Choosing Your Major

When a person first decides that they are going to college, generally there is a rough idea of what they want to do for the rest of their lives, and an extremely vague concept of what fields of study may be required to achieve that dream. This is where declaring a major comes in to play. Choosing your major can be...well, a major decision.

Many universities and colleges call a major the program, or course of study, for the student to follow. Usually this major is going to lead to a Bachelors, Masters, or Doctorate degree in that given field. For example, let's say that you want to major in English. This could result in one of those three degrees listed earlier, with a focus on English (like a Bachelor of Arts, English Literature for example).

Because a major is going to play such a large role (whether you want it to or not) in your academic career, you are may feel a lot of pressure when you make your decision. In fact, it is not unheard of to hear the demand from schools, friends, and family members about what your major is. Often, if you don't have one chosen right away then you are made to feel like you have failed in some way. To help alleviate the pressure that you might feel when deciding on a major, just use these guidelines.

• Interests. Make a list of what interests you. Do you like or enjoy helping others? Perhaps you love to play music, write, or draw. Whatever it is that you love to do, you should write it down on a list so that you can use it for later comparison.
• Explore. Gather as much information as you can about the different majors, or degrees, that cover your interests. You would be surprised at just how many different options there are for a degree in your various interests. All that you need to do is just do a little outside-of-the-box thinking. Write down the various information that you compile for later comparison.
• Dream career. Try to think of the various different careers that pique your interest and write the information down. Next to this write down as much information as you can about what sort of training or education that you might need in order to obtain that career. Write this down as well.
• Decide. Use the different lists that you generated to compare any overlap. Chances are good that you are going to like to use the areas which have multiple overlap the most. Simply make your decision based off of this information.

Finally, whatever you decide you need to keep just a few things in mind. The first is that your major, just like your interests, can change over time. Quite often a person is going to go through at least two majors before graduation. It is not uncommon to change you major, or your mind, several times. Second, is the basic truth that more than likely you are not going to end your working career in the same field that your major belonged.