1: Choosing your Major and Educational Planning

In Units 1 – 3, we spent a lot of time on self-discovery through engaging in different career assessments and researching career information that may be a good fit based on personal strengths, interests, values, skills, and personality. At this time, you should be getting closer to deciding on a career path that may be a good fit for you. Once you know what career path or industry you are interested in, you are a step closer to choosing your major. Having a general idea of what career path interests you will help you determine which major is the best fit for you.

In the United States and Canada, your academic major—simply called “your major”—is the academic discipline you commit to as an undergraduate student. It’s an area you specialize in, such as accounting, chemistry, criminology, archeology, digital arts, or dance. In United States colleges and universities, roughly 2,000 majors are offered. And within each major is a host of core courses and electives. When you successfully complete the required courses in your major, you qualify for a degree.

Why is your major important? It’s important because it’s a defining and organizing feature of your undergraduate degree. Ultimately, your major should provide you with the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and/or behaviors you need to fulfill your college goals and objectives.

In this section, we will look at how to select your major and how your college major may correlate with a career. Does your major matter to your career? What happens if you change your major? Does changing your major mean you must change your career? Read on to find out!³⁶

Take a minute to watch the YouTube video titled “How to Pick a Major” which will provide you with 5 tips to consider as you get closer to making your decision to declare or confirm your major.

Choosing a college major can have a big impact on your career choices, especially if you are following a technical or vocational program of study. After all, it is hard to become a pharmacist if you study computer networking. Students often get too anxious about choosing a major or program of study. Certainly, many two-year students have a very clear idea of what they are studying and the job they expect to land after completing their degree, and you probably feel confident enough in your choice of major to make the investment for tuition in that program. But there is no need to panic over your choice of major or program of study:

• Your choice of major or program will be important only for your first job after college; most people change careers (not just jobs, but careers) five times or more in their lifetime, so there is no possible major that will cover that level of flexibility.
• Many majors and programs share foundation courses with other majors, so you can usually change your major without having misused your time in courses that will be unrelated to your new major. Chances are, if you change your major, it will be to something similar, especially if you have completed an occupational interest survey as recommended earlier in this class.
• Most students change their major at least once, and many will change majors two or three times before they graduate.

While these thoughts might remove some of the stress of making the choice, there is no doubt that it is not always easy to make your choice. The following tips may make it a little easier…and perhaps fun!

• Follow your dreams. Your first instinct in choosing a field of study is probably based on your dreams and life experience. Make sure you base your choice on your own dreams and interests and not those of a parent, spouse, or friend.
• Make it fun. What do you like to do for fun? What kinds of magazines do you read? What websites are bookmarked on your computer? What kinds of volunteer work have you done? What do the answers to these questions tell you about the kind of career you would enjoy?
• Build on your skills. A good choice of a program of study is not based exclusively on your likes; it should also consider your skills. What courses did you “ace” in high school? Consider also courses that you found challenging in which you learned and enjoyed (it is hard to keep a level of determination to tackle a tough subject if you do not enjoy it). What do these courses tell you about what you are skilled at studying?
• Ask around. Find people who are following the courses of study you are considering. Ask them what they like and dislike about their majors. If you can find recent graduates with that major, ask them about the value of their major.
• Two is better than one. Talk to your counselor about potentially double majoring, as this can be an effective way of preparing yourself for the uncertainties and options of future employment. You may want to consider declaring a minor after you transfer to a four-year university. A minor is a sub-specialty are in a discipline outside your major
• What makes you unique? If you have a major that you would like to pursue that is not offered at your college, find out if you can plan your own major. This option is especially attractive if you want to combine two seemingly different disciplines into a major (Dance and athletics? Sociology and film? Women’s studies and economics?). This may be an option when you transfer to the four-year university.
• Be open to change. Once you have selected a major, do not panic if it turns out to be the wrong choice; consider it a step toward finding the right program for you. Repeat the major selection process, but carefully consider what you learned from your original major choice. Why was it not the right major? (Did it not match your interests? Was the workload too heavy? Were the courses too tough?) What do you know now that you did not know when you made your first selection that you should consider in making a new choice?

What do you need to launch a good career? Employers will look at your education, skills, and experience. Making sure you have the “right stuff” in these three areas is what you should focus on in your college experience.