What can I do with a Neuroscience degree but no medical school?

Are there any truly significant institutions, bootcamps, or seminars which could help me in planning my college degree?

• This detail section could get quite long, but if you want to provide some meaningful advice I would really appreciate it if you would read it in its entirety. In the beginning of my senior year of high school I was extremely naive relative to how I feel now. I chose my major, pharmacy, based on the job market potential, salary, and flexibility. Not exactly a bad criteria. However, I placed little to no emphasis, and I had little or no grasp on, the meaning that a career can bring to one's life. About halfway through my senior year, I went through some traumatic times. In addition, I was told I could never play soccer again after a recurrent knee injury would not go away, a sport which I have played since I was 4 years old. I had been recruited to play division 1 soccer. In a way, soccer was always my rock. It was what I turned to when I was stressed, when my family was rough, or when I had my heartbroken. It also had connected me with all of my best friends. I always thought it would be there no matter what and to have it hit like that made me reconsider many things. I have come out the other side a different person, not better nor worse. I realize now that before when I chose a career, I was counting on my life outside of work to provide almost all of my enjoyment for my life. My social life, girlfriend/wife, family, and activities would be plenty for me. I wanted a career that would provide me a high income with high flexibility and minimal hours. I know pharmacists at the pharmacy where I interned that worked 3 days a week and made a good living. Now,  I find myself wanting a career that can provide me that fulfillment to a high degree when my life outside of work is lacking. When I did my internship, I found it to be loathesome. However, I was also doing this work when I was in the worst of my emotional troubles. During highschool I had a 3.9 gpa. I had a 4.0 for my first 2 years, then I began getting too involved with my social circle and my grades took a dip. I just didn't care as much about my grades as I did previously. I took several ap courses and I scored in the 97% percentile on the ACTs. I was captain of the soccer team and I had a lot of friends and I was very happy. Some may not see any of this as relevant, but the answer I am looking for will come from somebody who understands that all of it is extremely relevant and if anything I am being too vague. In my first year of college where I was taking pre-pharmacy classes I was barely sleeping at all because I struggled with insomnia for years and it became severe due to my emotional issues. My grades dipped. Even though they were a 3.2 which would be ok for some of my friends, that was bad for me. I was pouring all of my time and energy into school when there was none left for a social life. I made the decision then that I wouldn't be able to handle such a difficult degree anymore. I took pretty much gen-eds for my 2nd year of college with several psychology courses and a intro to computer science class to experiment with what I would like and get some credits in the meantime. I am very interested in psychology, as are most people, especially those who have experienced any mental illness and understand how fragile our emotional states really are. However, whenever I read about severe mental illness or talk about someone who has experienced it, it makes me extremely uneasy to the point where I start to feel sick to my stomach. I have the deepest sympathy for any individual that has any experience with it. I don't know if it reminds me of where I had been or makes me fear where I am going, but I don't like the way that some references to it make me feel. Avoiding it may be foolish, or rather it may be smart and cautious. I don't want to risk doing anything that could put me back in that place and I would rather minimize my talking about it on here. I can go through a majority of any of my psychology classes and textbooks feeling fine and interested, but when there are detailed discussions on severe mental illness I do not like it. I still want to contribute to our understanding of the human mind. I feel this could be the most fulfilling career for myself. But then again, I am basing this idea off of the person I have become since I went through my emotional struggles just over 2 years ago. I often ask myself, what if I lost interest in this career that I actually only became so interested in because of what I have experienced? Is that a valid concern? I need a career that offers me balance. I want to have a fulfilling, somewhat demanding occupation, but I also want the ability to have a strong social life and pursue external activities as well without feeling as if I am abandoning my career. I don't see myself as a psychologist, I just couldn't handle it. Though I could potentially see myself as someone who studies the more hard science versions of psychology. Something more towards neuroscience, neuropsychology, and maybe even neurosurgery where I am looking to bridge the gap between our emotional/conscious experience and our physical brains. When I imagine myself doing this though, I don't know if I could make it through all of the schooling, and I also don't know if I could have a fulfilling life outside of my career. I am a pretty normal person in what other things interest me. I enjoy being outside. I love animals. I love sports. Science inspires me. I considered marine biology when I was younger, though I don't know if the salary is enough. I am not so interested in math, mostly because somewhere between 7th grade and calculus I got a bit lost. I can perform all of the calculations, but I cannot connect the dots if you get what I am saying. I like the idea of me as a computer programmer/software developer because of the job market and the amazing flexibility in location/hours. I don't know how to really know if I would enjoy the work though. How could I figure this out? The intro to computer science class just didn't help me answer that question for myself. I am looking for some advice. If you need more information let me know. I would appreciate any help I can get, though please understand the weight of the advice you provide me. I am looking to decide what I will do for the rest of my life and you have the power to influence that decision. Please be caring and wise with your advice.

