<p>I have a friend who wants to be a plastic surgeon, and my college counselor told him not to say this on his app because admissions officers would just laugh at a high schooler thinking he already knows the prcise area of medicine he wants to go into… I realize that my interests will probably change in college, but for this question on the MIT app the first thing that came to mind for me was a very, very specific combination of major/minor… should I write about this or will it seem naive/presumptuous that I am already showing interest in such a narrow field? Would it be better to talk about my interests more generally and say “I hope to combine them” …?</p>
<p>woww super long post there… thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to read it and answer :)</p>
<p>i wrote that i want to be a biomedical researcher…</p>
<p>I wouldn’t overthink this one too much, myself. If you’re really interested in a specific major and/or minor, go ahead and put it down – different people become certain about their futures at different rates.</p>
<p>Personally, I put down that I was going to major in brain and cognitive sciences and minor in biology, then go on to a neuroscience PhD program and become a researcher. I ended up doubling in BCS and biology, and have moved on to the neuroscience PhD program – still working on the “becoming a researcher” part. :)</p>
<p>Mathematics as a major, easily.
That’s just my passion and my strong suit.
Known that pretty much my whole life.
But I guess I’m just lucky on that count. :)</p>
<p>As for a minor, I want to just run wild and see what:
a) strikes my fancy
b) I can do well at/have a knack for</p>
<p>I know it will likely be something related (a “hard” science with a big math background, possibly), but then again who knows what might strike my fancy in a way I never knew.</p>
<p>As for your friend: I say put it down. Yeah, it might change over time, but having a starting point is more than most people can say. At least he thinks he knows what he wants to do; if it changes, so be it, if not, he’s one step ahead of the game.</p>