Some Suggestions to Help Choose a College Major
“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
How many times have you been asked this question? How many times have you asked this question of other people, perhaps even your own children?
For many people, this question can be stated in another way. One’s college major often decides how they spend most of their time. So, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” becomes “what do you want to major in when you go to college?”.
Choosing a college major is a big deal. It might be you, your child, or just someone you know trying to make this difficult decision. It is both personal and very difficult because college is so expensive and it is very difficult to go back if a person changes their mind later.
I changed my major four times in college. Luckily I had an idea of what to switch to. If I hadn’t I am not sure what I would have done.
To help others make this decision a bit easier, I have adapted the following exercise from the “Three Circles Exercise” discussed by hedge fund manager Phil Town to help his students decide which sectors to invest in. I think similar ideas can be used to help students develop ideas for college majors.
The Exercise
First, make the following three lists:
- What do you enjoy doing? List your hobbies and anything you do for fun.
- What jobs do you consider interesting or rewarding?
- What do you know a lot about?
Once you have completed these lists, look the lists over for commonalities. if something appears on all three lists, it is definitely worth investigating.
If you don’t have matches on all three lists, look for anything on two of the lists. These might still be good choices for college majors.
The key is that you find somewhere to start looking.
This process might be hard. It involves research and thinking so have patience.
You will probably change your mind multiple times. That is ok. A lot of people change their majors multiple times before they graduate. Here is some data on major changes from the U.S. Department of Education.
This is why it can be helpful to hang on to the list generated by this exercise. If you change your mind, you can go back to the list or even redo it later to try to find a new direction to go in.
Following Up
Once you have a couple of ideas, the research can start. You should not only look up more details about what each profession does, you should try to get some in-person experience with the professions through job shadowing.
In job shadowing, a person interested in a profession follows and observes someone in that profession while they work. Think of it like test driving a car before you buy it, but with your potential major or career choice.
Most professionals don’t mind being shadowed. The key is to be polite when asking and give a lot of advance notice so that your request is not inconvenient for the person you are observing.
I wish I could give you an easy way to determine which college major to choose. Unfortunately, all I can do is be honest with you and admit that the choice is difficult. It involves a lot of thinking and work to know yourself and what makes you happy and keeps you interested. Remember that the first 2–3 semesters of college are somewhat flexible in that you will largely be filling general education requirements. These are needed for any major and often serve as part of the required classes for other majors.
Make sure that you or whoever you are helping try to pick something you like, find interesting, and know something about. Do some observations and shadow jobs you find interesting. the more you do beforehand, the easier the path will become later. Keep in mind though that majors aren’t everything, but often act as a gateway to get you started in a (possibly) related career.
