Picking a Major (and wrangling interests)

micronationalist
Sat, 30 Jul 2016 05:39:59 +0000

I appreciate the information you provided at the beginning regarding “book learning” vs. “guided study”. This is something I feel like I had thought about but never quite really understood (for instance, I’ve always known I cannot make it through a book about astrophysics, but can enjoyably read about history), so thank you for translating it into words. The same applies to the majority of your response, in fact. I did some more research and after reflecting on that and your response, I was able to narrow it down a bit.

I think I can safely eliminate the business minor, as well as the visualization major (just to clarify, after reading up on it on the TAMU website, it seems very similar to art, although with a more digital focus). The business minor is not something I really need at the moment, and I feel like if I get to the point where I do need it, it would be a topic I would be fine studying independently rather than in a focused, guided class. As for the visualization major, though it would certainly be interesting, it is (from my understanding) intended to prepare you for grad school in something related to graphical art/animation/etc., and (seeing as how currently I don’t envision myself following a career in that) as such is something I may try as a hobby (some kind of art) rather than a formal education.

Seeing as you work in the field of human-computer interaction, I had a few questions (if you don’t mind, of course).
-Is the psychology you use in your line of work very in-depth psychology (to the point where a major would be extremely helpful)? Or is it some of the more basic concepts (to the point where a minor or a few classes would suffice)?
-What do you do in your field?
-(This is unrelated to the psychology aspect, but more of a general question) If I were to take a few classes in psychology (or any field for that matter) and wanted them to show in my search for employment, is it common practice to list them on resumes?

I also found the information regarding statistics interesting. Looking at my current suggested degree plan, it looks like I only take one statistics class, which I feel might not be enough and as such wonder if I should at least take a few introductory courses like you said. There is something regarding a 12-hour concentration in addition to the major (though, from my understanding, factored into the total hour requirement), so perhaps I could use this to take additional statistics classes (I would use it to take psychology or Russian courses, but it says it requires a connection to computing; what exactly that means I’m not sure. I’ve emailed the department with questions regarding that, however) if I decide against going for a minor or double major. As someone who works in HCI, do you find statistics or psychology to be more beneficial?

I hadn’t really thought about the connection between CS and Urban & Regional Planning, but it’s a very valid point. Especially seeing as it encapsulates a few different interests of mine, it would not be a bad choice to pursue. (Fortunately for me, if I stay at TAMU, they offer an URP major).

All in all, your feedback was very helpful and gave me some interesting things to think about, as well as helping me eliminate a couple things. I’ll certainly have to continue thinking about it (and definitely talk to an advisor about the scheduling part), but thank you nonetheless.