When and How to choose a college major

In your Junior, Sophomore and Freshman years of high school is when you need to begin conducting career exploration and thinking about majors. Remember that when completing college applications as a senior, you are asked to select a major.  Here are five ideas to start thinking about the topic…

1. Start early.  It’s never too early or too late to start exploring your interests and connecting them to majors or careers.

2. Learn about yourself. Take advantage of career surveys, interest inventories or other questionnaires or resources available to you. The more you understand yourself, the better prepared you are for next steps.

3. Research.  Use the Internet and other research tools available to you to explore what majors are needed for careers you are interested in.  Taking classes in subjects required for a major or profession helps you learn more too.

4. Try it on. Arrange to do a job shadow or to interview someone in careers you are interested in. Ask EduPlan and Claudine Vainrub how to secure an internship during your high school years.

5. Make a short list. Once you have done your research and talked to people in professions, narrow your list of majors to pursue. Often there are many majors you can select from to get to a chosen career or area of interest.

Ode to the Undeclared Major

One of the most popular majors at universities is the “undeclared” major. Most universities or colleges recognize you may not be ready to declare a major when you start as a freshman. At these schools, you do not have to declare your major until at the end of your sophomore year.  There are a few universities that don’t offer “undeclared” as an option. You will know which colleges require majors from their websites and applications.