Bunch of broad questions about courses, gap-year, and my laziness

[kuzco]

Hey everyone,
I'm in year 12 and have no idea what I want to do next year, and I'm hoping I could get some advice. Also, sorry that this is half a rant.

I'm considering doing a gap year in 2021 because I'm not comfortable with throwing myself into a uni course that I'm not 100% on, and I don't understand the whole transferring process.
Furthermore, I'm not sure what course I would be interested in. I enjoy most of my VCE subjects (Ancient History, Chemistry, Math-Methods, Biology, Legal (Though, Civil Law isn't looking too hot)). I especially enjoy biology, but I have always found pracs kinda unenjoyable, which isn't too great if I did a Bachelor of Science.


If I did take a gap year, how I could keep productive and experience different career areas? If I'm planning a gap year, when I do VTAC should I aim high since I can change it later? (I'm very clueless about this VTAC stuff)

Also, could somebody help illustrate the differences between a Bachelor of Art and a Bachelor of Science?

My final question is less important and probably very hard to answer, but could my uninterest in science practicals translate to a different area I would be better at, or is it just laziness? Probably, lol.

I'm really really sorry that these questions are super broad and hard to answer, but any information at all will help. It's just hard getting help from my Careers Counsellor because everything is online and he is really new to the job.


Thank you to anybody who replies!!!

[3beansoup]

Hey everyone,
I'm in year 12 and have no idea what I want to do next year, and I'm hoping I could get some advice. Also, sorry that this is half a rant.

I'm considering doing a gap year in 2021 because I'm not comfortable with throwing myself into a uni course that I'm not 100% on, and I don't understand the whole transferring process.
Furthermore, I'm not sure what course I would be interested in. I enjoy most of my VCE subjects (Ancient History, Chemistry, Math-Methods, Biology, Legal (Though, Civil Law isn't looking too hot)). I especially enjoy biology, but I have always found pracs kinda unenjoyable, which isn't too great if I did a Bachelor of Science.


If I did take a gap year, how I could keep productive and experience different career areas? If I'm planning a gap year, when I do VTAC should I aim high since I can change it later? (I'm very clueless about this VTAC stuff)

Also, could somebody help illustrate the differences between a Bachelor of Art and a Bachelor of Science?

My final question is less important and probably very hard to answer, but could my uninterest in science practicals translate to a different area I would be better at, or is it just laziness? Probably, lol.

I'm really really sorry that these questions are super broad and hard to answer, but any information at all will help. It's just hard getting help from my Careers Counsellor because everything is online and he is really new to the job.


Thank you to anybody who replies!!!

Hi there!
I was definitely in the same boat as you last year and tbh I AM still unsure of what I'm doing.
If you choose a gap year you could choose to take time off and travel OR you could work to earn some money or gain some experience (through internships).

What aspects do you enjoy about biology? Pracs aren't my favourite part either, I enjoy sitting there and just learning about biology.  If you don't enjoy pracs like dissections and stuff like that, I suggest having a look at research and epidemiology courses where you get to look at data. Unis such as USYD (I live in Sydney. I'm not sure about victorian unis) are more research and theory-based compared to other unis in the state, so take a look at what your uni's is like.

A bach of art and Bach of sci look very similar! I was definitely confused with this too. A bachelor of art is much more reading, writing and theory-based with fewer contact hours compared to a bachelor of science. A bachelor of science on the other hand typically suggests more study of data and prac. Because of these similarities, its quite easy to transfer across these two degrees,

For my UAC. I had noooo idea what to do. Just aim high and it will open up more possibilities and opportunities for when you do know what to do, but even if you don't get as high as you want, there are still more options and pathways.

University is honestly more flexible than I was expecting. Units and experience can be transferred, you can do electives to find out what you truly loved in uni. A lot of units are relevant to different degrees so take your time and know you're never truly locked into a degree.

