Bio or Anthro, help me pick my major! Fast...
 

I'm primarily interested in researching human evolution. Being as my university (Vanderbilt) does not offer a bio-anthro major. Im trying to decide whether to Major in Anthro, minor in Biology, or major in Bio (anthro doesn't have a minor for some strange reason). Which major will help me out more down the road?

I'm also interested in working as a scientist for the dept. of interior.


Other things to consider:

1. I am pre-med and will take MCATs no matter what. However, I'm not totally convinced I want to be a doctor.
2. The bio major forces me to take the hardest classes in the bio major (genetics and cell bio).

I declare in one week :)

Seems to me like you've already decided on anthropology.

If you are interested in human evolution and your anthro dept doesn't have a bio-anthro major, I would be wary of majoring in anthro. Cultural anthro is VERY different from bio anthro. Personally, I think cultural anthro borders on not being a science. If you are truly interested in learning about human evolution and your anthro program offers few bio-anthro courses, I would major in biology, take as many evolution courses as you can and take whatever bio-anthro/evo-psych courses are available. If you are interested in cross-cultural research and possibly an easier college experience, I would just major in anthro.

EDIT: Talk to an academic counselor.

Yeah many of the anthro classes have nothing to do with archeology. I'm not sure I want to waste my time in those....oiy...

do minors mean anything when being considered for gradschool/jobs?

Do majors mean anything when being considered for gradschool/jobs?

Looking at the Spring2005 course schedule... I'd recommend going bio. There are a handful of courses under Anthro that look like they'd be relevant to evolution. Take them as electives.

Why human evolution, specifically?

When I think of archaeology, I don't think of human evolution. Paleontology, yes. Archaeology, no. Archaeology is recent. Human evolutionary history is very, very long. I'm probably just arguing semantics.

I don't think that minors matter much. My college did not have minors. Even considering majors, I would guess it depends on the job. After graduating from college I got a job with a securities company working on their NASD and SEC filings. I was a psych/anthro double major. (Not related at all to securities).

I'm currently in grad school in psych, I know a lot of grad students who did not major in psych during their undergrad education. I also know many premed undergrads who are not majoring in biology (though they take the requisite premed courses).

Again, I would suggest talking to an academic counselor.

sapiens has it right, Arch. is the study of human culture (think pottery, digging up graves), Paleo. is the study of fossils, bones, and life forms in general.

Some of the evo courses at my University were psych courses in particular. I recommend you take biology as your major, as others have suggested. It's more technically-demanding and applicable to wider science if you wanted to expand your education later. Some may disagree with me there though.

I think it hinges a bit on your school's Anthro Dept. Some schools have departments more geared towards Archaeology/Evolution than other schools, where archaeology has been kicked out of the Anthro Depts.

Try talking with a TA in the two departments, and see where they're going, and what they think.

edit-

Archaeology isn't the study of human culture, but the study of the remains of human material culture. So, you could mix it with evolution, you'd just be doing prehistoric archaeology. Just a nitpick :D

The only bio-anthro professor at my school advised me to major in Biology, so it looks like Im going with Bio.

Thanks for all your thoughts and advice, particularly 1010011010, who looked over the catalog.