With all things considered...which of these majors would you advise?

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nembry

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Hello SDN,

I am a hopeful Pre-Med student and I am currently in the process of selecting an undergrad major. I have had a very hard time deciding, because I feel there are so many things I need to consider when selecting my major.
I am focusing on these things:
  • if med school doesn't work out, I'd like a degree that will get me a job.
  • I don't want to do too hard of a major due to the fact that a high GPA is required to get into Med School.
  • the ability to combine the Med school pre reqs into the major curriculum (don't want to have to take extra classes)
  • level of personal interest in the major
So the 3 majors I am debating are BS Psychology, Neuroscience and Public Health.
I hear that a Bachelor's in both Psychology and Neuroscience are practically useless; however, I have a legitimate interest in both subjects.
Psychology is relatively easy and I've heard Neuroscience is hard.
Public Health on the other hand is a relatively easy major and I hear it has great job prospects, but I'm not as genuinely interested in the subject..

When considering all the factors, which major would y'all pick?
thanks!

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Honestly, do what you're the most interested in. In terms of difficulty, if my school is similar to others, neuroscience will be considerably harder than the other two. Still, your best work will come from the major that you enjoy the most and going to college to do something because it's easy is a waste, even if your end goal is medical school.

Getting a job actually has more to do with your skills and connections than it does your major.
 
Med school will work out if you don't give up; it just may take a lot of money, time, and headaches.

That being said, a major that you're interested in gives you the best chance of learning things which is kind of the point of college. If you don't go to medical school, but you're interested in medical school, chances are that you're the type that will be going to grad school. With the relatively loose connections between undergrad and grad education, making the right choice in undergrad is becoming less and less important.

I'm not sure what your affinity to math is, but I got my major in math and was quite pleased with the job prospects it awarded me. More so, graduate schools of almost any type look at you favorably and you can easily transition to an MBA/MPH/PhD in many fields.

Maybe your school offers something in bioinformatics/biomedical engineering/bio technology. All of these can land you a job, get you into medical school, get you into PA school etc.
 
Major in something you won't mind doing for the rest of your life if medical school doesn't work out. Don't worry about what the schools will think about your major (I know english majors who became med students!)

Just do what you love, study hard, and you'll get where you want to be.
 
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