What To Major In If You Are Undecided
Level 1 - Baby Steps
Welcome! One of the most common questions parents and educators face is how to advise a child on what to major in if they are undecided.
Undecided majors are individuals who have not yet declared a major in college. This is a fairly common scenario, but there is nuance.
In our experience, there are really three categories of undecided:
Students who are clear on a career path but unsure of what to major in (e.g., a student that wants to become a doctor but is unsure on whether to major in biology or chemistry)
Students who have a general interest but are undecided in what to do with the that general interest (e.g., a student that is interested in social sciences but is unsure of what particular major to pursue)
Students who have no idea of what their interests are and do not have a clear career or job in mind
The focus of today’s post is on those who fall in the third bucket.
Step 1: Narrow Interests
If you or someone you know are going to college with no idea of what to major in, do not despair. Although you should make sure that college is the right choice for you, our assumption is that if you are there, there is a purpose.
Your first step is to eliminate majors that you know you will NOT do. This can be accomplished by looking at all of the possible majors, putting them into a document, and scratching them out, one at time, until you have only majors you are interested in.
Often, an abundance of choice can be almost overwhelming. Eliminate anything that you are either not interested in or something that you are not talented in. For example, if you cannot tell the difference between a volumetric flask and a beaker, you probably are not suited for any chemistry related major.
Step 2: Focus On Your Strengths
You were admitted to college. This means that you have some strengths and aptitudes.
Look at them in two ways:
What thing(s) do people NATURALLY tell you that you are good at?
What thing(s) did you excel at with the least amount of effort?
Notice, there is nothing about what you are passionate about. That is because you should avoid the passion trap and focus on TALENT.
The passion trap is when you pursue something that you enjoy, but have no knowledge of if you are any good at it. For example, there are those who enjoy making music or art. But the difference between a hobby of painting as a stress reliever and living as an artist is talent. If you have no talent, you will waste your time pursuing something you can never truly stand out for. That may be harsh, but it will save you time.
Now go back to the list you made in Step 1. Of the majors that are left highlight any that touch on or fit into your strengths.
Eliminate anything that is left.
Step 3: Understand Outcomes
Now, once you have the list of options, you need to start thinking of outcomes. Specifically, what type of job do you want?
This is not about landing a specific job or career. It’s about making sure you are in a position to be competitive, not necessarily focused on any specific job. Assume you are interested in consulting. There is not a specific college degree that gets you into consulting (though you may not be as strong a candidate for specific types of consulting, such as engineering). In that case, what matters is having a strong undergraduate GPA.
But if you have any aspirations that require a specific course of study (e.g., becoming a psychologist), you want to note what requirements there are. In that case, use any possible career outcomes that you may be considering to further narrow your list down.
By this point, you should have a relatively small list of majors. That takes you to your final step.
Step 4: Shop Majors And Choose The One That You Do Best In
Once you have a small list of majors, take courses in each major early on in your college career. You do not want to take generic classes that capture everyone, you want to take a “hard” course in each major. For example, don’t rely on Intro to US Government to determine if you want to be a Government major. Instead, take a course like “US-Pacific International Relations.” If you go into the class and struggle or dislike it, you know the major is not for you. Cut that major and narrow the list down.
Hopefully by the end of it, your major appears. The good news is that usually, Steps 1 and 2 narrow your options down to a cluster or two of majors. Which means Steps 3 and 4 will help narrow it down further until you find the major that you can do well in to land the career you are looking for.