What Science Major Should I Choose

One press picks a science major to look into, with what it studies.

What Science Major Should I Choose

All 113
  1. Animal behavior and ethologyHow animals sense, perceive, think and behave, alone and with other animals.

Next step See the kinds of biologistNot sure about science? Draw any major

How it works

Know you want science but not which one? Press the button for a science or math major, from marine biology to astrophysics, each with a line on what it studies. The whole list is under the tool.

Read the full guide

Majors that sound alike

Read the line, not only the name. On the federal list of college programs, marine biology studies the life in the oceans, while oceanography studies the water itself. Astronomy covers planets, stars and galaxies; astrophysics, the structure and life cycles of stars. Statistics compares groups of measurements using probability theory; applied statistics puts it to work in business, engineering and medicine.

Broad or narrow

Biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics each have a general program on the list, and beside it narrower ones such as virology, acoustics or geometry. The list defines programs and does not say which colleges offer each, so check the catalog of the college you have in mind.

  • Stuck between two sciences? Several majors sit on the border: biochemistry, biophysics, geochemistry, chemical physics and mathematical biology.

Questions and answers

What STEM major should I choose?

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This page holds the science and math majors. Technology is on the computer degree page and engineering on the engineer page, so start with the letter that pulls you most.

What science degree should I get?

Pick the question you want to spend years on. Life sciences ask how living things work, physical sciences how matter and energy behave, earth and space sciences how the planet and the sky work, and mathematics how quantities relate.

What are the different science majors?

The federal program list files them in three series: biological and biomedical sciences; physical sciences, which takes in astronomy, atmospheric science, chemistry, geology, physics and materials science; and mathematics and statistics. Computing and engineering are series of their own.

Is math a science major?

Not on the federal list, which gives mathematics and statistics a series of its own, apart from the biological and the physical sciences. It is the M in STEM, so its twelve programs are on this page, with biostatistics and biometry beside them.

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All 113 science majors

Animals, plants and ecosystems 19

  • Animal behavior and ethology How animals sense, perceive, think and behave, alone and with other animals.
  • Animal genetics The genetics of animals, from experimental, comparative and veterinary viewpoints.
  • Animal physiology How animal bodies function, with and without backbones, compared with our own.
  • Aquatic biology and limnology Life in inland fresh water: lakes, ponds, rivers, creeks and wetlands.
  • Biology The broad one: general biology, with room to cover many biological specializations.
  • Botany Plants, the microbes related to them, and the habitats and ecosystems they live in.
  • Conservation biology Biology aimed at saving species and habitats under pressure from people.
  • Ecology How organisms interact with each other and with the non-living parts of their environment.
  • Entomology Insects: their life cycles, genetics and ecology, and their effect on the economy.
  • Environmental biology Living populations, species and ecosystems in a changing environment.
  • Evolutionary biology How organisms emerge and mutate over time, in their genes, growth and form.
  • Marine biology The microbes, plants and animals of oceans, coastal waters and saltwater wetlands.
  • Plant genetics The genetics of plants and fungi, for botany, ecology and industrial research.
  • Plant pathology Plant diseases and plant health, and ways to keep the diseases under control.
  • Plant physiology How a plant works inside: nutrition, respiration, growth and photosynthesis.
  • Population biology The life cycles and diversity of single species and of communities of many species.
  • Systematic biology How species arise, spread, diversify and die out, and how they are classified.
  • Wildlife biology Wild vertebrates, their habitats and ecosystems, in remote places and in cities.
  • Zoology Animal species and phyla: their cells, anatomy, physiology and behavior.

