7 Reasons Your College Major Doesn’t Really Matter

…or at least some arguments on why you shouldn’t stress about it too much!

Students worry about which college major to take, but does it really matter?

Every year, students all over the world agonize over which college major to choose, for fear that it will define the rest of their lives.

Accounting, like what Mom wants you to do? Or Broadcast Communications, which you really love? A practical course like Legal Management, or a more creative one like Digital Marketing? A Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science in Psychology? The options seem endless.

In the Philippines, this decision feels even even more daunting because students are expected to choose a major even before they start college. In fact, you’re expected to apply to a specific major during the college application process and are stuck to it when you enroll. To make things scarier — it is almost impossible to switch majors later on unless you want to spend more money or more time at school.

But there is hope yet! Recently, trends have indicated that college majors are mattering less and less for getting a job and for determining a long-term career path. For instance, research done in the U.S. by the Bureau of the Census found that only 27.3% of college graduates were in a job that “matched” their major.

Of course, there is an honest disclaimer that must be made around deeply technical fields. For example, if you want to work at Apple or Google as Software Engineer, having a degree in Computer Science is probably prudent. It may also make more sense to get a degree in Architecture if you want to build skyscrapers. In fact, according to Forbes, all Fortune 100 CEOs in tech-related fields have undergraduate degrees directly tied to engineering (i.e. Apple’s Tim Cook did Industrial Engineering, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos did Electrical Engineering and Computer Science).

However, the rise of boot camps and online learning signal that there are now more ways to pick up the skills you need outside of college — even for technical fields! So if you’re stressing out about deciding on your college major, relax! It may not be as big of a deal as you think. Here are 7 reasons why your college major may not even matter.