Sorry about my ramblings but I hope you can take something away from my experience and know there are a bunch of people in the exact same boat as you 
good luck for your final year of highschool!

[kuzco]

Hi there!
I was definitely in the same boat as you last year and tbh I AM still unsure of what I'm doing.
If you choose a gap year you could choose to take time off and travel OR you could work to earn some money or gain some experience (through internships).

What aspects do you enjoy about biology? Pracs aren't my favourite part either, I enjoy sitting there and just learning about biology.  If you don't enjoy pracs like dissections and stuff like that, I suggest having a look at research and epidemiology courses where you get to look at data. Unis such as USYD (I live in Sydney. I'm not sure about victorian unis) are more research and theory-based compared to other unis in the state, so take a look at what your uni's is like.

A bach of art and Bach of sci look very similar! I was definitely confused with this too. A bachelor of art is much more reading, writing and theory-based with fewer contact hours compared to a bachelor of science. A bachelor of science on the other hand typically suggests more study of data and prac. Because of these similarities, its quite easy to transfer across these two degrees,

For my UAC. I had noooo idea what to do. Just aim high and it will open up more possibilities and opportunities for when you do know what to do, but even if you don't get as high as you want, there are still more options and pathways.

University is honestly more flexible than I was expecting. Units and experience can be transferred, you can do electives to find out what you truly loved in uni. A lot of units are relevant to different degrees so take your time and know you're never truly locked into a degree.

Sorry about my ramblings but I hope you can take something away from my experience and know there are a bunch of people in the exact same boat as you 
good luck for your final year of highschool!

Your "rambling" is really helpful! Thanks for info about unis and courses. I think I just need to stop worrying about it so much and have trust in the process. I'll do more research on internships to see if they would fit me. Thanks for the reply!!

[JerryMouse2019]

Hey everyone,
I'm in year 12 and have no idea what I want to do next year, and I'm hoping I could get some advice. Also, sorry that this is half a rant.

I'm considering doing a gap year in 2021 because I'm not comfortable with throwing myself into a uni course that I'm not 100% on, and I don't understand the whole transferring process.
Furthermore, I'm not sure what course I would be interested in. I enjoy most of my VCE subjects (Ancient History, Chemistry, Math-Methods, Biology, Legal (Though, Civil Law isn't looking too hot)). I especially enjoy biology, but I have always found pracs kinda unenjoyable, which isn't too great if I did a Bachelor of Science.


If I did take a gap year, how I could keep productive and experience different career areas? If I'm planning a gap year, when I do VTAC should I aim high since I can change it later? (I'm very clueless about this VTAC stuff)

Also, could somebody help illustrate the differences between a Bachelor of Art and a Bachelor of Science?

My final question is less important and probably very hard to answer, but could my uninterest in science practicals translate to a different area I would be better at, or is it just laziness? Probably, lol.

I'm really really sorry that these questions are super broad and hard to answer, but any information at all will help. It's just hard getting help from my Careers Counsellor because everything is online and he is really new to the job.


Thank you to anybody who replies!!!

Hi kuzco,

Bachelor of Arts = Includes stuff like humanities, social sciences and languages

This degree really isn't that useful in finding a job in my opinion. It's really the degree that most people who have no idea of what they want to do take. It's also the degree most people who want to transfer into another degree take. So say you wanted to do a bachelor of commerce but you didn't have a high enough ATAR for it. The pathway for you to get into it simply would be to do a bachelor of arts for one year and then switch over into a bachelor of commerce.

Bachelor of Science = Includes science, maths, engineering, IT, biomedicine

Now this degree is for anyone who wants to do something in science, engineering, health or technology. This degree really is for those who want to go into research (you know people who love writing/researching about new scientific discoveries and people who want to do PhDs). Some universities only have science and maths stuff in their science degrees while others have engineering and IT stuff in theirs (though most universities offer the same majors).

