for the last two years i’ve been actively trying to decide on a major/career that might be right for me. I know i’m interested in math and science. but i just can’t pick one path!!
here is a summary of my struggle to decide: I’m finishing my freshman year at UC Berkeley, and still don’t know what path I should take. This year I took some calculus, astronomy, computer science and physics. I was thinking of doing astrophysics with a minor in computer science, but it seems like so much work for little reward-- an astro major has to take almost all of the engineering prereqs but still isn’t qualified to be an engineer, and won’t get paid much at all with just a B.S… Math was my favorite class so far, but i don’t like theoretical math-- i mainly like practical math. This is what leads me to thinking i shouldn’t major in math. however, physics is really hard for me, though its still pretty interesting. computer science could be cool too, but i’m only just finishing an easy intro class. i also feel like computer science is great but its most meaningful when its applied to something meaningful. i don’t want to be a drone coding for some finance website or whatever just for good pay.
this is what i hope to get out of my major: I’m really interested in how the universe and planet work in general. it’s amazing to me how big the world we live in really is. however, i really want to find a career that will help save the environment, or at least not have a negative impact on it. i think above all else we need to work to save us from global warming. i love hiking and going camping in the mountains. i love the ocean and marine life. however, i feel like a major in environmental sciences would mainly lead to consulting jobs, which doesn’t sound fulfilling to me. it also doesn’t require a whole lot of math or science compared to what i’ve been taking already. and i’ve never taken a class nor would i have time to take a class in environmental science unless i was sure that was what i wanted to major in. i was hoping to do a major that would give me an opportunity to perhaps do a masters in something extremely practical if i couldn’t get a job right away after college, like engineering or computer science. i’d love having a career that gave me the flexibility to find jobs in many places of the world.
if i had the ability to take a bunch of different science classes, like one environmental science, one planetary science, marine science, one cognitive science, one astrophysics, and one engineering specific course, etc., then this wouldn’t be a problem. unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that unless you want to spend 6 years getting a bachelors degree (which i cannot financially afford). what does it sound like i should do? or do you have any advice? or also, if you majored in any of the subjects i’ve mentioned, i’d love to hear what you ended up doing as a career.
I would greatly appreciate your input! please help me, i’m very stressed out and i have to pick my classes for next semester soon 
Engineering. It’s all applied math and you can design and build things in line with the goals you listed. You can always tak electives in the other areas that interest you.
the problem is its impossible to get into berkeley’s engineering school if you already are a student. that’s why i would have to wait to get a masters degree instead
Have you played with the major selection webpage at http://guide.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/degree-programs/ ?
Selecting “sustainability” as an interest and “mathematics” as an academic focus causes applied mathematics, atmospheric science, bioengineering, bioengineering/materials science and engineering joint major, economics, geology, geophysics, interdisciplinary studies and statistics to be indicated. If “natural resources and environment” is selected as well as “mathematics” as academic focus, only geology, geophysics and interdisciplinary studies are displayed.
I see that jobs advertised on Indeed.com for environmental scientists regularly indicate acceptability of geology degrees and jobs for geologists often indicate acceptability of environmental science degrees. Both tend to do that for environmental engineering degrees.
Since math is your favorite class, you could major in applied math while taking as electives courses in the various other subjects of interest. Applied math at Berkeley has 10 required math courses and 3 math or related courses; see https://math.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate/major/applied . You should have plenty of space for additional courses in other subjects of interest (and perhaps some may be usable to fulfill the cluster of 3 math or related courses for the applied math major).
I think you’re taking a very narrow view of the major -> career path, and that’s what’s clouding your judgment. You sound like you actually really love your astrophysics major and want to stick with it. So don’t change it. What you need to do instead is investigate the kinds of careers an astrophysics major can get into.
For one thing, if you truly do have to take most of the engineering prerequisites AND you have a minor in computer science, I’m betting that there are a lot of very quantitative jobs you can do post-college. Lots of physics majors go on to do quant jobs that a math major or computer science major would do if they have the appropriate coursework, since physics is very mathematical.
But the other thing is that I thought I remembered Berkeley having a bevy of majors in the earth sciences, and I was right: there are so many! In addition to the traditional environmental sciences majors (environmental earth sciences, environmental sciences, environmental engineering sciences), there are also some interesting non-traditional ones (energy and resources, conservation and resource studies, sustainable environmental design, toxicology), a couple of geosciences majors (geography, geology, geophysics, GIS, and geosystems - all of which may also be really interesting to you) and there’s also the major I think that’s most salient for you: atmospheric science.
Atmospheric science is the application of science - physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, and math, in varying amounts depending on which route you go - to understand how natural earth processes contribute to the atmosphere’s composition and climate. As you probably know, climate change is one of the biggest scientific challenges of our time, and in the present and near future the world will be looking for leaders in this area to solve atmospheric and meteorological problems large and small.
On a more mundane level, there are lots of companies that hire atmospheric scientists and meteorologists at the bachelor’s level. Obviously, the federal and state governments do - the National Weather Service, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), all branches of the military, Department of Defense, Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency…so on and so forth. NGOs and nonprofits hire them to understand how climate change and atmospheric science will affect people and the way we live (did you know that El Nino, for example, plays a significant role in global conflict? I mean, part of the reason for war in resource-poor areas is trying to gain more resources, which becomes more urgent if your crops fail due to less rainfall or an early frost.) Private companies do, too. There are the obvious choices of AccuWeather and the Weather Channel, but did you know that securities firms hire atmospheric scientists? Yep…because they invest in crops as commodities, and they want to know how the weather is going to affect their crop. Airlines hire meteorologists, too, to help them monitor weather conditions many months out to plan flight patterns and decide when to cancel flights. If you like computer science, know also that computer science and coding are hugely important in atmospheric science: there’s an entire branch of it dedicated to computer modeling of weather and climate conditions and developing better software and models for these patterns.
The thing is, you don’t necessarily have to change your major from astrophysics. You can change to atmospheric science, if you want, and you’ll still take a lot of the same classes you like (physics, practical math, computer science) plus some new ones (chemistry, environmental science classes). An atmospheric science major and a computer science minor could be a killer combination. But you could also add a minor in atmospheric science to your existing astrophysics major, and just make sure you take enough courses to qualify you for meteorologist jobs - there’s a national association that spells out how much you need, and I’m sure the professors in that department at Berkeley can help you out with that. The American Meteorological Society is another place to start.
And no, a major in environmental sciences doesn’t have to lead to consulting jobs only, or even mainly. (Also, if you love the environment and want a career that will save it, why would consulting with large companies who need help becoming more sustainable and environmentally friendly sound unfulfilling to you?)