How to Choose a College Major
Most people don’t know what they want to do with their lives, let alone high school and college students. But having some ideas to start can come in handy when answering questions like, “which colleges should I apply for?”, “am I on the right track?”, and “will I need schooling past a bachelor’s degree?”
Here are four ways you can starting exploring your options.
#1 Check out CollegeBoard
CollegeBoard’s website is a great place to start when it comes to exploring different college majors. There are several resources for students who are mapping out their path:
College Major Guide - provides information about different college majors, what a typical day of study looks like, and what kinds of jobs students get once they graduate.
Career Quiz - suggests potential career ideas, plus the majors that are related to those careers.
College Search - finds institutions based on their available majors, resources, location, and other factors.
Start browsing and come up with a list of 5-10 potential majors that seem interesting to you. Next, you can look up those majors using online course catalogs.
#2 Look up College Course Catalogs
Each college will have an online course catalog that lists all classes and a short description for each one. This is a great way to look up which courses you would actually be taking for each major.
For example, flipping through the course catalog for large university like Ohio State, do the course descriptions for “Fundamentals in Unmanned Aircraft Systems” and “Airport Management” sound interesting? If so, you may want to consider an Aviation major. Or, let’s say those course descriptions sound boring, but the ones for “Nonprofit Organizing for Diversity and Justice” and “Public Policy Analysis” sound fascinating. If that is the case, you may want to consider a Public Affairs major.
As you’re exploring, you may discover majors you’re interested in that you had never considered before!
But what if you still don’t know where to start? If that’s the case, you can try taking a step back and do some soul-searching.
#3 Do Some Soul-Searching
One of the best ways to get started with picking a major is to reflect on what you already know about yourself. Get out a piece of paper and write down:
Interests: what are your interests? What topics do you like to learn about? What do you find fascinating?
Strengths: What comes easily to you? What are some things that people have said you’re a natural at?
Passions: If you could solve one problem in the world, what would it be? What are you passionate about?
Then, see if you can discover any intersections between the three lists. For example, you may enjoy cooking, are good at organizing events for your youth group, and are passionate about bringing people together. Maybe a major in Hospitality Management or Culinary Arts may be for you.
The goal is to find the intersections between your interests, strengths, and passions. But what if you don’t know what your interests even are? Let’s zoom out even more and take a trip to the bookstore.
#4 Pick Out Some Magazines
So, what happens if you have no idea what your interests are or where to start? One thing you can do is go to your local bookstore or one online and check out the magazine rack. You will quickly find that there’s a magazine for everything, from fashion and robotics to music and model railroads.
Looking at all of the different options, pick 3-5 that seem interesting. What are they about? Do they have anything in common? What exactly do you like about them?
You might pick out ones that seem like they have nothing to do with each other at first. For example, let’s say you pick 3 magazines about music, history, and celebrities. At face value, these topics don’t seem alike at all. But after thinking about it, you might discover that what drew you in was the interviews and human stories within their pages. If that’s the case, you may want to check out majors such as Psychology, Journalism, Creative Writing, or History.
Keep At It
Chances are that your interests, major, and career path will continue to shift over time. This is especially true as you start taking college classes and gain more hands-on experience through work, job shadowing, or internships. In fact, about a third of students change their major at least once while they are in school.
As you continue to refine your journey, the exercises above can be a helpful place to start. Just remember to keep an open mind—along the way, you may discover interests and passions that you never knew you had!