Sometimes knowing what we want to do in life is not about figuring out what degree we want to do. It might be a common goal such as saving someone's life, or helping somebody out or entertaining someone. Finding a common goal is probably the easiest way to find out what you like doing a lot (and what degree you might want to do).

In terms of doing a gap year. There are some things you can do. Though doing an internship or volunteering is probably the best idea.

Here is a website that specialises in helping year 12s figure out what they want to do after finishing high school:

https://year13.com.au/

Also they have a virtual expo happening May 18th - May 22nd.

Check it out here:

https://year13.com.au/expo

Also the ADF (Australian Defence Force) offers a gap year as well. Though only Australian citizens can do it.

You can check that out here:

https://www.defencejobs.gov.au/students-and-education/gap-year?page=1&perPage=21&query=

Good luck with year 12,

Kind Regards
JerryMouse2019

[hums_student]

This degree really isn't that useful in finding a job in my opinion. It's really the degree that most people who have no idea of what they want to do take. It's also the degree most people who want to transfer into another degree take. So say you wanted to do a bachelor of commerce but you didn't have a high enough ATAR for it. The pathway for you to get into it simply would be to do a bachelor of arts for one year and then switch over into a bachelor of commerce.

That's a bold statement and I have to disagree. The BA is a very broad degree - there are definitely people who study it for the reasons you mentioned, but there are also people with a clear, definitive idea of what they want to do after uni and know a BA can get them there.

The stigma of BA grads struggling to find jobs is a joke - current arts students (myself included) frequently use this for some good old self-depreciating humour but you will find very few people who take this seriously.

I've met arts grads who went on to work in various fieds such as government, media, law, investment banking, trading, even science and technology.

I got an ATAR of 98 which would've easily gotten me into law, commerce, biomed, science etc. But I chose arts because I knew it was what I wanted to study. If I could do my university preferences again I would still choose BA in a heartbeat over one that requires a higher ATAR.

@Kuzco I wrote a review for Bachelor of Arts (UoM) here, maybe it can offer some insight. I studied a very similar set of subjects to you (except Chinese and Global Politics instead of Biology and Legal). I can't help too much with science since most of my knowledge come from my friends who study it, but if you have any questions regarding arts feel free to shoot me a message.

[owidjaja]

Also, could somebody help illustrate the differences between a Bachelor of Art and a Bachelor of Science?

My final question is less important and probably very hard to answer, but could my uninterest in science practicals translate to a different area I would be better at, or is it just laziness? Probably, lol.

Hey there,

Just like another user has said, Bachelor of Arts is more humanities centred, ranging from sociology, languages, journalism to history. Bachelor of Science is more on the side of physics, chemistry, psychology etc - this pathway tends to take you to the pathway of academic research, grant writing, experimental design. However, you can also do a double degree in Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science if you're stuck between the two. The good thing about doing an arts degree is that not only do they teach you to critically think (which is a SEVERELY undermined characteristic in society), it also keeps you open-minded. There's this stereotype that people in STEM have poor communication, especially engineering students (and I've had to deal with a lot of engineering people like this), which is why my personal belief is that if you have more than one interest, keep that interest stimulated otherwise you tend to be trapped in a bubble.

Also Arts/Science has a lot of career pathways. Say you really like writing, then using the Arts degree you can major in Communication, Media Studies, Political Science etc. Then if you enjoy biology, you can minor in that. This is a great pathway for science communication because it's so important that the general public isn't misinformed (like our current situation), perhaps in epidemiology or if you're interested in the space industry, you could communicate to non-STEM people about, say the importance of investing in astrobiology.

Hope this helps!

[AngelWings]

Hey there Kuzco! (This is going to be a long response to your "half a rant", so you have been warned.)     

I remember being in your situation, not knowing what I wanted after Year 12. After high school, I graduated Monash with a Bachelor of Science (Honours), where I did a theoretical biological Honours project and minored in Japanese, so I have some experience with both Arts and Science. I also am the VTAC mod on AN, so feel free to ask any VTAC questions too, preferably in the VTAC discussion board.

