Have you ever found yourself wondering, “What should my major be?” In this article, we’ll be helping you figure out how to choose a major. We’ll be explaining what a major is, covering easy college majors, and discussing the main things to consider when choosing one.
If you’re still struggling to choose among various fields of study, we’ll also be listing the best majors for undecided students. “What should I major in?” is a question on the minds of many young people, from the undecided undergraduate student to the overwhelmed high school senior. This article will give you what you need to deal with this common issue.
What Is a Major?
A major is a specific area of study that college students follow in the course of earning their undergraduate degrees, as opposed to graduate degrees. It consists of a set of core courses that are aligned with potential careers that students would like to pursue upon graduation.
If a student wants to major in computer science, for example, they might end up with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. Courses in one’s major take up roughly 50 percent of most undergraduate programs, with the remaining coursework devoted to general education classes.
What Should I Major In? 5 Things to Consider When Choosing a Major
When deciding what to major in, consider your interests and passions, your strengths and weaknesses, and how much time you have. The process for how to choose a major also entails reviewing each type of program’s cost of attendance and researching the job market for your future career, including median salary estimates and the availability of jobs in that field.
Interests and Passions
It is not uncommon to hear people say that if you find a job you love, you’ll never have to work a day in your life. When people follow their passions and pursue their ideal career path, they don’t need help staying motivated or inspired.
Choosing a major that fits your interests will help you be more focused, do more independent research and self-study, and ultimately get better grades. Unfortunately, not everyone knows what their interests and passions are at the time of enrolling in a college degree program.
If you don’t yet have a major in mind, take some time to reflect on what you love doing. Think about your hobbies or your favorite subjects in high school. You can even try doing an online personality quiz, like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator questionnaire.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Another way to choose a major in college is to look at your high school journey and reflect on what you were best at. The best majors for undecided students are often closely related to the areas where they excelled. Consult with a career advisor and use your best subjects as a starting point to help you decide what to study in college.
Keep in mind that your strengths don’t have to be directly related to an academic subject. For example, if you were an average high school student but always gave incredible presentations or excelled in debates, you might decide to major in communications and pursue a communications bachelor’s degree.
Career Salaries and Job Outlook
While some are motivated by their passions, others are just passionate about money. If high earnings are important to you, pursuing a degree in a STEM discipline might be in your best interest. These days, majors related to science, technology, engineering, and medicine are among the most lucrative degree paths.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, STEM careers make up many of the highest-paying occupations. The average annual salary for many of these occupations is well over six figures. A high-paying job, however, isn’t always easy to get. When choosing your major, you might also want to consider the fastest-growing occupations, which are often the safest.
Timing
Studying for four years is not an option for everyone. If getting a good job as quickly as possible is a priority for you, consider looking for schools that offer accelerated degree programs in the field that you’re interested in.
Some of these programs allow you to get your bachelor’s degree in two to four years by using transfer credits or taking knowledge-based exams. Others combine a bachelor’s and master’s degree into one, allowing you to complete both your undergraduate and graduate program in five years instead of six.
Cost of Attendance
For some students, especially those with financial needs, the cost of attendance matters a lot. An affordable school may not offer as wide an array of choices as a more expensive one, and the cost of tuition and books sometimes varies by major. Whatever you do, be sure to check whether the schools you’re interested in applying to offer financial aid.
You should also try figuring out if the schools and programs you’re interested in have any scholarships and grants available. While many of these awards are geared toward the general student population, a few are restricted to students enrolled in particular majors.
Best Majors for Undecided Students
Not all undecided students instinctively know how to choose a major. They might not have any field of study or particular goal in mind, or they might be trying to choose among several fields of interest. Luckily, there are many majors in college that can lead students with broader interests toward a variety of potential careers and industries.
Some of the best majors for undecided students are business administration, communications, English, biology, and liberal studies. These are all great potential majors for undecided first-year students because they offer several transferable skills, continuing education options, and access to a wide range of careers.
Business Administration
Business administration majors are great for students with leadership and problem-solving skills. A business major’s typical coursework goes over various topics that can be used to succeed in business across a wide variety of industries. Some popular course types in a business program include accounting, management, and marketing.
What Can I Do With a Business Administration Major?
Business administration majors usually allow students to specialize in finance, accounting, economics, management, or international business. This level of breadth lays open a wide variety of career choices, including baking, education, finance, law, and entrepreneurship.
- Transferable skills: Strategic thinking, goal setting, communication
- Average salary: $74,000
- Continuing education options: Master’s degree, doctoral degree
- Related fields for study or work: Business management, economics, finance
Communications
Students who enjoy writing and reading and feel comfortable speaking in public might be a good fit for a communications major. Common courses offered in this type of program include public speaking, journalism law, media psychology, and broadcasting.