Cells, genes and microbes 21

  • Biochemistry The chemistry of living systems: carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and nucleic acids.
  • Bioinformatics Computer-based technology applied to biological, biomedical and biotechnology research.
  • Biophysics The principles of physics applied to how biological processes work, at every scale.
  • Biotechnology Biology, biochemistry and genetics used to make new farm, clinical and industrial products.
  • Cell biology and histology Cells: their structure, function and regulation, alone and as parts of larger systems.
  • Computational biology Computer models of biological processes, with the databases and math behind them.
  • Developmental biology and embryology How an embryo forms, develops and grows, in animals and in people.
  • Genetics How heritable information is organized, regulated and passed on in living things.
  • Genomics Whole genome sequences and the patterns of gene expression.
  • Human and medical genetics Human genetics for medicine: diagnosis, gene therapy and genetic diseases.
  • Immunology How a host body meets a disease-causing invader and responds to it.
  • Medical microbiology and bacteriology The bacteria that cause human disease or help it along.
  • Microbiology Single-celled organisms and colonies, and how they interact with people and other life.
  • Molecular biology The structure and function of the large molecules of life and their part in the cell.
  • Molecular genetics The genetic structures and mechanisms of organisms, down to bacteria, phages and viruses.
  • Mycology Fungi and their relatives: the diseases they are tied to and the drug products they yield.
  • Parasitology Organisms that live off a host, and the injury and disease that parasites cause.
  • Photobiology What light does to living organisms, and how some organisms make light of their own.
  • Radiation biology What radiation does to organisms, and how cells and bodies repair themselves.
  • Structural biology How the molecules of living systems are organized into working units such as cells and tissues.
  • Virology Viruses, the pieces of genetic material that live inside cells, and their role in disease.

The body, the brain and disease 22

  • Aerospace physiology and medicine What flight at low and high altitude, and living in space, do to the body.
  • Anatomy Organ systems, tissues and whole bodies, with the cells and structures inside them.
  • Biomechanics The mechanical side of living things: anatomy, physiology, kinesiology and mechanics.
  • Biomedical sciences Biological questions about health and medicine, across the basic medical sciences.
  • Cardiovascular science The heart, the vascular system and the blood, and the diseases that affect them.
  • Endocrinology What cells and glands secrete, and the part those substances play in the body.
  • Environmental toxicology The health effects of toxic chemicals met in nature, at work and at home.
  • Epidemiology Patterns of disease and injury across populations, and how to prevent and control outbreaks.
  • Exercise physiology and kinesiology What happens in the body during physical activity, and the effects of injury and disease.
  • Infectious disease and global health The biological, social and behavioral causes of infectious diseases and their spread.
  • Molecular medicine The molecular and cellular basis of disease, turned into new tests, medications and therapies.
  • Neuroanatomy The structure of the nervous system, in animals with backbones and without.
  • Neurobiology and behavior How the structure and function of the nervous system control behavior.
  • Neuropharmacology Drugs that change how the brain and central nervous system function.
  • Neuroscience The brain and nervous system, from molecules to thinking and behavior.
  • Oncology and cancer biology How cancer starts, its genetics, how cancer cells behave and how cancer is treated.
  • Pathology How tissue injury and disease begin and progress, down to cells and molecules.
  • Pharmacology How drugs act on living things: their sources, chemistry, effects and uses in treatment.
  • Physiology How living things function: growth, hormones, respiration, digestion and the senses.
  • Reproductive biology How animals and people reproduce: the body systems, hormones and behavior involved.
  • Toxicology Poisons and other biohazards: what they do to organisms and how to counter them.
  • Vision science Vision and how seeing works, with clinical research and treatment.

