brother was in almost the exact same situation, actually.

Chemical engineer, graduated with a 2.7ish, and had a very difficult time finding work. He eventually found a job, but he makes well below that supposed $70K starting point, haha.

Either way, OP, pick something you enjoy. You'll certainly be able to find work with a psych degree.

 

[Perrotfish]

Yeah but more pre-meds would be successful if they set themselves up for success by doing things like picking the right major for them. Majoring in engineering is counter productive to getting a good GPA unless you really love the subject, or are able to work extremely hard despite a lack of interest.

I agree. The problem, though, is that a lot of premeds who set them selves up for success by picking their very favorite major will still not succeed. They'll screw up the prereqs, or the MCAT, or even some of the classes that they were so interested in. Now, again, if they're planning on leaving college with little or no debt that's not a big deal, but if you're planing on leaving college with over 100K of student loans does it really make sense to bet everything that you're going to get into medical school? If you lose that bet you're going to be in poverty for a very long time.

It's like why I carry diasbility insurance. Now I'm not setting myself up for financial success by paying an insurance company $50/month, and I'm definitely not planning on getting disabled, but I'm willing to aknowledge that insuring against a worst case scenario (disabled and living in abject poverty) is worth taking some of my focus off my main financial goal (getting wealthy).

 

[rHinO1]

I agree. The problem, though, is that a lot of premeds who set them selves up for success by picking their very favorite major will still not succeed. They'll screw up the prereqs, or the MCAT, or even some of the classes that they were so interested in. Now, again, if they're planning on leaving college with little or no debt that's not a big deal, but if you're planing on leaving college with over 100K of student loans does it really make sense to bet everything that you're going to get into medical school? If you lose that bet you're going to be in poverty for a very long time.

It's like why I carry diasbility insurance. Now I'm definitely not setting myself up for financial success by paying an insurance company $50/month, and I'm definitely not planning on getting disabled, but I'm willing to aknowledge that insuring against a worst case scenario (disabled and living in abject poverty) is worth taking some of my focus off my main financial goal (getting wealthy).

I just don't believe that you don't do something b/c you're afraid it won't happen (like trying to get into medical school). The OP, assuming he is going to be a freshman has 2 years to test the waters of being pre-med before he will be forced to actually pick a major. Why give up his/her dream before they even start?

 

[LetsGo352]

good timing too👍

 

[Perrotfish]

I just don't believe that you don't do something b/c you're afraid it won't happen (like trying to get into medical school). The OP, assuming he is going to be a freshman has 2 years to test the waters of being pre-med before he will be forced to actually pick a major. Why give up his/her dream before they even start?

I'm not saying he should give up his dream. Again, there is a middle ground between betting everything on medical school and not being premed. That's what 'backup plan' means. You have a main plain (going to med school) but you also have another plan in case that plan doesn't work out. The OP would do something unpleasant, like pick a major he didn't like as much or that required more work for the same GPA, and in exchange he would insure that in case he doesn't get into medical school he has a secondary career option that isn't that bad.

My advice: at the bare minimum, I think every premed should devote a summer or two to interning in an industry that they would like to work in if medicine is not an option (the summer after 1st year, when most people go home, is ideal). Premed lab scutmonkey work, or EMT work, or anything involving a hospital, does not count. For one summer, at least, pretend that med school doesn't exist and get yourself an internship that will make you an attractive candidate for whatever job you'd take instead. That way if you need to try to find a job you at least aren't working with an empty resume. Changing your major to something more marketable like engineering is a more extreme option since majoring in that will actually hurt your GPA relative to an easier major, but it might make sense if you're a bit of a pessimist and are taking on a lot of debt.

 

[getright]

As many have pointed out, economics is not a good choice for something that can get you a job, at least not at the undergraduate level.

However, there are majors that can get you a high paying job out of undergrad. The problem is that most of them end in 'engineering', which will mean you will need to work harder for the same GPA. However, as you pointed out, it also means you have a real, high paying career if medical school either doesn't work out or if you decide you're just not interested any more. So you're decreasing the odds of getting in but improving your prospects if things don't work out.

Honestly I think it depends on your financial situation. If you're from a poor family and going to an expensive school on loans maybe it's better not to bet the farm on medical school. On the other hand if Mom and Dad are both physicians and paying all your bills then you'll probably have the money to retrain or go to grad school if medical school doesn't happen, so you might as well major in what you'd like.

