Hi everyone! What sort of educational path should I pursue… in terms of [major->masters/certificate->doctorate]? Currently am a college sophomore, perhaps transferring to UC Davis, UCLA, UC San Diego, or UC Berkeley next year… and have plenty of flexibility with changing majors at this point.
Would find it a privilege to work on building social networks, events, organizations, local businesses, club groups, hospitals, museums, community gatherings, counseling centers, libraries, gyms, recreation, tech/database centers, schools, shelters, workshops, and reforming city legislature. Would find it a diamond to do this sort of work, and perhaps even extend it to a national/global scale. Really enjoy practicing diplomacy, striving for a vision in improving the quality of life for people… in the form of a (teach a man to fish/plant a seed) sort of way.
On the other side of the coin, have been obsessed with learning about the human brain and the neural basis of our cognition, and how to design software for more efficient learning methods… making them accessible to numerous people… on a global scale, while incorporating artificial intelligence and advanced informatics.
You really could major in anything. Your interests are far-ranging.
You say “building” and it’s unclear whether you are using it in the literal sense or the figurative sense (it seems like both). In the literal sense, there’s civil engineering since most of the places you mentioned seem to be public works. In the figurative sense - a lot! Sociology, psychology, history, and political science come to mind with some; healthcare administration for the hospitals; English (and onto library science) for the libraries; physical education for the gyms. But on the whole it sounds like you are interested in the social and civil infrastructure of cities - how to make communal living spaces pleasant and fun and healthy - and I think that sociology or political science with a later focus on urban planning might be a good major for that.
If you are interested in the human brain, psychology or neuroscience (particularly neuroscience) is the major. If you want to learn how to design software, computer science. You could potentially major in neuroscience and minor in computer science, learn how to program, and then do a cognitive science program later to learn to design software with AI. Or your eventual university might have a cognitive science major. Bioinformatics is usually pursued on the graduate level, but an undergrad in computer science is ideal for that.
It’s up to you to choose which way you want to go. I suggest that you take some classes in either field - take the introduction for majors in your first semester at your UC campus, and decide after that. But you don’t have a whole lot of time to decide if you want to graduate in 4 years; if you are a sophomore, you’re going to need to have a good solid idea of what you want your major to be when you transfer so you can hit the ground running. Science majors (mostly neuroscience here) often have sequences that take longer than 2 years.
@juillet, am really grateful for your thoughtful words of advice. Was speaking more in the figurative sense, not physically building the structures, but going through political systems to establish such chains of institutions… and possibly doing it globally would be incredible. Working in Community, Regional, and Global Development alongside International Law - being involved with diplomacy and international politics. Something I’d do if we all were already for our basic necessities.
The wish with the cognitive/psych/neurosciences would be to teach, counsel others, research, work as faculty, write non-fiction, and primarily develop software (for AI learning systems). I’d have to say that academically, natural sciences are a sliver more of a struggle… unless if I’m studying them on my own time.
Otherwise… I even went through ideas such as completing a Psychology BA->AI MSc->Cognitive Neuroscience/Psych PhD… …later to come back after a long while and do a Sociology&Political Science in undergrad-> JD (focusing on Global, Regional, and Community Development). Maybe it’s more of a matter of which I could set aside perhaps to self study, and which credential is necessary for my goals.
I think on some level you have to choose. Those are two very different fields, and you have to make a decision which one you want to pursue. I think a liberal arts major is probably a good way to go for you, though - they’re broad enough to give you a bit more time to decide. I have a PhD in social psychology and quite a few of my colleagues took a detour career-wise to do other things before pursuing the PhD, so that’s a possibility.
You could, for example, double-major in sociology and psychology to cover your bases - and just make sure that you take a few classes in neuroscience and biology so that you learn the basic knowledge necessary. (There are lots of psychology departments from which you can become a neuroscientist.) Or you could double major in psychology and political science.
One way to potentially bring this together is to do research on the cognitive and neuroscientific underpinnings of political behavior and decisions. There’s a whole new area of research being undertaken in this area.
I think I made similar choices when I was younger…I was really interested in working internationally, learning a bunch of languages, maybe being a foreign service officer and eventually an ambassador. I also became really interested in doing public health and psychological research. I ended up choosing the latter, and I don’t regret it - I really love my work. I’m sure I would’ve loved the other work, too, had I chose it. That’s the thing - most people would be happy doing more than one career, so it’s just about choosing the one that makes the most sense to you.
I agree with the previous poster that you will need to make a choice between these two areas of interest.
For your first stated area of interest, I would suggest that that you consider programs in “social entrepreneurship”. (just do a google search using the terms “degree program, social entrepreneurship”). The better programs will be a the graduate level. At the undergrad level, consider public policy majors, including some human ecology programs that combine organizational/consumer issues (e.g., http://www.human.cornell.edu/pam/academics/courses/index.cfm) or programs in organizational studies (e.g., http://orgsci.columbian.gwu.edu/organizational-management-curriculum). Planning, urban studies, or development also might be suitable areas to consider.
For your second stated area of interest, focus on informatics or computer science and combine this with psychology, cognitive science, or neuroscience. For some of your interests in this area, a graduate degree in certain areas of ed psych might be appropriate.