Not sure which major would be best for me

College Majors
1

<p>Okay, so I’m having this dilemma about which major to pick. I’m only a freshman at UVA, so I definitely have some time, but I am one of those people who like to know what I’m aiming toward pretty early on so I can prepare for it. I know for SURE that I want to major in Biology, Ive loved that subject my whole life and I just seem to have a knack for it. My concern is about another major I want to do. I definitely WANT another major, since I’m in UVA’s Honors Program, meaning I have literally no gen. ed. requirements, and therefore adding another major is more than doable. I’m considering two options:

  1. First would be a Statistics major. UVA has a Biostatistics concentration within this major, and if biology is my favorite subject then stats is a close 2nd or 3rd. Not to mention, I want to go into research after college, and I think stats would complement my biology background really nicely in that way.
  2. I have recently gotten the overwhelming urge to major in Spanish. I took some Spanish in high school, and really enjoyed it. I wouldn’t say I love spanish like I love bio or stats, but its a definite interest. If I majored in Spanish, though, it wouldn’t really be for an interest in the courses, it is because my ultimate goal in doing this is to become fluent. I think college is a perfect opportunity to really apply myself to a language and stick with it until I know it really well. Aside from that, I really want to study abroad and this would be a great asset to that (I know I could just go to an English-speaking country, but that doesn’t seem as appealing). The issue with Spanish is, I probably won’t relate it at all to my biology major. After college I could use my bio/stat combo in my work, but I doubt I would use spanish much. I’m sure being bilingual helps on applications, but even then it probably isn’t a huge issue in the bio field (especially since I don’t wanna be a doctor). Any thoughts on which I should choose would really help me out</p>
2

<p>If you’re feeling ambitious (and it seems you are), you could major in biology and statistics and minor in Spanish. Then spend one or two semesters studying abroad and immersing yourself in the language while continuing your majors. Or minor in statistics and double in biology and Spanish.</p>

3

<p>I agree with NovaLynx for the most part. I think a double major in biology and statistics (with a concentration in biostatistics) is an absolutely wonderful combination that opens you up for a lot of possibilities in your career, and if you like them both you could definitely enjoy the combination and do a lot with them. With the Spanish, however, you could definitely do a minor as well if you have no gen. ed requirements. Minors are often more geared towards studying something you enjoy but don’t necessarily want to do anything with in your career. Or, really, if you just want to get fluent and study abroad, I would recommend just taking some Spanish classes at least to level 6, and then doing study abroad over the summer or during spring break or something. Shouldn’t be too hard to find one that incorporates Spanish, since it’s such a widely spoken language. I would definitely not recommend you make Spanish a major if you are only interested in getting fluent in the language and studying abroad, because you can do that with a minor or just by taking the right classes and finding a program, and majors as I said are geared towards your career, and you’d benefit way more from doing a second major in statistics.</p>