If I did take a gap year, how I could keep productive and experience different career areas? If I'm planning a gap year, when I do VTAC should I aim high since I can change it later? (I'm very clueless about this VTAC stuff)

Re: gap years
As 3beansoup has said, your best bets are:
- get a job
- get certifications e.g. RSA, First Aid and/or go to TAFE
- volunteer
- travel (if restrictions are lifted by then)
- internship
- gap year programs
- if you’re so inclined, maybe study for a major test e.g. UCAT for medicine/health, although, given your goals, this is probably unlikely.
- a combination of some or all of the above

A few helpful internal links for you (I had more links, but Jerry beat me to them):
- Someone discussing Gap Years on the forum
- Caitlynk_22's Gap Year Journal - went to TAFE and worked
- Mada438's Gap Year Journal - worked and caught up on life

Re: VTAC for gap year students
You have two major options:
1. Apply with VTAC this year (this will be with your school), as you can "defer" (temporarily pause) your tertiary course once you have an offer. Basically it means you’ll secure a spot at a tertiary institute and have it reserved until after your gap year. The only downfall is that you’ll have to pick a course a bit earlier, but you can still cancel or switch later if you like (although the latter will involve VTAC or your institute again). You'll generally have until about 3-4 weeks after starting your first semester of uni (census date) to switch your course without having to transfer.
2. Apply at a later date by yourself. This will mean that you will apply direct to VTAC on your own during your gap year. You won’t have a spot reserved, but it means that it’ll grant you a bit more time to think of which course you want.

Re: Aiming high for VTAC
I’d recommend that you try your best and aim high for your ATAR, given you’re not sure what you want yet. This’ll give you wiggle room if you change your mind or want to study something that has a high ATAR requirement.

Also, could somebody help illustrate the differences between a Bachelor of Art and a Bachelor of Science?

Bachelor of Arts covers mostly humanities, languages and social sciences (including Psychology). Some classic examples include: history, literature, linguistics, philosophy, creative writing, LOTEs (including translation and culture), journalism, politics, anthropology and sociology. Sometimes it also includes economics, geography, bioethics and psychology. These often are theory/knowledge- or essay-based and have less contact hours (hours you're actually supposed to have class), as mentioned above.

Bachelor of Science covers your classic sciences (biology, chemistry, physics) and all of their facets e.g. food chemistry, but also includes stuff like earth/ environmental science/ geology and maths/ statistics. Sometimes it'll cover psychology, geography, engineering/ material science, data science and computer science. These are often the ones that you would associate with science as a whole. Depending on your majors/ minors and tertiary institute, there may or may not be practical components. A Bachelor of Science at a Go8 uni like Monash or UoM generally gear themselves towards research and thus are more focused on that. 
 
Both are super diverse. Perhaps you might even consider a double degree if you can't make up your mind on either so that you have as much choice as possible, as Owidjaja said.

Is there a specific institute you're leaning towards?

My final question is less important and probably very hard to answer, but could my uninterest in science practicals translate to a different area I would be better at, or is it just laziness? Probably, lol.

I'm not so sure what you meant by the bolded section in the quote above. However, having been in both theoretical and practical areas of science myself, I can see why science practicals can be appealing to some, but unappealing to others - not just due to laziness. Not everyone learns by doing (i.e. kinesthetic/ tactile learning) and so they prefer to stay theoretical or keep to the academic side of things - and that's OK.

If you meant that you not liking science practicals = you won't like a science degree (despite liking biology), then that's not necessarily true. It just probably means you simply don't learn better that way and would prefer the theory, knowledge and mechanisms behind it more than the practical. Nothing wrong with that. All degrees will have some enjoyable parts and some unenjoyable parts to them so it might just be the practical parts that you dislike and have to put up with, if you choose this course.

It might be a bit trickier if you plan on using your degree directly in the workforce e.g. get a science job with your science degree, if that's the path you choose, as quite a few are practical, but I've seen plenty of science jobs that involve little to no practical work.