• Answer:

  Wow.  I feel you, but where to begin? I think the trouble with asking career advice from others comes down to 2 things: 1. You are not them.  You might be nothing like them.  What they find exciting you might loathe, and vice versa. 2. Most likely they have been down relatively few career paths, so it would be difficult for them to provide a more objective or comprehensive view of all possible career paths. For example, I'm a software engineer, and I love my field.  Logistically, it pays well, and its hours are pretty flexible as you mentioned.  However, there are certain things about me that make it the perfect field for me.  Sure, like you I'm smart and sufficiently good at logic and step-by-step thinking necessary to build software.  But I think the preference largely comes from my personality. What I'm getting at is, it might be a good idea to understand yourself and your personality, before trying to find the right career path for you. If I were to ask you, "What do you do in your spare time?", how would you answer? Think about it for a second before continuing reading.  I'll wait  :) What did you say?  If you said "I like being alone at home, working on a project or a hobby that interests me", let's call that type A.  If you said "I'm usually hanging out and catching up with a close friend or family member or partner", let's call that type B.  Lastly, if you said "I like going out to parties or joining group activities and being social", let's call that type C. Type A people (like me) love being in their own head and working on a thing.  Good examples might be engineers, carpenters, artists, or solo athletes / musicians. Type B people enjoy forging close personal connections and spending quality time with usually one or few people at a time.  Good examples might be counselors, real estate agents, marketers, psychiatrists, or doctors. Type C people enjoy being in large groups, and get energy from group dynamics.  Good careers might be event organizers, team athletes, motivational speakers, yoga instructors, or volunteers. As you can see, depending on the type of personality you have, certain career choices might give you more fulfillment than others.  I list these 3 subtypes of personality from a system known as the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enneagram_of_Personality.  Mind you, I only have passing knowledge in the system, and it's not widely used in clinical psychology, but the subtypes really rang true to my personal experiences, with most people I know being predominantly in one of them.  Whether or not you buy into it, my main point is it's likely your personality can affect your satisfaction in a career, and I invite you to spend at least some time doing personal introspection - whether it be with Meyers-Briggs, Big-Five Model, or the Enneagram. What about the specific field? Once you've determined the general social context under which you'd like to work, I believe the rest comes down to three factors.  Much like a relationship has three pillars - friendship, chemistry, and practicality - I think careers follow the same principle: 1. You should like it (friendship) 2. You should be good at it (chemistry / natural affinity) 3. You should be able to sustain the lifestyle you want off of it (practicality). Within the general area you've arrived at from your personality inventory, you should find the best field that matches the 3 pillars.  For example, as a solo-guy, I could be a pro athlete, artist, or engineer. Solo athlete - I love sports, and professional athletes obviously get paid well.  Unfortunately I wasn't born with tremendous athletic gifts  :(  No good. Artist - I love art!  I'm actually very artistic and have won a few competitions.  Unfortunately I don't think it would pay well enough.  No dice. Engineer - I actually enjoy coding and problem solving!  I'm smart and do well with conditions and logic.  And it pays very nicely.  So I ended up here  :) You sound like a good person, sorry to hear about your less pleasant experiences, and I hope my advice was at least a little helpful.  As you're still in college, I think it's a great time to try out non-major classes and explore options.  Focus on classes that will provide projects or hands-on experience in the social context you'd enjoy most - those are closer to "living" the discipline than simply learning the theory (such as in your intro compsci class).  Lastly, you're still young and have so much time, things tend to work themselves out in the long run.  All the best!