College Majors

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Career Exploration

What Should I Major In?

Choosing your college major is arguably one of the most importance decisions you will have to make in
your early life. However, it can be a challenging process, and often causes stress, confusion, and a
lot of second guessing.

The most important thing to know about choosing a major is that your major does NOT define the rest
of your work life! There is a misconception that choosing a particular major limits you to one focus
and industry for the rest of your life. In fact, your major defines only your concentrated base
knowledge and determines what words go on your diploma. Otherwise, the knowledge you gain in college
is just your foundational skills—if you focus more on humanities (English, History, Cultural
Anthropology, etc.) you will build a basis of communication, research, critical thinking,
interpersonal and interpretive skills; focus on STEM fields and you’ll gain problem solving,
qualitative reasoning, research, and analytical inquiry skills (and probably a little of both in
either).

So how DO you go about making this decision? This will take some self-reflection, so be prepared to
do a little work!

Think about your skills and abilities. What are you good at? What do you LIKE to do? Where is
the intersection of those two pieces? we’re good at things but we don’t particularly
enjoy doing them, or we love something that we’re not terribly good at.  The important part is
to know those things about ourselves.

Once you’ve determined what you are good at and enjoy, and where those two pieces meet, it can
important to think about some of the more ambiguous pieces. What work environment seems like
it best fits you? It’s important to understand what you want in a work environment.
Do you want to work closely with people and collaborate? Or would you prefer to have lots of
autonomy and control over how and when you do your work? Does an office and a computer
best suit you or would you rather be moving, traveling or in the field? Do you want to do something
hands-on and physical or do you prefer air conditioning and a comfy space?

Determining your work space can impact the choice of jobs you want to pursue, and help you narrow
down options that best fit where you think you’ll be most happy.

Some ways to gather information include-

-Talk to your academic advisor. They can help you determine what coursework would be required, what
minors, concentrations and certificates might be beneficial, and common career pathways with
particular majors.

-Your college career center can help with this as well—and can help you with values sorts, skills
assessments, and discussions about employers and career options.

-Consider doing a mind mapping Mind mapping can help you gather your thoughts, connect commonalities,
and creatively think about a concept or idea, and put it into a visual form that you can process
later.

-Do some informational interview with people in fields that you’re considering. Who knows best what
the day to day positives and negatives of a field are than someone who’s doing it every day? Ask
them what skills they use most, what the challenges and benefits are, what path they followed to get
to their current role, and what suggestions they have for things to do to explore and gain
experience in their field.

-Talk to guidance counselors if you are in high school, or faculty members in courses that you enjoy
if you are already in college. See if they can give you some insight into different options for
using those disciplines.

-Take as many different high school or college courses possible, and participate in as many
experiences as you can, to help you determine where your strengths and interests lie. Jobs or
courses are often very in concept than in reality.

-Most college academic departments have an accounting of where previous students majoring in their
field have gone on for employment. See what insights this gives you into your opportunities.

Some other questions to ask yourself-

-What day to day activities bring me joy and give me energy?

-If I were to pick a major right now, what would it be?

-What have I been successful in so far?

-What are my favorite subjects and do those subjects come easily to me?

-What are my values? Do I want time to be with family? To travel?

-What does success look like to me? Money? Impact? Autonomy? Power? Ability to make change?

-Will my choice require graduate school or professional school and is that something I’m willing to
pursue?

-Does my intended major allow for study abroad options, internships or research, and if not, are
those things important to me?

Think through the skills you can gain, and think more about skill development than actual major—you
can be a consultant with an English degree, a teacher with a Chemistry degree, a lawyer with a
History degree—it all depends on the skills and experiences you build up. Ultimately, choosing a
major is a lot about knowing yourself, your skills, and what you might want. Consider your options,
know that it’s always flexible, and choose something that you enjoy.