Side question: What parts of science practicals do you dislike? Is it the clinical aspect where you have to wear safety gear? Is it the writing up scientific reports? Is it the gore in dissections? If we can figure out what you don't like within biological practicals, maybe we can figure out a section of biology more suited to you.

Edit: JerryMouse, Hums_student and Owidjaja posted while I was typing this, so apologies if anything is repeated.

[JerryMouse2019]

That's a bold statement and I have to disagree. The BA is a very broad degree - there are definitely people who study it for the reasons you mentioned, but there are also people with a clear, definitive idea of what they want to do after uni and know a BA can get them there.

The stigma of BA grads struggling to find jobs is a joke - current arts students (myself included) frequently use this for some good old self-depreciating humour but you will find very few people who take this seriously. In the end, having practical experience far outweighs your degree.

I've met arts grads who went on to work in various fieds such as government, media, law, investment banking, trading, even science and technology.

I got an ATAR of 98 which would've easily gotten me into law, commerce, biomed, science etc. But I chose arts because I knew it was what I wanted to study. If I could do my university preferences again I would still choose BA in a heartbeat over one that requires a higher ATAR.

@Kuzco I studied a very similar set of subjects to you (except Chinese and Global Politics instead of Biology and Legal). I can't help too much with giving you insights for science since most of my knowledge come from my friends who study it, but if you have any questions regarding arts feel free to shoot me a message.

I definitely agree that the BA is a very broad based degree.

I strongly agree that you can find a job with a BA (if you know what you're doing).

However, I still believe that having a degree that is specific to an industry is also important. As it provides you with a clear idea of where you want to go, where you can go and what you can do with your skills (that you've acquired over the past 3-4 years during your degree).

It's also best to keep in mind that experience that you gather (through internships in your degree) are also very important for becoming employed.

Also I've noticed that you're doing history and economics at university. I want to know how much in-depth the majors that you're studying are. I'm asking since I've thought that if someone does a bachelor of economics for example, wouldn't that go way more in-depth into economics than compared to a degree which has economics as a major only?

[hums_student]

However, I still believe that having a degree that is specific to an industry is also important.

Most undergraduate degrees are not "industry-specific".

As it provides you with a clear idea of where you want to go, where you can go and what you can do with your skills (that you've acquired over the past 3-4 years during your degree).

You can be equipped with the necessary skills and vision for future career paths from most degrees. Also, a lot of the things you mentioned do not come directly from coursework, but rather experience and networking.

Also I've noticed that you're doing history and economics at university. I want to know how much in-depth the majors that you're studying are. I'm asking since I've thought that if someone does a bachelor of economics for example, wouldn't that go way more in-depth into economics than compared to a degree which has economics as a major only?

This might be derailing the thread a little.

I know very little about the Bachelor of Economics (not to mention the course structure will depend on the institution), and I don't know anyone studying it, so I can't really make a comparison.

With the economics major, each year you study microeconomics, macroeconomics, and maths (specifically focused on statistics with some computing). This is quite standardised across all institutions. I had a brief look at the Monash B.Econ course plan and it actually looks quite similar, so I assume that a Bachelor of Economics will go into more depth than BA/BCom/BSc in Economics, but not by a lot.

History is very different. There's a list of history subjects you can study each year and you just pick and choose the ones you're interested in. So it can be as broad or as specific as you want. Some institutions may offer specialisation areas (for instance, I'm specialising in International Political History, so I choose most of my history subjects from the international politics stream).

[angewina_naguen]

I definitely agree that the BA is a very broad based degree.

I strongly agree that you can find a job with a BA (if you know what you're doing).

However, I still believe that having a degree that is specific to an industry is also important. As it provides you with a clear idea of where you want to go, where you can go and what you can do with your skills (that you've acquired over the past 3-4 years during your degree).

