<p>I’m a sophomore in college, and I went to school thinking that I really wanted to do one thing (nursing), but from my very first semester started to doubt it. I decided to push back that doubt and keep going with it. I even went so far as to fool myself into thinking that it’s what I really wanted even though it wasn’t. </p>
<p>I have finally come to be honest with myself, and I’m facing that I want to change my major. I was on a retreat over the weekend that really helped me face that, and what really got me was a conversation with one of the campus ministers. </p>
<p>I know that changing my major is right for me, but I’m terrified of telling certain people. At the top of my list are my advisor and my parents. I’m not sure who I dread telling more. They all want what’s best for me, but they’re all also the type of people who will try to talk me out of my decision and who will highly question it etc. I don’t know if I can really face that. I feel like I’ve failed, and I don’t want to deal with that. </p>
<p>I have to talk to my advisor this week and get the change done because registration for the fall is next week…and I don’t even know if I should talk to her first, or talk to my parents first or what.</p>
<p>I’m just so overwhelmed by it all!</p>
<p>If you’re wondering what I want to do with my sociology degree, the answer is public health. My goal is to get an MPH…and that would be the same if I stayed as a nursing major as well, so really only my undergrad is changing…and since I don’t actually want to be a nurse…nursing as a major doesn’t make much sense.</p>
<p>I’ll also probably get a minor in psychology because it would only require me to take 2 more classes, and there are a couple psych classes I’ve been wanting to take anyway.</p>
<p>Your parents are likely to take the news better if you present this as part of a plan, show that you’ve thought about life after graduation, and demonstrate how the sociology degree will feed into the MPH program. They are likely to fear that the sociology degree will lead to unemployment, so you need to show them that it won’t.</p>
<p>Do make sure you get good academic advising from your sociology dept. advisor, so you will indeed be in good shape to apply to MPH programs when the time comes. If you have a choice of advisors, ask around among students in the program to find out who gives the best advice about careers and grad school. And even if you don’t have a choice, nobody will stop you from going to the office hours of such a faculty member and discussing your situation. Excellent mentoring will be key here.</p>
<p>My parents can’t say too much…my oldest brother was a math major, and my other older brother was a psychology major. Sociology isn’t any worse than either of those in terms of employment…especially since I want an MPH, which they already know.</p>
<p>You don’t get to choose your advisor at my school, (I was unaware that any schools let you do that!), and I actually don’t even know a single sociology major, and only know one of the professors in the department, although my friend’s older brother is one, so she probably knows a good deal about the department. My current advisor is one of the best on campus, so it kind of sucks that I won’t be able to have her anymore, but I know I can always go to her for any advice that I’ll need.</p>
<p>Yeah, if your brother was a Psych major and they didn’t complain about him doing that I don’t see them complaining about this. BUT, how is your brother doing in that field? The better he’s doing the better your argument will be since both are social sciences.</p>
<p>I’m not allowed to change my major yet because she thinks that it’s a rash decision, even though it’s not at all. I have to wait until the fall.</p>
<p>Could you double major? I know double majoring is A LOT of work (been there, done that) but that might be a way to appease your parents and yourself. Furthermore, a practical degree in nursing PLUS a theoretical degree in sociology would look very good for public health programs.</p>
<p>The double major in something practical and theoretical simultaneously could be the ticket. You may dislike nursing, but a single major in sociology will virtually assure failure economically without your gaining further education. </p>
<p>I graduated last May with a triple major in anthropology, philosophy, and sociology and I am currently near homelessness due to underemployment. I got into graduate school recently, but now it looks like I cannot afford it. </p>
<p>Take into consideration that you may not be able to attend graduate school immediately. If your plans are interrupted and you can’t go to graduate school as soon as you’d like, then you’ll want something that will provide a real paycheck. </p>
<p>To true on the dobule major thing. I was going to do English and writing and then law school, but I recently decided not to do writing and find something more practical. After all in 4 years I might not want to do law school anymore. So i’ve decided to look for a second major that will give me a fallback plan.</p>
<p>It is 100% impossible to double major with nursing if you want to graduate even close to on time. You can’t even have a minor if you’re a nursing major.</p>
<p>There’s also the fact that I would hate my life if I continued with nursing…</p>
<p>Listen, there is always going to be a point in your life where you and other’s will not see eye to eye on issues. But it is your life, and any major decision will ultimately be for you to make despite what other’s say. That is part of being an individual, and not just part of the flock of socially conformist sheep.</p>
<p>Have you considered Engineering (all except biomedical), Physics, Applied Math, Statistics, Finance, Economics, Accounting or Computer Science? You may hate Nursing because it has Bio in it. Biology is the study of useless memorizing. Sociology may very well be just as bad as Nursing for your tastes.</p>
<p>I would never consider any of those things you mentioned! I hate math with a burning passion (I’m also not very good at it, so those majors you mentioned are completely out of the realm of possible)…and honestly…finance and accounting both sound boring as all get out anyway!</p>
<p>I don’t hate nursing because it has bio…I don’t even know where in heck you got that from! </p>
<p>I want to major in sociology because I like sociology. I like learning about people and working with people and all that jazz. I’ve completed more than 50 credits of classes, and you know what class still stands out as my favorite? My Soc 101 class that I took first semester freshman year! You know what else? Probably 95% of the sociology classes that I have to take sound so interesting to me! Before I even came to school and I was looking through the course catalog, I wished that I could take a lot of them, but knew that I couldn’t as a nursing major.</p>
<p>yeah… I really like psychology but my parents will disown me if I major there without being premed. And since I don’t want to be a doktor, I’m probably going to double major in an engineering and psychology and maybe get a minor in biochemistry</p>