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Hello I am a senior in high school and I am applying to college next year. The problem is I have not a clue what to major in. I was hoping you guys could help me.

 

I was wondering if there is a college major that involves debates and class discussions. Where your opinion matters and doesn't involve a lot of math.

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Don't declare a major your first 2-3 semesters (1-1.5 years).  You will have to take similar classes for ANY major.  Some colleges have a debate club and you can use ratemyprofessor.com to look up professors and get an idea of what the class will be like.  Most science (pre-PA) classes do NOT include classroom discussion.

 

Anyway, you need to go talk to your college's GUIDANCE COUNSELOR.  They can help you with this.

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If you don't have an idea of what to major in, you may also still be up in the air about what to do with your life. That's cool; many people much older than you are in the same boat. At your age, you probably haven't been exposed to all that many different careers and that makes making a life decision even harder.

 

winterallsummer has a good point; the first part of college is fairly generic, regardless of your eventual major. If you don't have any idea, it would be best if you went to a school big enough to have lots of different majors, or perhaps start out in community college until you figure things out. Besides the basic courses, take some courses in things you think you might be interested in that could independently lead to a career. 

 

Good luck.

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Thank you I do plan on having a science major but I also wanted a non science major.

I know there are debate clubs but I wanted to know if there are any majors that incorporate the ideas of class discussions,debates and opinions. I'm also the type of person that just likes to have a plan in mind.

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You don't have to be a science major but, if science classes don't hold all that much interest for you, it is reasonable to ask if a science career like being a PA will be for you. That's not criticism; just pick something that makes you happy.

 

If you like to debate, maybe be a lawyer or a philosophy professor. Just went to a great lecture on medical ethics from a guy who became a PhD in philosophy and then became an MD.

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although you don't have to be a science major, i strongly recommend it. even as a science major, you still have a decent amount of elective credits you will need to take to graduate and they can be anything you want (unless your college has certain restrictions in place). there is also the option of taking up a minor in another area that includes courses that suit your interests more. however, down the road if you get invited to pa school interviews, they will most likely ask why you chose the major you did & you will need to have a good answer as to why the science classes are not something you truly enjoy.

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I was a communications major and changed careers later down the road. I took my science prerequisites for PA school and didn't think anything of it. Now having gone through my first session I'm going to tell you advice as if I was talking to my 18 year old self. First let me clarify I don't regret my choice of getting into communications and I needed to go outside of healthcare to figure out that I wanted to stay and work in healthcare.

 

That being said, pick a degree that is going to help you get into PA school and will give you a trade / license / certifications that is necessary to get a job. And what I mean by that is outside of teach, what would you do with a philosophy major? Outside of working in law or government, what would you do with a polysci degree outside of maybe teach?

 

My first session in PA school was rough. I had a 4.0 in my prerequisites so I'm no dummy but Ill say that people that had degrees in related fields did a whole lot better this first session. So you came here for advice? Here is my advice, pick a degree that is going to get you a job where you're going to be working directly with patients and providing treatments to them. Pick something that will give you lots of exposure to the same topics you'll be learning about in PA school. It's a different level once you're actually in a PA program and it comes fast and hard. Like drinking water from a fire hydrant when you just wanted to sip from a straw.

 

It doesn't have to be a nurse, heck go into anything that offers a BS and get an AA / Cert along the way. Start working now with patients. Your undergrad degree is a piece of paper that allows you access to apply for jobs. Your employer doesn't care where it came from for the most part, but they are going to care that you are credentialed and HAVE EXPERIENCE. Don't be that new grad that's searching the classifieds and want ads that ends up working in customer service because you couldn't land a job when you graduated. You'll find lots of places don't hire new grads so working now in the field will help you network your way into your first job.

 

Also make sure that going into healthcare is what you really want to do. Get in a position where you are touching a patient and anything gross that comes with it. See first hand the different roles and positions and how they work with one another. Heck, you may find that you don't want the responsibility and would rather be a nurse or you may find out that you want more autonomy and would prefer to be a physician. You're early in your career. Whatever you do, just make sure you're filling in all the stat lines and that it's focused, not going all over the place.

 

Best of luck.

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Thank you for the advice I am planning to get a healthcare job to save money for school. I understand that the degree I get should be useful in the event I don't get into physician assistant school. For the person that suggested being a professor I can't teach and I hate grading papers. I enjoy science it was my favorite subject in school but science everyday would make me numb. Thank you for the advice.

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Your question is really a matter of personal preference. Are you planning on double majoring or just going with a minor? I personally think if you choose to acquire another major outside a science based major you are going to be adding even more stress to yourself then if you were just focusing solely on science . Most schools pre-reqs are pretty substantial. You're looking at upwards of thirty credit hours which is two full time semesters. Depending on the University you're at you might have some pre-req courses required to even enter into those classes. That being said, almost every single one of my upper level electives I chose to take were either philosophy or psychology, which I think at my university was like 30 hours or something along those lines. So no science is not the end all be all of things. BUT having a science based major will allow you take ALL classes required for PA school and even some of the "suggested" courses many PA schools list on their website. I agree with some of the posters above and say just go in and enjoy your first one-two semesters and then declare a major and minor. If you have any other questions feel free to PM me.

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