It's also best to keep in mind that experience that you gather (through internships in your degree) are also very important for becoming employed.

Also I've noticed that you're doing history and economics at university. I want to know how much in-depth the majors that you're studying are. I'm asking since I've thought that if someone does a bachelor of economics for example, wouldn't that go way more in-depth into economics than compared to a degree which has economics as a major only?

I think what hums_student was trying to illustrate in their response earlier is that the degrees you aim for should be tailored around what you think is ultimately going to benefit you more in the long run. For those who have a specific profession they want to head in, a professional/specialist degree would be the ideal choice. However, not everyone knows exactly what they want to do coming straight out of school or would prefer to have access to a variety of study areas and skills which is why you have liberal studies degrees like Science and Arts available. Neither of these types of degrees are ultimately better than one or the other; they just offer different pathways.

As for the question you had below, I can't exactly answer it for history and economics but I could provide insight into how things work based on my own experience. I do a Music Education degree and my partner does an Arts/Education degree majoring in Music. We go to different universities but ultimately, the nature of our units of study are similar. Doing a specialist degree means that I'm required to do a number of prescribed units to qualify for and obtain that specialisation (I only get 12 cp of free choices in my whole degree). We go into detail for music teaching and pedagogy, as well as cover the fundamentals of musicianship. Since my partner does a double degree, of which one is a liberal studies degree with a major, he has a bit more flexibility in what he studies. He could go pretty much as in-depth as me but he also could choose to explore other areas that might pique his interest (which he is doing with a minor in Ancient History). Again, it's totally up to the individual person what they will find more useful in the long run. Since I'm pursuing a career in music education for sure, my degree fits me better. My partner is still deciding on his career path so having options is helpful. It's all about weighing up the rewards of either and heading into the one you think will provide you with the best chances for success.

I understand you're doing your best to offer advice for Kuzco but do be mindful of how your claims might be interpreted, especially considering the forums have a number of university students who study a diverse range of degrees and would more than likely agree that it's situational and dependent on the individual person what works best for them. Any degree can be useful if you find the right things to get out of it so I would advise against undermining one in order for you to prove the effectiveness of the other. I see where you're coming from in your points here and they all hold merit. Just be mindful in future at how you're choosing to express it  This article was written by USYD so it might not be as applicable but it explains the differences between the two types of degrees quite well and could help you clarify any other questions Hope that helps 

Angelina 

[JerryMouse2019]

I understand you're doing your best to offer advice for Kuzco but do be mindful of how your claims might be interpreted, especially considering the forums have a number of university students who study a diverse range of degrees and would more than likely agree that it's situational and dependent on the individual person what works best for them. Any degree can be useful if you find the right things to get out of it so I would advise against undermining one in order for you to prove the effectiveness of the other. I see where you're coming from in your points here and they all hold merit. Just be mindful in future at how you're choosing to express it  This article was written by USYD so it might not be as applicable but it explains the differences between the two types of degrees quite well and could help you clarify any other questions Hope that helps 

Angelina 

Thank you for letting me know Angelina

I had started realising how much wrong I was about choosing a degree every time hums_student explained to me what was right.

I should let the university students take over.

I'm clearly not qualified to help people on this matter (I haven't even graduated high school myself).

I had done research on this topic myself last year and I think I'd biased the research that I had done of tertiary education with my own opinions (in my posts in this thread).

[angewina_naguen]

Thank you for letting me know Angelina

I had started realising how much wrong I was about choosing a degree every time hums_student explained to me what was right.

I should let the university students take over.

I'm clearly not qualified to help people on this matter (I haven't even graduated high school myself).

I had done a ton of research on this topic myself (when I had to choose my subjects for year 11-12 last year) and I think I'd biased the research I did of tertiary education with my own opinions (in my posts in this thread).

