Which Major will be useful: BA Anthropology, BA Psychology, BS Biology Degree?

Question

I'm a high school student and will graduate next year. I'm in a really stressful time right now. My parents and friends asked me what would i want to take in Uni...and i just felt blank. I love social sciences and biology, like travelling (especially in third world countries), i have a great interest in learning different cultures and studying animals, so i got these 2 different interests. However, my dad disagrees with me,,,he thinks if i take anthropology, i wouldn't be able to find work easily and it would be useless.
I prefer more to study majors in Humanities, Social sciences, and since 4 years ago, i have had an interest in psychology. But i don't really know how to put it all together...I was concerned with what kind of job in which field would i be in.
And i'm having a dillemma between BA and BS degrees, I'm afraid i will take the wrong one and will struggle to find any jobs/professions... My school counsellor doesn't do any help!
Any advice for me? Thanks.

Answer 1

It's tough to figure out what you want to do in life! This is something my kids have struggled with. It's ok to be undecided.

That being said, both psych and bio are hot right now. Since humanities and psych interest you, have you thought about a career in child psychology or being a psych intake social worker for youth?? The US is facing a serious shortage of qualified people to work with children and adolescents that have emotional, behavioral, and neuropsychological disorders. The waiting lists to get care can be as long as 18 mos. Psych social workers help families access, and fund the needed care. They also do crisis intervention, help in cutting thru the red tape wall hospitals put up, and locate/provide the support needed to keep the child in the home instead of a residential center. Unfortunately, there are few of them in most counties.

Hope this give you an idea or two. In the end, you have to go with what give you passion and fullfillment. It's your life's journey, not your parents.

Answer 2

Don't think so far ahead about jobs and what kind of career you'll have. Take the classes you want to take, because you'll get better grades in classes you care about. Do well in school and get your degree, and the career stuff will follow. It's never too late to change gears--a friend of mine majored in biology and went on to get a masters in creative writing. So pick a good liberal arts school, take the classes that float your boat, and try not to worry too much. Just having the degree is the most important thing for a lot of jobs.

Once you start college, you can change your major if you need to, or declare a double major, or a minor, or a double minor. There are even programs where you can self-structure your own major!

If you think biology might be what you want to do, I would recommend starting school with the bio major. You'll find out right away if you can handle the hard sciences and enjoy it. If so, then fabulous! If not, it's a lot easier to catch up with a psych or anthro major than with a science major--science majors often have more requirements, and the classes are typically more demanding and harder to schedule, with labs and such. So try the science major first.

I also recommend starting out as an undecided major--there's nothing wrong with not knowing what you want to do! Your first semester, you can take intro to bio, intro psych, and whatever else that interests you. At a liberal arts school, you're going to need to fill core requirements in science and social science anyway, so if you take bio and end up a psych major or vice versa, you won't be wasting your time. Take a look at your school's core curriculum and see what classes fill what requirements, and circle the ones that look good--that way, you can fill your core, which you have to do anyway, and explore different majors at the same time!

Answer 3

Teresa has a great answer. I would lean toward psychology or biology. You can go forward anywhere from there with many potions in either field. You do not have to make a firm decision until you get into school and see where the things you learn take you. You can always change your major, you mainly want to get your basics in first. Education is the best thing you can do with your life. Congratulations on your future!

Answer 4

First off, there's no difference between a BA and a BS degree, so don't worry about that.

Also, you don't need to decide what to major in right now. Go to a college that offers all those majors. When you get there introduce yourself to professors who do research that looks interesting to you, and talk with them to get a feel for what you should do. And remember, you can always change your mind! Heck, you can even change your mind after you graduate!

So don't worry about it now. You're actually a lot more focused already than a lot of college students I know.