What Can I Do With a Communications Major?
A communications major allows you to study to become an investigative reporter, digital marketing specialist, or TV and film producer, among many other career options. During your program, you might choose to focus on a specific type of media or style of communication.
- Transferable skills: Public speaking, editing, marketing
- Average salary: $57,000
- Continuing education options: Master’s degree, doctoral degree
- Related fields for study or work: Public relations, digital marketing, social media management
English
English is one of the best majors for undecided students who love to read and write. With this major option, you’ll learn about literature and writing, and you’ll gain indispensable rhetorical, research, and analytical skills.
What Can I Do With an English Major?
With an English major, you can work in writing, editing, publishing, marketing, education, and even project management and politics. You’ll be prepared to succeed in any context that requires strong verbal skills and a capacity for deep thought.
- Transferable skills: Writing, literary analysis, critical thinking
- Average salary: $64,000
- Continuing education options: Master’s degree, doctoral degree, ESL certification
- Related fields for study or work: Comparative literature, writing, rhetoric
Biology
Biology is one of the most popular majors for students interested in science, nature, and ecology. During your degree program, you’ll be exposed to courses in animal science, evolution, cell biology, immunology, and microbiology.
What Can I Do With a Biology Major?
A biology major puts you on track for a fulfilling career in education, healthcare, or research. Biology majors can work as forensic scientists, lab research assistants, environmental scientists, or science teachers.
- Transferable skills: Research, communication, observation
- Average salary: $74,000
- Continuing education options: Master’s degree, doctoral degree, certification
- Related fields for study or work: Microbiology, neuroscience, genetics
Liberal Studies
Liberal studies is one of the broadest majors you can pursue. It goes over various topics in the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. It is perfect for curious minds who love to learn and prepares students for all kinds of future careers.
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What Can I Do With a Liberal Studies Major?
A liberal studies major will prepare students to become economists, salespeople, educators, counselors, journalists, and lawyers. If you eventually want to go to law school or medical school, you can use liberal studies as part of your pre-law or pre-med coursework. You will gain valuable experience in communication, research, and critical thinking.
- Transferable skills: Communication, writing, collaboration
- Average salary: $64,000
- Continuing education options: Master’s degree, doctoral degree
- Related fields for study or work: Literature, history, philosophy
Easy College Majors
- Communications. A major in communications focuses on humanities topics like writing, public speaking, and media studies. It is an easy college major because it doesn’t include any STEM coursework and it does encourage students to be creative.
- Education. Degrees in education allow students to focus mostly on the topics that they want to teach in the future. If you wish to stay away from STEM coursework, this is the degree program for you. Not a lot of technical knowledge is required in this field.
- History. History is another easy college major, especially if you have a good memory. It requires a lot of reading and writing and you’ll need to think critically. Besides that, these programs are easy because they don’t require any lab or technical work.
- Psychology. Psychology does require students to take some classes in statistics. However, these are introductory courses that can be easily tackled. Graduate studies in psychology are a bit more demanding.
- Sociology. On the one hand, sociology majors do have to take a few entry-level math classes. On the other hand, they don’t have to do much reading or complete many long writing assignments. We can consider this a major of intermediate difficulty.
What Should My Major Be?
What your major should be depends on several personal preferences. Your undergraduate major should be aligned with your interests, passions, career goals, financial stability, and time constraints. A major decision shouldn’t be taken lightly, but there are still options for those who are still figuring out what future career paths they want to pursue.
Those who aren’t sure how to choose a major should choose from a list of the best majors for undecided students. If none of those seem right for you, you can speak with an academic advisor or ask a school counselor for some advice. They can provide you with a list of majors and point you in the direction of some strong programs.
How to Choose a Major FAQ
You need to make a decision about your major by the end of your sophomore year. However, you should try making your decision as soon as possible. While waiting until late in your sophomore year does give you a lot of time to make an informed decision, it can also stretch your degree program beyond four years.
A double major combines two separate fields of study into one degree. You could get, for example, a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and Business. This is different from getting a dual degree or combining a major with a minor. At many schools, such as Stanford, a double major allows students to list both majors on their diplomas.
Yes, you should add a minor to your major. It will allow you to learn a different set of skills and possibly open doors to a wider range of rewarding career options. Some employers might even view a minor as a competitive edge. If your major doesn’t end up leading you to a satisfying career, you can always turn to your minor as a potential backup plan.
No, a major is not the same as a degree. A major is a set of specialized courses that you take on the way to getting your degree. A degree consists of the courses from your major, general education courses, and any other courses required by your school. You get a degree once you complete all the requirements for graduation, which adds up to about 120 credit hours.
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