Not a problem at all! Don't view it as not being qualified; any advice is good advice. Some of the best pieces of advice I received were from fellow peers when I was studying, as much as I was guided by experts in my career paths. What's important is providing what you can, acknowledging gaps in your experience and inviting others to fill them and offer their insights  That's how we all learn and grow  I'm certain you'll find yourself in the right degree too and we're all here, of course, to answer any questions to the best of our ability to get you there 

Angelina 

[kuzco]

If you meant that you not liking science practicals = you won't like a science degree (despite liking biology), then that's not necessarily true. It just probably means you simply don't learn better that way and would prefer the theory, knowledge and mechanisms behind it more than the practical. Nothing wrong with that. All degrees will have some enjoyable parts and some unenjoyable parts to them so it might just be the practical parts that you dislike and have to put up with, if you choose this course.

It might be a bit trickier if you plan on using your degree directly in the workforce e.g. get a science job with your science degree, if that's the path you choose, as quite a few are practical, but I've seen plenty of science jobs that involve little to no practical work.

Side question: What parts of science practicals do you dislike? Is it the clinical aspect where you have to wear safety gear? Is it the writing up scientific reports? Is it the gore in dissections? If we can figure out what you don't like within biological practicals, maybe we can figure out a section of biology more suited to you.

Edit: JerryMouse, Hums_student and Owidjaja posted while I was typing this, so apologies if anything is repeated.

Thank you so much for the huge reply! Answering your last question: I'm fine with dissections, and I enjoy the dramatics of wearing gloves and glasses. The problem I have with practical is more reading the report, keeping to the instructions, that sort of thing. I struggle to keep to the method, or it takes me longer to process and complete the method and so I don't feel confident in doing it. Similar to how I also suck at cooking. I prefer to just learn about the theory, think about it, talk about it, harass my teachers with "but WhY?", and watch others do the hard work with practicals. I enjoy chemistry in a similar way.

[kuzco]

Hey there,

Just like another user has said, Bachelor of Arts is more humanities centred, ranging from sociology, languages, journalism to history. Bachelor of Science is more on the side of physics, chemistry, psychology etc - this pathway tends to take you to the pathway of academic research, grant writing, experimental design. However, you can also do a double degree in Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science if you're stuck between the two. The good thing about doing an arts degree is that not only do they teach you to critically think (which is a SEVERELY undermined characteristic in society), it also keeps you open-minded. There's this stereotype that people in STEM have poor communication, especially engineering students (and I've had to deal with a lot of engineering people like this), which is why my personal belief is that if you have more than one interest, keep that interest stimulated otherwise you tend to be trapped in a bubble.

Also Arts/Science has a lot of career pathways. Say you really like writing, then using the Arts degree you can major in Communication, Media Studies, Political Science etc. Then if you enjoy biology, you can minor in that. This is a great pathway for science communication because it's so important that the general public isn't misinformed (like our current situation), perhaps in epidemiology or if you're interested in the space industry, you could communicate to non-STEM people about, say the importance of investing in astrobiology.

Hope this helps!

I'm new to this forum so I'm not sure if this notifies the person I'm quoting but thanks for the input! Science communications sounds really interesting and I hadn't thought about it. I used to be really into writing before I started to focus more on school.

Do you, or anybody who may come across this message, have any more information on Science communications?

[AngelWings]

Thank you so much for the huge reply! Answering your last question: I'm fine with dissections, and I enjoy the dramatics of wearing gloves and glasses. The problem I have with practical is more reading the report, keeping to the instructions, that sort of thing. I struggle to keep to the method, or it takes me longer to process and complete the method and so I don't feel confident in doing it. Similar to how I also suck at cooking. I prefer to just learn about the theory, think about it, talk about it, harass my teachers with "but WhY?", and watch others do the hard work with practicals. I enjoy chemistry in a similar way.

I’m actually kind of similar to you: I am not great at practical and cooking, but I do enjoy them. Like Owidjaja said, scientific communication and theoretical biology sounds like more your thing. Not quite sure which major within biology will have the fewest reports, but maybe this is something for you to research.