I was a Mechanical Engineer, BTW.

This is completely false, economics is a great major to obtain because econ is such a broad subject that will prepare you to work in many different areas.

For the record, if you take engineering majors out of the picture, econ majors have one of the highest starting salaries among any other undergraduate degree. http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/04/28/cb.salaries.grads/index.html

 

[FrkyBgStok]

This is completely false, economics is a great major to obtain because econ is such a broad subject that will prepare you to work in many different areas.[/URL]

So is communications. The fact is without higher level education psychology and economics will not get you a good job IN psych or econ. So you are left applying for general jobs that any major can apply for. They will allow you to be good in jobs that just require a 4 year degree. After that, it is all up to you what you do with it.

Point being you could major in psych or econ and go into warehouse, or food service, or anything industry and work your way up to VP or CEO. I work in an industry that sees this. I also personally know psych and econ majors that have driven a forklift for the past 20 years.

 

[flip26]

Maybe a good backup plan is to become a PA, or an NP? If you are going into medicine for the "right" reasons, then it seems to me that these paths are an excellent option if the med school thing falls through...

 

[Perrotfish]

For the record, if you take engineering majors out of the picture, econ majors have one of the highest starting salaries among any other undergraduate degree. http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/04/28/cb.salaries.grads/index.html

This is just speculation, but my guess is that that is a very bimodal distribution. A good number of high end people making 80+, and a lot of people who are either unemloyed or making near minimum wage because of an oversaturated market. I could be wrong.

Nice to know chemists are being so well, though.

 

[Perseverar]

I vote you go Psych!

I am probably a little biased, being a psych major myself. The job market is pretty diverse, but I can tell you that having worked in a lab for a couple of years, I have been offered multiple jobs working on other people's research around the country (the techniques we use can be hard to master, so people would rather pay me to do it than learn it themselves) as well as free entry into my university's Psych PhD program. Not only that, but if you do clinical psych research, you (can) get great clinical experience, and if you do experimental research, you (can) get great surgical experience.

Just be proactive about getting experience. That will be key in any field you go into. If you go with engineering, make sure you are getting those summer internships. If you go into business/accounting/engineering etc. make sure you get whatever field experience they require.

If all else fails, you could always go to law school.

 

[rem6775]

As many have pointed out, economics is not a good choice for something that can get you a job, at least not at the undergraduate level.

However, there are majors that can get you a high paying job out of undergrad. The problem is that most of them end in 'engineering', which will mean you will need to work harder for the same GPA. However, as you pointed out, it also means you have a real, high paying career if medical school either doesn't work out or if you decide you're just not interested any more. So you're decreasing the odds of getting in but improving your prospects if things don't work out.

Honestly I think it depends on your financial situation. If you're from a poor family and going to an expensive school on loans maybe it's better not to bet the farm on medical school. On the other hand if Mom and Dad are both physicians and paying all your bills then you'll probably have the money to retrain or go to grad school if medical school doesn't happen, so you might as well major in what you'd like.

I was a Mechanical Engineer, BTW.



I think he's aware of that. The problem is that when you graduate with a 4.0 in gameboy your career prospects might still be lacking.

Are you crazy? Economics majors have one of the highest salaries after 5-10 years post-graduation.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Do which ever major interests you better honestly.
Psychology is probably one if not the best pre-professional major someone can get. Psychology honestly stems out into thousands of fields including marketing and business. I know one of my friends who is psychologist consultant for a big business and makes a good amount, I know a psychologist who also works for a marketing and commercial firm. Then I know a psychologist/ neuroscientist who does tons of amazing research and writes books.

Honestly a psychology major is a amazing major, sure a econ major will not have to attend grad school to achieve his highest pay. But in the end result unless you seriously are interested in studying economics and working with that stuff all day.. Then psychology is best.

Personally for me my psychology major is my route towards cognitive neuroscience if I decide against medical school.

 

[surftheiop]

To throw in my 2 cents, (from an enginering undergrad)

If your interested in med school, I suggest not doing engineering "just so you can have a back up plan" unless you are really and truly interested in being an engineer. Engineering classes are really tough, so they could very easily knock most premeds out of med school contention in a semester or two if you don't know what your getting into.

