How to Choose Your College a Major
Today I thought I would address a few of the issues that come to mind when choosing a college major. While your major does not necessarily determine exactly what you will do with your life, it certainly is a distinct indicator. While this article may not be helpful for the freshman that has wanted to be a vet since she was 5 or has a life-long passion for teaching, I believe that this may help the bulk of college freshman put some framework on their thoughts on choosing a major.
First I would like to note that there are 2 areas to choose between at your typical college: liberal arts and everything else. If you choose liberal arts then you are going to have a lot more time to find your exact major because there will be tons of prerequisites within the liberal arts college before you have to specialize. The second option of “everything else” includes all the fields that require a more distinct choice immediately. These would include engineering, pre-med, architecture or business. Also note that there is a lot of room to maneuver within these areas such as business (marketing, finance, accounting) or engineering (civil, electrical, bio-medical). I know when I began college I had an image in my head that you had two years of basics before you even had to begin figuring out what you want to do. While this may be true of the exact major (finance or electrical engineering) it is not true of the general area of study (business or engineering). Every semester I wasn’t taking classes in the business college put me behind.
1. Do you have a subject you enjoy? This is the first question most people suggest when considering what to choose for a major. Do not choose the subject because it is what your family wants. I grew up in a family of people in medicine (nurses, physical therapists, etc…) but no doctors. I was supposed to be the first doctor of the family. The only problem was I wasn’t particularly interested in science and I’m not a big fan of bodily fluids, so to business I went.
2. A second question that I consider to be much more important is, can you make money at what you enjoy? Art history may be your favorite topic but unless you go to Harvard, then you are going to struggle to find a career. On the opposite side of the coin, it is amazing the money people are able to find in their passions. Often times people discount what they really enjoy as being a career or a viable way to live. I think this is a mistake. Look to your passions and how a major can help you work with what you enjoy.
3. Don’t major in liberal arts unless you plan to teach, go to graduate school, have something already set up for after college (family business, connected parents) or you go to an Ivy league. An Ivy League degree, regardless of major can open up a world up opportunities. Major is less important. If you are like me (University of Arkansas), and go to a more typical college, then you may want to reconsider that religious studies major. My personal belief is to choose majors in which you have strong career options.
4. Learn a skill set. This relates to #3. Choose a major where when you graduate you have learned an actual skill set. Accounting, finance, architecture, and any area of engineering produce actual skill sets. In today’s world computer science, graphic design, programming, and web design are also very marketable skills to have on your side. While I believe you should try to work in an area that you are passionate for, it is also true that some skill sets and majors are much more marketable than others. If you don’t have that burning passion then pick the most marketable skill set when choosing your college major.
5. A last point to address is graduate school. I will address whether graduate school is a good idea or not in another post. If you’ve already decided on grad school, there here are some thoughts on choosing your major.
What type of graduate school? Clearly if you want to be a college professor then major in whatever it is you are interested in teaching. If you want to go to medical school, you certainly can do a non-science major, but I wouldn’t suggest it. If you are interested in law school, then major in what you want. Art history works as well as business or sociology.
What do you do if you have absolutely no clue what you want to do? You choose a major with the most broad, marketable number of skills possible. My suggestion would be to choose business along with developing some expertise with computers (web design, programming etc…). While I may be biased since I am a business major, I am unaware of any other area where people go to work in such a broad number of industries. A business degree can be used for almost anything. If you are clueless what to do with your life, it might be a good place to start.
Choosing a major is an important decision, but don’t kill yourself over it. Stressing won’t help. Do some serious self-searching, consider your options, and do what you think is best. After reading the above posts I’ll summarize a little bit.
1. What do you like (or are passionate about)?
2. Can you make money at it?
3. Do you plan to attend graduate school?
4. Choose a college (business, liberal arts, engineering).
5. Take some classes in your college to get a better feel. Discover what you enjoy within the college.
6. Choose a major.
Good luck.
