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Majors/Career advice (for a HS senior).

Temeraroius

Bluelighter
Joined
Sep 21, 2008
Messages
422
Location
New Orleans
I am a 17 year old senior in HS and am looking at what I want to study at the places I've been accepted/have applied to. I have been accepted to Tulane (safety but I would be happy going there), and have yet to hear back from Penn Northwesten and Colgate. This past year my interests have really switched from economics to neuroscience. I'm interested in all aspects of neuroscience and biochem that are at all pharmacological. Shulgin is my idol, but my interests arent just about phenylthylamines and other trip inducing drugs (I'm not about "TRIPPING BALLS BRAHH"). My interests are pretty vast, for example i just read a book by a Harvard ethnobotanist who went on various trips to the amazon and compiled/interpreted information about various plants/alkaloids he learned about from studying as a shaman's apprentice. I am interested in cancer research, psychotherapy (admittedly, the Shulgin type, but SSRIs and MAOIs etc. are still interesting).

I would ideally like to end up working in neuroscience/pharmacology either working as a researching for a pharma or for a university etc. I have a few ideas about the path I would like to take to get there that I would like to get some advice on. I was wondering if this would make sense; undergrad major in neuroscience and/or biochem, get a master's in pharmacology (1 year program at Tulane), then a PhD in something else (hopefully by then I would know). Another interesting idea I had would be to major undergrad in marketing and neuroscience then get the pharma degree, thus making me an ideal person to hold a a job in an R&D department at a Merck, J&J, Perdue, or Teva type company.

I am not a huge drug user, though used to smoke weed daily but recently quit (law problems, but its all expunged). I've never done any psychedelics (though I would, given the right circumstances). I do not like taking drugs more than I like reading the literature pertaining to them. I know good deal of pharmacology and chemistry beyond "dude, take some tums with ur adderall!1!". I am serious about this and know my interest in drug use is due to my interest in pharmacology and not the other way around (though I would be lying if i said I've only taken oxy to achieve a better personal definition of what mu agonism is).

I do want to make money, I do want some power within a corporation, I do not want to be a lab assistant forever. I go to a very good privvate school and have about a 3.5 GPA.

Thanks if u actually read all that, I'm really looking for some guidance here because most of the time that people my age talk to adults about this type of stuff its either "Why the hell are you so interested in drugs?!" or "Go be a doctor".

P.S. think of me as the kid who gets yelled at when he smokes with his friends because he talks about his fascination with anandamide, retrograde signaling, glutamic acid, and enzyme function.
 
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The Shaman's Apprentice? Yeah, we had to read that for botany class last semester. Not a bad book.

It's good that you have an idea of what you want to do. You said that your interest just recently switched from economics to neuroscience. Once you get to college you may find you want to do something completely different. That's what great about college, you're exposed to a variety of subjects/courses. I mean are you sure you want to make pharmacology the primary focus of your studies once you get to graduate school, pharm program, etc? It won't be all peaches and cream discovering new opioid receptors and whatnot.

To be honest I wouldn't worry about your future now. The majority of the adults in the world have a career completely different from their major. Go to school. Take courses that interest you (but ones that count as credits toward a biochem degree) and follow your passions. I've also found that what makes or breaks a course is the professor teaching it, not necessarily the subject matter.

What I'm trying to say is, don't stress yourself out now. Cross those bridges when you get there.
 
Hey just pick the college that's got the best science departments. Once you're there just take as many different courses as you can and see what you like and what you're good at. :)

If you're still in high school there's no rush to plan out your whole future at this point. Odds are you'll end up changing your mind at least once.
 
You're in a better place than most people you're age going into college, so I would say don't worry too much. :)

The fact that you have an idea of main subject (science it seems) and areas that interest you puts you way ahead of the game. I had no idea of what I wanted to do and just picked business because my father told me that would be the smartest thing to do. I had no idea what studying business would be like and I hate my major. But most schools have GE’s, some have less than others but your first couple years you’ll be getting your requirements out of the way, and you’ll be able to finalize what you want to do then.

I have a lot of friends that went in undeclared or knew what they wanted to do and changed their minds after a year so there’s no pressure to have your life all planned out. I know people that changed their path entirely junior year and it all worked out, and many people who came to university knowing EXACTLY what they wanted to do and then completely changing their minds. (If I come back next year will be it to Child & Adolescent Development, something I never had any interest in/really knew about until I got to university).

In regards to picking your school, VISIT them and sit in on classes, talk to the students who go there and get a general feel of the academic and social atmosphere. Obviously don't pick a school that has a shitty science program or doesn't offer the classes you want, but the atmosphere of a college will have a huge impact on your experience there (can definitely make or break it, as I've seen from my friends who've transferred or wanted to transfer out of universities they picked because they supposedly offered the best programs and were the most prestigious). Plus, if you want to become a scientist/pharmacist/doctor/lab whatever (don’t know shit about science, sorry) you’ll have to go grad school, and it’s the prestige/reputation/quality of that school that all your future employers/business partners are going to care about.
 
My advice: don't get addicted to heroin while in college. It really fucks everything up and sets you back more than a tad :\
 
:) College is the way to go! I graduated with a BSW (Bachelors in Social Work) if you want to make money STAY away from this field haha but theres a ton of jobs for this field. Go into medicine, that's where the money and jobs are.

Good luck!
 
you're 17 - don't worry so much about your PhD. choose a course of study that interests you (chem, neuroscience, etc.) and make you sure you progress with math as well. get to know your professors and get some lab experience. then, with a little more knowledge, take another look at what you really want to do, and how you want to do it (academia, industry, medicine, etc). with good grades and a strong math/bio/chem background (your first years' classes will likely be similar for the majors you listed), you'll be in a great position to make that decision.
 
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Don't even think about taking major classes until you complete your Gen Ed requirements. While tempting, you will provide yourself for the most amount of options. You will get a taste of everything while reducing your chance of getting financially tied up in something just to change your mind (it HAPPENS).

. . . .Brought to you by $8000 of "wasted" money. Cheers!
 
Stay away from radio/television. If you're lucky enough to actually get a job in the industry, the hours are shit, somebody is always pissed, your coworkers will be unprofessional, socially inept nerds who cause you to regress and lose any maturity you may have had before, very few jobs are intellectually stimulating, there's never any room for advancement because nobody ever leaves, you don't make any money unless you work for a huge company and everybody is ugly. That's been my experience, anyway :)

It sounds like you like to learn...so make sure whatever you decide will give you opportunities to do that. It's a lot better to go home tired from using your brain than from sitting around thinking about how much you hate your job. And consider what little things that piss you off come with each career you're considering. The little things add up and eventually cause more problems than bigger issues.

And keep yourself busy. If you're not going to work, find constructive things to get involved in.
 
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