I hate my university major. Not quite sure what to do.

[Animatronic_Squirrel]

Forgive me if I engage in a stream- of- conscious; I'm trying to keep on point but I'm really all over the place mentally right now.

First thing's first; if I'd been less checked out about this in the first place, I'm sure I wouldn't be having this issue. This is completely my responsibility. I absolutely need to get myself back on track and this strikes me as something I can no longer ignore - but I'm not sure how to proceed, so I'd like to hear some opinions.

My course of study is completely uninspiring right now. I started two years ago with what I thought was a strong interest in the human mind and science, so I decided to take psychology with biology - long story short, I took a year off due to health issues and spent a year recovering, then working and traveling in the US. Got better, came back.

I'm now taking psychology with finance, and its killing me a little bit inside - I realize no course is all fun and games, but I'm at a point where I'm so checked out I hardly care about my grades (huge problem for me, and its wreaking havoc with my confidence).

I'm realizing that I probably made the decision to stay with a science-related field when I was severely out of touch with myself and just wanted to make a decision. Through a girl I'm dating, I've been reminded how much I enjoy philosophical ideas and reading literature.

Here's my dilemma; I'm already part-way through my second attempt at my first year of university, so there's a pretty severe time, monetary and social penalty to be paid if I decide to try and change course (I'm already a very mature student). What do you guys think? Do I try to find another way to not be checked out? Or might it be worth changing my course of study to something that will more easily hold my interest?

 

[Drck]

What do you like? IMO the truth is, that we as humans can like many different things. I like science, politics, health, history, psychology, investing..., and I can do many different things.

So don't limit yourself. You like psychology, biology,,human mind, science. Neuroscience is a good field, it combines all together.

But be smart. Neuroscience is difficult, you will probably want to do at least masters (if not phd) to get ahead. You have very difficult science courses ahead of you, especially if you are aiming for phd. You will most likely work in research. How much you gonna make? It really depends, but say you could make 60-70K per year. On the other hand, if you go to a medical field and become say MD or DO you can easily make quadruple, and if work really hard much more.

Take psychology. Say you do phd. How much you gonna make? Again, it all depends, but say 60K. As a therapist, who knows, 50K? As a psychiatrist you can make 200K working 3-4 days a week not even 8 hour days...

Say you don't want to do above masters. Ok, do Physician Assistant program then, it is basically a master degree, about 2 years of length. You can work for physicians in different fields, you could work for psychiatrists, say for 100-120K per year, double than what you'd make as therapist or psychologist....

BUT, many will say, you should do what you really like to do, and not just do it for money. That's true. Don't do it just for money. But if you like it, say psychology and science, trust me, you will LOVE 120K much more than 50K - while liking either field.

So be smart, do what you like AND what pays good money... And don't be lazy, invest couple of extra years into your education. With good money or without, it simply worths it...