For me engineering was what getting an MD is to most people on SDN. I wanted to do it since elementary school, I took about 5 pre-engineering classes in high school (AutoCAD, basic statics,etc.) in addition to AP calc/chem. Once I got to college I could handle the material just fine, but I realized this was not what I wanted to do with my life. Fortunately I had prepared myself really well for engineering school so my GPA was not so awful that med school was out of the question.

If you absolutely must do engineering, definately do BioEngineering which is almost universally considered one of the easiest engineering majors. (My BioEng GPA is a 3.95 while my ChemE was 3.3)

 

[chman]

Maybe a good backup plan is to become a PA, or an NP? If you are going into medicine for the "right" reasons, then it seems to me that these paths are an excellent option if the med school thing falls through...

I would not consider PA a good back up plan considering that GPA's are on par with med school applicants, and that almost all of the schools require many hours of professional health care experience. I don't know as much about NP. I just hear this statement a lot, "Oh, if med-school doesn't work out, I'll just do PA." Yea, if you have the grades and experience, sure. But if one doesn't get in to med school because of their GPA etc., then chances are they are going to have a rough time getting in to PA school.

 

[flip26]

I would not consider PA a good back up plan considering that GPA's are on par with med school applicants, and that almost all of the schools require many hours of professional health care experience. I don't know as much about NP. I just hear this statement a lot, "Oh, if med-school doesn't work out, I'll just do PA." Yea, if you have the grades and experience, sure. But if one doesn't get in to med school because of their GPA etc., then chances are they are going to have a rough time getting in to PA school.

You missed the 'tongue in cheek / sarcastic' point.

Most of the people on here are obsessed with become a doctor, specifically an MD. Even DO is beneath them, and certainly a PA or NP is beneath them too.

I have no idea how tough it is to get into PA programs, but I would need to see a cite showing that it is just as tough as med school. I find that very hard to believe.

 

[mspeedwagon]

As someone that graduated from an Ivy League school and went to work at an investment bank for a while (Merrill Lynch) and also as the brother of someone that went to work for Goldman, I just want to point out the fact that your friend majored in economics is completely irrelevant to them being hired. Neither my brother nor I were economics majors. The person would have been equally likely to be hired as a psychology major. The vast majority of those hired by investment firms were not economics majors.

I can't speak for the starting salary now, but back in 2005, the investment firms started people off at 65k (not including a signing bonus and performance bonus, which could easily double that salary by the end of the first year). That said, there are certain jobs that give you no fulfillment and are not worth doing only for the money. I left to work at the Dana-Farber for far less money.

To answer the OPs question, economics vs psychology doesn't matter at all. As previous posters have said, there really is no difference between the two from a company hiring perspective.

a friend of mine went to an ivy league, she was eco majored and she just got hired by gold man sachs before she even graduated. starting salary is like 80k, not including bonuses lol. with B its gonna pop 6 figured easy.

 

[vin5cent0]

Not sure why everyone's saying Psych has good job opportunities.. let's not lie to the guy here.

 

[chman]

You missed the 'tongue in cheek / sarcastic' point.

Most of the people on here are obsessed with become a doctor, specifically an MD. Even DO is beneath them, and certainly a PA or NP is beneath them too.

I have no idea how tough it is to get into PA programs, but I would need to see a cite showing that it is just as tough as med school. I find that very hard to believe.

Ok, I missed that, yet it is still something I see on here a lot. I have better things to do than gather statistics on PA schools, but I have done my research because I was interested in it at one point. If you, or anyone else do not want to believe me that's fine, but it doesn't make it any less so.

 

[surftheiop]

Ok, I missed that, yet it is still something I see on here a lot. I have better things to do than gather statistics on PA schools, but I have done my research because I was interested in it at one point. If you, or anyone else do not want to believe me that's fine, but it doesn't make it any less so.

PS, I didn't say it was "harder," I said it was on par, which it most certainly is.

One thing to consider is most PA schools have way higher clinical experience requirements than med schools. So there are a ton of people who get into med school who couldn't get into PA school. This isn't to say its necessarily harder, but the requirements are different.

 

[smarttee88]

You missed the 'tongue in cheek / sarcastic' point.

Most of the people on here are obsessed with become a doctor, specifically an MD. Even DO is beneath them, and certainly a PA or NP is beneath them too.

I have no idea how tough it is to get into PA programs, but I would need to see a cite showing that it is just as tough as med school. I find that very hard to believe.

