Specialized biology majors are for the birds

College Majors Science Majors
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Wow I really appreciate your detailed comments and perspective. She is taking the lead on choosing her major of course, it’s not my call but she does use me as a sounding board sometimes. Her philosophy thus far has been leaving as many options open as she can and taking classes that she enjoys. She has so far discovered that chemistry, which she thought she might major in when she started college, is no longer something she wants to major in.

Pre-med is still in her mind but she is leaning away from it at this time. If pressed right now she would say she wants to be an epidemiologist, I think. But of course that can change. She is taking her first college stats class next semester. She did not like it in high school but she really did not like her teacher - hopefully this will help her decide whether stats is something she wants to pursue.

Pity, there are no minors at her college, it is major or double major or perhaps a major she designs, that’s it.

I really appreciate you taking the time to respond in such detail @Era991 .

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PS: I was about as anti science and math as I could be in college, though I loved stats when I took it for my social science major. D really loves science, and math to a lesser degree, so I often feel a little out of my depth when she asks me for advice.

I ended up in a computer-ish career that has little to do with my college major.

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@OHMomof2 Yeah, most of my friends who started out thinking chem also changed their minds :smiley: It’s kind of a trend. I didn’t mean to imply that I was worried you were nudging her towards one major or another, in case that’s what you thought; I meant to say that she shouldn’t let anyone on this forum nudge her one way or another.

Since you say she’s leaning away from pre-med, I might encourage her to take a few days over a weekend/her next academic break shadowing a physician in whatever specialty happens to interest her most. Shadowing is probably the best way to really comprehend what a life in medicine is like (except maybe scribing, which is essentially active shadowing).

If, after many many hours–or, even better, years–of clinical experiences she doesn’t absolutely love medicine, it’s probably the worst profession to wander into; there are so many easier ways to make more money in this day and age. But if she falls for it, I can tell you from firsthand experience that she won’t be able to imagine wanting to do anything else with her life.

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She doesn’t do CC so no worries on that front :slight_smile:

She has shadowed several docs (ER, general surgeon, anesthesiologist, plastic), and enjoyed it. Has done research with the ER doc as well, though hasn’t had as much time for that as she’d like (he’s local to home, her college is not).

Thanks again.

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And my daughter’s not interested in neuroscience for medical anything, but rather for (speaking broadly) its applications for social science. So in that sense, it isn’t so much that it’s a specialized biology degree, but rather that it’s a particular focus for a liberal arts* degree.

  • And despite the way people usually conceptualize the liberal arts, biology and thus neuroscience are liberal arts fields, too.
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@Era991 since you are extremely knowledgeable in this subject, I would like to ask for your advice. I am going to a university next year with my preferred major as MechE. I have realized lately, and become more conscious that, it it not necessarily what I see myself doing as a career. I think that its more what my dad wanted me to pursue (and I appreciate that he wants to push me into challenges but I just know now that it isn’t for me).

With that said, I have always had an interest in the brain and how it works, and taking psychology last year only made me want to learn more. I have considered now going into neuroscience or something related. My question is, what types of this or similar can I go into without getting a doctorate degree? I would like to stick to bachelor’s (or more preferably) master’s only. It seems that cognitive psychology and neuroscience, etc. tend to require PhD’s and that is just something that I really don’t want to do. An extra 2 years of college is fine but 6+… just not for me.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated :slight_smile:

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@lnicole I’m not going to lie to you, I’m by no means an expert on non-MD paths out of a neuro/psych degree, so you should take my thoughts with a grain of salt, and expect them to not be comprehensive. As you’ll see below, I know more about the healthcare fields. I’d highly recommend getting asking upperclassmen who have similar interests as you when you get to campus for a better perspective. (Upperclassman advice is just generally great, period.) Any school advisors would also probably better than me.

The first question is whether you want to go neuro or psych. There is some overlap, and I expect that overlap will continue to increase over time, but my understanding is that the majority of career paths take you down one path or the other. Exceptions with considerable overlap include psychiatry, neuropsychology fields like social neuroscience, and clinical psychology in states with limited PsyD Rx privileges. Regardless, you’ll probably find that you prefer the bottom-up or top-down perspective after taking a few more classes in both.

Some types of things that come to mind, which you’ll have to read up more on independently since I know varying amounts about each job/degree:

–BS/BA in neuro–My understanding is that there are fewer top-level jobs that are directly related to neuro with this degree. You can still do plenty of other jobs just like any other college grad, but don’t expect to be the PI of a research lab or treating patients with this degree

–MS/MA–I’m anecdotally told that it’s possible to get into industry (tech/biotech/pharma) with this, although it would be easier with a PhD

–Various education degrees–psych obviously dovetails nicely, although so does a lot of neuro, especially at the systems/cognitive neuro level

–Various healthcare degrees/jobs:
MD/DO–4 years school, 3-7 years residency, optional 1 year fellowship
OD–optometry. Plenty of visual neuro knowledge, less training and, I’m told, nicer hours than most MDs
Paramedic/EMT–fewer years of school than MD/DO, can be very rewarding job
PA–physician assistant, again fewer years of school
Various nursing degrees (CVN, RN, CRNA, NP, etc.)–again fewer years than MD/DO
Social worker–clearly psych knowledge is relevant here
Technicians, medical assistant, scribe–fewest years of schooling, although you might wish that you had more direct opportunities to apply your neuro/psych knowledge
PsyD–clinical psychology doctorate. Limited Rx’ing privileges in some states

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An undergrad degree in biology is basically useless unless one wants to become a Park Ranger or something like that. To actually work within the field (not just washing out test tubes) a PhD is a de facto requirement.