How to Choose Your Major in Three Regret-Free Steps

By John Chang

As you know, I usually focus on how to get admitted to an Ivy League college in these posts. However, once in a while, I address other issues regarding college life. Judging from the feedback I received on my articles about how to choose your college, I thought it would be a good idea to expand on these extra topics even further.

Choice of major is a topic that confuses many college freshmen. Many students don't really grasp the fact that when you choose your major, you are choosing your life.

The wrong major can:

-Drastically limit your career options and career choices (try going into finance with an English degree) -Drastically restrict your flexibility with choosing different courses that you are personally interested in

Most of all, IT CAN BE BORING! You may not like the classes, the professors, the studentsand then spend the next 10 years of your life regretting not choosing that really cool-sounding major back in freshman year.

In this article, I have listed some things you should keep in mind as you select your major.

For added insight, talk the following points over with your parents. You may be surprised at the amount of wisdom and expertise they can bring to the discussion.

#1. When you are choosing your major, be sure to keep the type of work you will actually enjoy doing in mind.

If you are fascinated with business, be sure to choose a social sciences major like economics. If you are interested in engineering, look into things like computer sciences.

Naturally, if your interest lies in engineering, you should choose your major from the major courses of study for engineering.

For example, an interest in writing and journalism would lead you to choose a major in one of the liberal arts.

Some of these are obvious. The point is to think beyond 4 college years to the rest of your life.

What job would make you happy? What career would fulfill you? What do you love to do now, that can be translated into a paying job?

click here for more on Stanford University admissions.

The second thing you must keep in mind is your personality.

Are you outgoing? Computer science may not be for you

A person who is very artistic and creative may enjoy creating his or her own major or taking an interdisciplinary major.

The point is to think about how you work best. If you like numbers, gravitate towards an analytical major. If you like writing, gravitate towards a humanities/social sciences major.

Your major should support your strong points. Don't save your talents for your hobby and struggle at your job! If you major in something you dislike, you are sure to be unhappy.

Finally, be sure to create a list of the goals you want to achieve while you are in college.

Some of you already have. Some of you may think that's ridiculous and too much work. I don't care - you should do it if you want to be smart.

If you are interested in studying abroad, you should definitely pick a major that supports that interest. Not every major will take you to France, China, Italy or other points of interest around the world. If this is important to you, make it a major consideration.

The main thing to remember is that, aside from your major, you will have other things to achieve in college. Again, define your goals. Then choose the major courses of study that will support your goals, give you room to work, time to achieve them, and the support you need.

Click here for more advice on choosing an Ivy League degree.

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