PA program requirements do somewhat differ from MD requirements, but they are very similar. Most PA programs require a somewhat extensive amount of HCE in conjunction w/ good GPA, LOR's etc. in order to be admitted. That is not to say that gaining admittance into PA programs is as hard as gaining admittance into Med school, but it is certainly not a cake walk. From my experience and research on the requirements for both programs, MOST candidates who are unable to gain admittance into Med school will most likely be unable to gain admittance into PA school. Keep in mind there will always be outliers.

 

[smarttee88]

Not sure why everyone's saying Psych has good job opportunities.. let's not lie to the guy here.

Ditto.

 

[chman]

Ditto.

I would agree too, except I think the point that most are making is not that it is easy to get a job, but that a psych degree is really not any less valuable than any other non-professional degree, which most bachelors degrees are.

 

[mspeedwagon]

I agree with you. But the job opportunities available to an economics major aren't much better.

Not sure why everyone's saying Psych has good job opportunities.. let's not lie to the guy here.

 

[Cleavername]

As someone that graduated from an Ivy League school and went to work at an investment bank for a while (Merrill Lynch) and also as the brother of someone that went to work for Goldman, I just want to point out the fact that your friend majored in economics is completely irrelevant to them being hired. Neither my brother nor I were economics majors. The person would have been equally likely to be hired as a psychology major. The vast majority of those hired by investment firms were not economics majors.

I can't speak for the starting salary now, but back in 2005, the investment firms started people off at 65k (not including a signing bonus and performance bonus, which could easily double that salary by the end of the first year). That said, there are certain jobs that give you no fulfillment and are not worth doing only for the money. I left to work at the Dana-Farber for far less money.

To answer the OPs question, economics vs psychology doesn't matter at all. As previous posters have said, there really is no difference between the two from a company hiring perspective.

oh? so what do those companies look for?

 

[chman]

oh? so what do those companies look for?

The top investment banks look for the top grads of the top business schools. They also sometimes hire graduates of any major from ivy schools (this is just what my uncle tells me). It really depends on what position one is seeking too, of course. If you are an Art History major from Harvard and know what you are talking about in an interview they will usually give you a chance (or at least they did before the meltdown).

The fact is that after being in the real world for a couple years your major will have relatively little to do with your success. It is all about marketing yourself and making connections.

 

[Cleavername]

The top investment banks look for the top grads of the top business schools. They also sometimes hire graduates of any major from ivy schools (this is just what my uncle tells me). It really depends on what position one is seeking too, of course. If you are an Art History major from Harvard and know what you are talking about in an interview they will usually give you a chance (or at least they did before the meltdown).

The fact is that after being in the real world for a couple years your major will have relatively little to do with your success. It is all about marketing yourself and making connections.

so if i am out of a crappy school i would prob never have a chance? also how good is stony brook cause i am in it lol.

 

[surftheiop]

oh? so what do those companies look for?

From what I've seen from my friends and people I know-

They look for the smartest people they can find who are able to think on their feet and not crack under pressure.

Because there is such a supply of willing applicants most of the companies just stick to recruiting from Ivy/Stanford/MIT and a few others. Once they see a good GPA on the resume from that school its already know that they are dealing with someone who has the intellectual capacity for the job. So then they just have to worry about the "non-numerical" characteristics that are needed to be successful in the industry.

 

[surftheiop]

so if i am out of a crappy school i would prob never have a chance? also how good is stony brook cause i am in it lol.

It would severely decrease chances of getting hired straight out of undergrad, but if somehow later in life you can demonstrate that you would be an invaluable addition to their company, then of course someone would hire you.

 

[chman]

so if i am out of a crappy school i would prob never have a chance? also how good is stony brook cause i am in it lol.

Well, the chances of getting in to a big name company right off the bat are probably not great, However, you can probably start in a small firm in one of the back rooms and prove yourself, then you have a shot. That's the cool thing about Wall Street IMO, that all that really matters is what you can produce. A lot of the Ivy people get chewed up and spit out because they lack the people skills it takes, all they have is the book smarts. Word to the wise, the industry in general is becoming very mathematical, and of course, technological. The more you know about financial models on computers the greater chance you will have.

 

[FlowRate]

I am a pragmatic person, I chose a major that I thought I could rely on and that I thought I would enjoy (truth be told, I mostly enjoyed every semester but this one). Everyone has different priorities.