Chemistry and physics 23

  • Acoustics Sound, and how acoustic waves behave under different conditions.
  • Analytical chemistry Techniques for analyzing matter and finding its precise composition.
  • Atomic and molecular physics Matter and energy at the level of atoms and molecules.
  • Chemical physics Where physical chemistry meets atomic and molecular physics.
  • Cheminformatics Computer science applied to modeling and analyzing chemical structures.
  • Chemistry What matter is made of, how it behaves and how chemical change happens.
  • Condensed matter and materials physics Large-scale properties of solids and liquids that arise from microscopic interactions.
  • Elementary particle physics The basic constituents of sub-atomic matter and energy, and the forces that govern them.
  • Environmental chemistry Air, water and soil studied with chemistry, with an eye on where pollutants go.
  • Forensic chemistry Chemical analysis of physical evidence to aid criminal investigations.
  • Inorganic chemistry The elements and their compounds, apart from the hydrocarbons.
  • Materials chemistry Making materials and studying their electronic, magnetic, optical or mechanical properties.
  • Materials science Why solids behave as they do: internal structure, chemistry, stress and failure.
  • Nuclear physics The properties and behavior of atomic nuclei, with nuclear fission and fusion.
  • Optics Light: its structure, its properties and how it behaves under different conditions.
  • Organic chemistry Hydrocarbon compounds and their derivatives: their properties and behavior.
  • Physical chemistry Predicting how chemical systems behave, from nuclear particles up to large assemblies.
  • Physical sciences The broad one: physical phenomena, studied in any combination of the physical sciences.
  • Physics Matter and energy, and the laws that govern how they behave.
  • Plasma and high-temperature physics Matter so hot that its atoms and molecules come apart into ions and electrons.
  • Polymer chemistry Synthesized giant molecules and how they interact with other substances.
  • Theoretical and mathematical physics The mathematics of physical law: forming and testing models of matter and energy.
  • Theoretical chemistry Math, computing and the laws of physics used to describe and model molecules.

Earth, weather and space 14

  • Astronomy Planets, stars and galaxies, and what happens in outer space.
  • Astrophysics The structure and behavior of stars, star systems and clusters, and the life cycles of stars.
  • Atmospheric chemistry and climatology What the atmosphere is made of and how it reacts, in the past, now and in predictions.
  • Atmospheric physics and dynamics What governs the movement of the atmosphere, from clouds and precipitation to solar radiation.
  • Atmospheric sciences and meteorology The atmosphere around the Earth and its effect on weather and climate.
  • Geochemistry The chemistry of the substances that form the Earth and other planets.
  • Geochemistry and petrology The processes inside the Earth that make its minerals, rocks and ore deposits.
  • Geology The Earth, the forces acting on it, and its solids, liquids and gases.
  • Geophysics and seismology The physics of solids applied to the Earth: earthquakes, magnetism and plate tectonics.
  • Hydrology and water resources science Surface water and groundwater: where it is, how it circulates and what is in it.
  • Meteorology Predicting atmospheric motion and climate change, with weather phenomena and circulation.
  • Oceanography The chemistry, structure and movement of ocean waters, and how they meet land and air.
  • Paleontology Extinct life forms and their fossil remains, and the ancient ecosystems they lived in.
  • Planetary science Planets and small objects: surfaces, interiors, atmospheres, asteroids and comets.

Math and statistics 14

  • Algebra and number theory Symbols, vectors, matrices and equations, and the properties of integers.
  • Analysis The properties and behavior of equations, functions and dynamic systems.
  • Applied mathematics Mathematics put to work on problems in engineering and the applied sciences.
  • Applied statistics Statistics put to work in business, engineering, medicine and the applied sciences.
  • Biometry Statistics and computing applied to biology, agriculture and natural resources.
  • Biostatistics Statistics for biomedical research, clinical trials and public health.
  • Computational mathematics Mathematics applied to the theory and design of computers and algorithms.
  • Financial mathematics Mathematics and statistics applied to finance, with the building and testing of financial models.
  • Geometry Points, lines, angles, surfaces and solids: their properties and measurements.
  • Mathematical biology Mathematics applied to genomics, ecology, evolution and the study of the body.
  • Mathematical statistics and probability The mathematical theory underneath statistical methods.
  • Mathematics Quantities, forms and their relationships: algebra, calculus, geometry, logic and more.
  • Statistics How groups of measurements relate and differ, worked out with probability theory.
  • Topology and foundations What stays unaltered in a shape under continuous transformation, with mathematical logic.