OKgirl

So I thought that I was really interested in pharmacy, but now I'm starting to doubt myself. I'm interested in other careers (like becoming a weatherman, accounting, research, and sonography). I'm not 100% sure that I know what I want to do. I think this may just be related to all the things I've learned about pharmacy school application and the stress and hard work that goes into it.

How do you know that your major is right for you? Are you still interested in other studies?

Ayoub

great question OKgirl... being a high school student that has to pick a major in 6 months, i can't wait to see the replies

nontraditional

When I first entered college, I had every intention of being a political science major. It turned out, though, that you were not allowed to take any political science courses until you had completed a certain number of units, and I wasn't going to have those units until my second semester.

I signed up for some classes that satisfied distribution requirements. And I fell madly in love with philosophy. So I became a philosophy major. My parents were horrified. (My mother especially was obsessed with me being popular, and she couldn't imagine anyone would like me if I studied philosophy.) I told them it was an excellent preparation for law school, which is true. I did not tell them I had no intention of going to law school.

One of the things I like about philosophy is that you can look at all sorts of other fields while still doing philosophy. I was mostly interested in the areas of philosophy that overlapped with math and lilnguistics. Another is that you learn how to read. Not in the sense of being able to recognize or sound out words, but to read deeply. I've been in grad classes where we've been studying a book and we only ever got fifteen pages in in the semester. That's a very useful skill. I assume that you can also acquire it in other departments, but I happened to do it in philosophy.

And I was and remain interested in all sorts of things. My work now has me going back and studying things like economics and sociology (both of which I also took in my first semester of college, and neither of which was all that attractive to me then -- I'm very interested in them now, though). Because the work is interdisciplinary and because obtaining a degree is not that important but obtaining skills and a body of knowledge is, I'm still doing all kinds of things that interest me. (Well, not so much "all kinds" at once. My workload has obviously increased because I'm a student on top of everything else. But I always have one totally irrelevant-to-what-I-am-*supposed*-to-be-learning book that I'm working on, along with the stuff I know I need to learn.)

I think that students who arrive at college unsure about what they want to learn should start with things that satisfy distribution (gen-ed) requirements. They may find something that they love, or they may decide they want to be an X and therefore study Y, and in any case they'll have more time to take electives later on.

OKgirl, if you think those things are interesting, why don't you see whether there are intro classes in things you think you might like to study that satisfy distribution requirements (and whether there are intro classes in things you might like to study that look exciting enough not to pass up)? Intro classes don't always give you a chance to appreciate the really interesting stuff in the field, so you could talk to your professors about a future in their areas.

Oh, and the way I knew my major was right for me is that philosophy classes in specific areas always made me eager to do my homework and to do outside reading. I would imagine that other people might think a major was right for them because they really wanted something that that major would help them get. I'm sure there are other reasons.

burgler09

When I first entered college I was a bit clueless. I just knew I wanted to be "predental". After being in college I learned more and more about dental school and really realized it was for me. I began taking chemistry and really enjoyed it and decided biochem was the major for me to choose because I enjoyed the chemistry aspect and the biology courses that are prereqs for dental school are all covered in my major, so I'm not taking any classes outside of my major that I don't want to.. that gives me some room to take some "fun" classes, like French.

Don't worry so much about picking a major right away, going in undecided isn't a big deal at all as long as you go in with a head on your shoulders and are trying to figure out what you want to do.

ticklemepink

I had always been interested in cultures and people behavior. I took a lot of APs in high school and after AP Psych and econ, I knew that I would never want to take another class in those areas again (econ was too analytical, psych was all common sense with techincal vocab). But I was still interested in history- I knew I wanted to try majoring history when I got hooked on AP Euro while studying for the AP exam in 10th grade.

But when I got to college, I heard other history majors wanna-bes talk about going to law school, I was like "yeechhh!!! I don't want to be a history major for THAT!" So I took Russian lit, Russian language, astronomy, and F-SEM in East Asian department (on Kyoto, Japan). Second semester, I allowed myself to take one history class with my advisor, took International Relations, drawing, an intro course in Judaism, and second semester Russian. I knew I wanted to major in history for sure when I was 100% focused and ate up every word that my advisor said in her lectures. The first lectures were not a fluke! I still wasn't sure though because the history department was fairly weak and I really liked my Russian classes. At the same time, I wanted to transfer.

So I ultimately decided that my love for history was too strong that I had to transfer to another school with stronger history department (actually one of the best for undergrad in the nation). I declared my major when my new advisor said "So you want to major in history right? We can fill out that declaration now if you want..." Um okay! LOL I do miss Russian- had I stayed at my old school, I would've majored in Russian.

Now I'm going to grad school for a MA and then eventually a PhD in History... I'm a loser at times but I can't deny it. Even my most boring history classes (a-hem like this one this semester), I just get so involved in my papers and think up new ideas and analyses. I've learned how to read and write critical and clear arguments and create strong framework in my papers. I can now skim 20-40 page articles and 200-300 page books and find the overall structure.

nontraditional is right- if you enjoy doing your homework and you find yourself always doing stuff for that class first (or last, save the best for last), then it's probably for you. Don't worry about being "practical"- it's your college degree that counts, really. Take your intro courses, anything that looks interesting, and try them. By the end of the year, you'll have a better idea of what you might want to do. Big mistake? Start off as pre-med with 2 lab courses, calc, and some elective. I did shop around in my first year since I only took 1 history course out of 9 courses that year in various departments and a lot of APs in high school (and the fact that I nearly failed chemistry...) eliminated quite a few optoins and narrowed down to where my passion is.

OKgirl

I've already declared my major, I'm just worried about being able to make it. So far I have really enjoyed science and math courses and I'm actually really excited about taking the next classes. I guess my main problem is that I'm doubting my ability to actually get into pharmacy school. Sometimes I think it would be easier to just pick something else even though my career probably wouldn't be as fulfilling as pharmacy.

Is it ok to doubt my major at times or does that show that it isn't really what I want to truly do?

Student35

I entered college as a computer science major. After one semester I switched to management and administration.

History has always been a lifelong passion but I never considered majoring in it coming out of high school/entering college. I love reading and learning all sorts of things from the past, whether it be locally or abroad, the past just interests me beyond words. Halfway through my sophomore year I decided to major in history. Currently finishing up my junior year. Although the history department at my university isn't very large, majoring in it is one of the best decisions I have ever made.

burgler09

OKGirl, are you still in high school? If you are, stop worrying about it. If you are in college, stop worrying about it, lol. Just keep your eyes set on your main goal, if you find something you might be interested in.. take a class and check it out.

SkyGirl

OKgirl, I feel so confused about this major thing myself. Since I am in a gap year between school and college now, I think I spend even more additional time worrying about my major.
What major under the pre-pharmacy are you taking?