Selecting a College Major- A ‘Major’ decision!

Selecting a college major is an incredibly difficult decision. On average, students officially change their college major 5 times before graduating. Often, the first 2-3 semester of course work taken at a college can be applied toward many degrees, but after that, changing majors runs the risk of credits not transferring, or needing to take additional courses to graduate. Changing majors in year 3 or 4 often means that it will take longer than the typical 4 years of college needed in order to graduate. Keeping in mind, it is often taking students closer to 6 years to finish college for a variety of reasons, whether it is the need to work full time, attend to family obligations, or for changing majors, often students just aren’t able to finish in 4 years, and that is ok! As long as you aren’t having to repeat or restart coursework, delaying your graduation.

I wish that more students were exposed earlier on to possible careers. This can happen through job shadows, internships, or interviewing people in jobs that seem interesting. Often, this kind of exposure doesn’t happen until senior year of college, when a student is nearing graduation. This real world exploration can be invaluable to a student feeling confident that they have selected the right major, and sticking with that major.

Career aptitude tests and personality inventories can also provide clues to compatible careers. It is entirely possible that a job sounds appealing because of the possible salary, personal family history, the prestige, or perceived power, but in reality, the actual tasks for that job, may be completely unsatisfying, boring, overwhelming or uninteresting once there.

I would much rather a client spend an hour with someone in a career they think they are interested in, only to find that it is not compatible, rather than spend years and thousands of dollars studying to have a career that they ultimately will have no fulfillment in.

The internet can also be a powerful tool to see a day in the life of people in careers of interest.

Ultimately, the more information and experiences you can draw from when selecting a college major, the easier the selection will be!