What should I major in/have a job as?

Do something you’re passionate about. It’s easier to do a good job in something that you may not be great at, but care about a lot than something that comes easily, but you hate doing.

But as a general rule, you can’t have a lucrative career without killing yourself. Otherwise, we’d all have lucrative careers.

I agree with @papayalily, find something you are passionate about and you will enjoy. If you aren’t sure what you are interested in or what you would like to do, see if there is any way for you to shadow someone in a career field you may be interested in. Your guidance counselor might be able to help you set something like that up. Then you could get an idea of what that career field entails and see if you would really enjoy it or not.

Research technician in a genetics lab.

I love that you have a strong sense of what you are good at. The science field seems like a good one to get into right about now, I could be wrong. What year are you, I missed it if you included it in your question.

Senior year of high school

It’s so tough to tell now. First, it seems, you have to figure out what will make you most happy in life. Money may not be at the top of your list. And you don’t always have to do the work that you’re best at. Work towards something that feels natural, and see where life takes you.

Ask your high school counselor about the career placement test, as well as possible shadowing opportunities. Those two things will help you, I think.

@SundayKittens While remembering that my career placement had me as a nurse, a police officer, and a fire fighter, all jobs I have specifically ruled out.

Ha! Well that sucks! It seems to have pointed you toward a helping career, is that what you followed?
Mine said that I would be best suited to teach unruly teens art in my hometown high school for 10k less than I’d make 18 minutes away in the next state. Uncanny!

You sound like me when I was in high school. If you like designing things and/or fixing things, look into Engineering. If you like the knowledge aspect of it, look into Physics or Chemistry. Somewhere in between – Applied Physics. My college roommate was in Applied Physics.

Life sciences was not for me – too gross :P

Don’t take up a study because of a job. I’m talking as a mom here. Find your self, your purpose and what you would like to contribute to humanity. Don’t think about “job” think first of what you love and then how to make money doing what you love.

Go through the course outlines of a dozen undergrad programs, talk to course counselors, maybe ask to sit in a a few classes of your shortlisted programs. Ask seniors of those programs the quality of lectures, assignments. If you’re very self-directed you can try out online undergrad courses and then save the best for doing grad courses.

I wouldn’t take a Business undergrad if I were you. It only teaches you to be a Salaryman.

The most lucrative career is to find what you love doing that you can do well and then learn to monetize it well. To be affluent it’s not about how much you make but how well you manage money. So pick any undergrad for the love of learning. Study and income are mutually exclusive to one another. Those who make the most money are the ones who are most confident about themselves, what they’re doing.

I’ve been feeling the pains of graduating with an arts degree into a terrible job market, but I’m going to try and give you the most realistic advice I can without being overly soap-boxy.

It’s ok to not know right now. Just don’t tell yourself that every year for the next four years. Actively try to figure out what it is you want to do. Go where your gut takes you. Study what you genuinely find interesting to study.

Of course there’s a difference between picking a major and turning it into a dream or a career. If you do find a dream, the more specific your dream the easier it will be for you to find a way to make it happen. You can, with help from a career counselor if you want, give yourself steps that will most likely lead you to that goal.

If you don’t find your dream right away, take comfort in knowing that you don’t have to stay with one job forever. You have the right to change your mind.

You’ll have to work to find your own balance between being patient with yourself and being proactive about making choices. Best of luck to you on your journey.

Early on, I obtained a catalog of classes from the college I went to and looked through the classes. The ones of greatest interest to me were the Mechanical Engineering classes. You might be able to do the same evaluation.

To be honest, all of the high school classes you have taken don’t need to mandate or even suggest where you go from here. So you like science alright, but you’re not passionate about it, that’s okay. It seems like EVERYONE is passionate about SOMETHING, but that’s not really always the case. Don’t feel obligated to declare a major right away in college. This is coming from someone who went from pre-law to kinesiology to journalism to creative writing, which I ended up getting a degree in. I loved school for the simple reason that I was learning everyday. My professors, or at least most of them were engaging, diverse, smart and inspiring. Relish the time in school, because no matter what you decide on in the end, you will at the very least have 4 years of experience being a learner, a thinker, and hopefully a doer and you’ll have a nice little piece of paper you can show people that says so.