Few other decisions you can make while you’re in college are as important as what content area to study. Choosing a major will guide you in your career, making some doors easier to open than others.
Because it’s such an important decision, you don’t want to take it lightly. If you find yourself entering college, or even if you have already started classes, you may be unclear about exactly what it is you want to do with the rest of your life. It’s time to start seriously contemplating what you want your major to be.
Think Outside the Box
When you start exploring your college major options, you’re probably going to think about majors like education, psychology, and engineering. These are worthwhile majors and may be the right choice for you, but before you make your declaration, you should think outside the box.
There are a lot of great majors out there that may be a better fit for your interests and passions! For example, if you love the snow, consider a ski area and resort management major. This unique major will allow you to learn topics like marketing, finance, and hospitality as it relates to the slopes so you can find a rewarding position at a ski resort, boarding school, and more.
Other interesting majors you can consider include:
- Adventure Education
- Auctioneering
- Bagpiping
- Chemical Hygiene and Safety
- Comic Art
- Farrier Science
- Metalsmithing and Blacksmithing
Consider What You’re Good At
When you’re trying to discover the best major for you, you’re probably thinking carefully about your passions. Choosing a major and a career that aligns with your passions can be very rewarding, but other majors that play to your strengths can be just as rewarding.
Instead of thinking about what you love, think about what you’re good at. Ways you can uncover your strengths include considering what skills helped you thrive through a difficult time, thinking about situations where you feel the strongest and most capable, and reflecting on what teachers and loved ones used to say about you when you were a child. When you uncover your strengths, you may be able to narrow in on a major that will make you feel fulfilled.
What Careers Are Going to Last
Thinking about your passions and your strengths are important because you want to choose a major you enjoy, but you also have to think more practically. That means choosing a major with career options that aren’t going to disappear a few years after you graduate.
That means avoiding careers that are likely to be automated sooner rather than later. For example, although there is a huge need for truckers right now, as self-driving cars become the norm, you may find that you have to cut your career short.
You also have to think about careers that will hold your interest. That might mean choosing a more general major that enables you some flexibility so you aren’t pigeonholed throughout the duration of your career.
Ask for Advice
Figuring out what you’re passionate about, what you’re good at, and what kind of job you should get when you graduate from college can be surprisingly difficult. Not all of us are lucky enough to know exactly what we’re born to do as a young adult!
If you could use a little help, reach out and ask for the opinion of those you’re closest to. Parents, friends, and financial advisors may all be able to clarify aspects of your personality and which industries you would be best suited for.
Take a Quiz
The internet is full of quizzes. Use them to your advantage! Skip cheesy, overly simplified quizzes and instead look for thoughtful and useful personality quizzes. They can help you uncover how emotionally intelligent you are, your defining personality traits, and which Myers-Briggs personality type you are. You can also find more career-centered quizzes online, as well as quizzes that will uncover your passions, what you’re good at, and more.
The longer the quiz is, the more accurate it is likely to be. You may also want to take the same quiz a few times to see if you get the same result every time. If you don’t, it’s a sign that you should try a different quiz.
You don’t want to choose just any major. After all, college isn’t cheap! Make sure you make the right decision for your future by using the tips on this list to uncover the major that’s perfect for you.
