I am a going to be a Freshmen and will be attending University of Houston - Main Campus next year. Currently, I am enrolled as a University Studies Major (undeclared) but I am looking into majoring in Kinesiology and minoring in Business. I am not sure if these are the two things I wanna go into but they are my top choice. Are there any Kinesiology Majors here? What steps did you take in College? Is it Worth it? I'm am a bit confused in what I wanna do but it seems like I want to do sports medicine. Can you please tell me more about Kinesiology? Also, What can I do to have the best time at the University Of Houston and help make myself successful throughout my college life? I am really looking forward to college but I'm a bit confused about what I want to do for the rest of my life. Thank You. WHOSE HOUSE? COOGS HOUSE!!!.
Don't major in Kine unless you're sure that's what you want to do. I majored in finance and while I don't really want to do finance anymore, at least it pays the bills with ease. My friend graduated from UT in Kine or something similar and it took him 2 years to get a coaching job at a small high school, paying like 35k/yr. Good thing his parents are rich so he can drive around his hummer worth 2x his salary. Just do undergrad for a year or two and take various classes, then pick what you like the best.
My sister is a Kinesiology Major and has done very well. She is currently a Highschool Tennis Coach. She loves her job, and before she got her job she had other opportunities working with different gyms. It's not a major where you'll become rich quick, but you'll be able to find a job.
Let me add to my first comment... If you want to coach or something along those lines, then by all means major in KINE. But, if you don't know what you want to do, I really don't think it's a good idea. Being a finance major, I can still go back and coach high school if I wanted to, due to my past coaching experience and being a college athlete. So, I don't really see the point in majoring in it if it's something you already know well. just my 2 cents.
I wouldn't declare KINE if you aren't sure about it. Just take the basic, fundamental, college classes the first year or 2 and declare some time in your second year.
I majored in Kinesiology at UH. It's one of those "do it because you love it" majors....don't expect to graduate and have a lot of opportunities to make a significant fixed salary. I'd expect $40k or less. After that, it just depends on what you choose specifically and how hard you work on it. Personally, I can't comment much more on professional experience. I've been helping my family start a business since, but i hope to put my degree to use in the near future. The program has changed some, since i graduated a few years ago. I think the programs are more specific now. They have a fitness track, i believe. Before, you just had a general KIN program, which just didn't cover enough fitness imo. It was just little bit of everything. First figure out exactly what you want to do. Experience counts a lot in this area. Try to work with their team trainers or maybe try to volunteer with a pro team. Develop connections, so that when you graduate you're already on someone's radar.
I majored in Kinesiology since there was no Pre-Med major at William & Mary and I had zero interest in enduring Botany or Orthinology at 8 am to go the Biology route. If you do major in Kinesiology, you need to have a very clear idea of where you want to go with it. A job-practical minor (business, computer/informatics, etc) is an extremely good idea. If you want to break into sports, it's just as critical that you network and get your foot in the door asap any way you can. If you want to do sports medicine, you're better off majoring in pre-med and volunteering/interning/working with one or more of the UH sports teams. Another idea would be to write to the various team doctors for the local pro and college teams and ask to shadow/intern for them. Not just in the sports setting, but in their clinics. Kinesiology alone preps you more for physical therapy occupations than it does sports medicine. If you don't know what you want to do right now...DON'T declare a major. Take 100 and 200 level classes, complete your general requirements, and see where you are in a couple years. Stay 5 years if you need to.
I can sort of agree with this. With coaching, you'll get hired if you have good experience alone. However, coaching alone usually doesn't pay much and is part time, so you may also need a teaching certification. A degree can come in handy though, if you want to be a coach/health teacher. For other subjects you'll need a certain amount of hours in that subject.
This is exactly what I wanted to figure out. I want go into College teams/Nba teams and be a trainer or such things as that sorts in Medicine. Sports Medicine is what I really want not Physical Therapy. From what I've seen Kinesiology Majors are usually a PE teacher and I don't wanna be a PE teacher. It seems dumb to go to college and be a PE teacher. I love sports and I'm trying to play College ball and I know that I'm not at college level but I'm training hard to get there. I wanna be close to basketball and i wanna make good money that pays my bills easily and more.
I have already helped out some AAU Coaches to coach kids between the ages of 8-13. So I do have some experience in Coaching. I wanna coach but not as a full time job. Maybe some AAU during summer. Things of that sort.
Still depends. Kinesiology fits if you want to be a trainer. MD wouldn't be the way to go there. Team docs are oftentimes very established orthopaedic surgeons. Much higher hill to climb there. To be a trainer, Kinesiology gives you groundwork, but you'll also need a heavy dose of experience. To break into pro sports as a trainer, you'll have to climb the ladder...and to get TO the bottom rung, you'll need to get internships. Spend at least a couple seasons with a UH team, than sell that experience to get an internship with a local pro team. Be prepared that it is going to be extremely competitive. If you want to "make good money that pays my bills easily and more"...go back to square one. You're better off being a trainer at a gym giving fitness boot camps to River Oaks cougars.
It's not dumb, considering you're basically in charge of the fitness and health development of kids and teens. Wouldn't you want someone educated to teach that to your children? The problem is many are doing it as a fall back plan, which waters the field down with people who don't really love it. Add the facts that teacher quality isn't regulated well and PE doesn't get enough support from schools/govt, and the job becomes recess to a lot of people. Sounds like you want to do what I wanted initially. Sounds the same, but somewhere along the line i realized i found the fitness aspect more interesting than injury treatment/prevention. I'd look up bios of different trainers around the NBA, starting with Keith Jones, so that you have an idea of what major to pick. IIRC though, most were KIN majors.
I have a degree in Kinesiology from SHSU. My intention was to coach high school soccer and teach government. By the time I realized having a degree in Kinesiology was pointless to to what I wanted, I was nearly done with the program. If you're looking to go into sports medicine/physical therapy or to be a trainer, yes, it's a good degree. It has very little to do with actual coaching (at least it didn't at Sam).
This is what you need: Kin, but with the health professions track: http://hhp.uh.edu/kinesiology-exercise-science/
So what changed and got you interested in Fitness aspect of it more than the injury treatment/prevention? So far from what I read about Kieth Jones is that he started of from his University and while he was in the University he interned for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Also Can someone explain what Pre-Med really is? I see many students go into Pre-Med, so is it like the basic medical degree before going into something specific?
A set of courses required for admission to med school. You can major in anything but you have to take the required courses in order to apply for a med school.
Major in Kinesiology, minor in education. You can be a health teacher while still being a school coach on the side. And you get paid extra for being a coach.
Either an established major at your school or an unofficial track to follow to meet AAMC's guidelines for Med School Prerequisites 2 semesters of: Biology Gen Chemistry Org Chemistry Physics English Calculus (Sociology, Psychology) Unofficially: GPA of 3.4 or better (3.7+ wanted) MCAT of 25 or better (29+ wanted) Physician shadowing wanted Healthcare-related volunteer work wanted Additional Health Sciences Courses (Anatomy, Physiology, etc) wanted Biochemistry wanted Statistics or Epidemiology wanted Some programs have true Pre-Med tracks: Rice has a program that includes guaranteed admission to Baylor College of Medicine. There are other partnerships like that around, but I don't think UH has one.
