Major Decisions Made Easy

Collaboration with students, professors, advisers and parents can make choosing a major easier.

From accounting, anthropology and architecture to veterinary science, world literature and zoology, college majors cover a huge variety of subjects. While some students might find choosing a college major easy, others don’t. Bhavvna Jolly, senior program officer with EducationUSA in New Delhi, says choosing a major can be a personal and individual decision. It can be based on factors like program cost, a student’s academic passions and career goals, related job opportunities, potential for growth in job roles, salaries, etc.

Jolly advises that students pay attention to their priorities, strengths and weaknesses when choosing a major. Introspection and research will help students pick majors that fit them on multiple levels and help them build their dream careers.

Resources and relationships

To get started, Jolly recommends that students take the help of resources like parents, school guidance counselors and career counselors to make a list of majors available. “Researching the quality of the program being offered at the institution of their choice is an extremely important decision for students,” Jolly says. “Students must look into the quality of faculty, advising, academic and practical training, internship, and the career support being offered at the institutions to make the most of their educational investment.”

Even if you have a strong interest in a particular subject, Jolly recommends you explore and experiment before fully committing. “Before making the investment of time, effort and finances, it is important for international students to understand what working in their chosen discipline would look like,” Jolly says. “Prospective students can do this through internship opportunities, shadowing professionals who work in related jobs, speaking with industry practitioners, and participating in career pathway summer programs at U.S. universities.”

Jolly cautions that choosing a major to follow one’s role models is not a good strategy. “Success stories are great starting points in researching options for majors,” she says, “but the final choice must be based on a more holistic evaluation of one’s own interests, capabilities, career aspirations, life goals, and the future of work in that discipline.”

Also, Jolly says, avoid choosing a school over a discipline of interest. “Choosing a major and a school go hand-in-hand,” she says. “Students should have a balanced shortlist of schools they dream to be in, those within their reach and ones they might get into easily in their chosen field of study.” She suggests that students consult their guidance counselors and EducationUSA advisers to shortlist institutions that meet their needs.

A student’s perspective

Lavanya Pande, who was born in Delhi and grew up in Hyderabad, is majoring in computer science at the University of South Florida. Pande settled on computer science for her major because of her success with math and computer courses in high school. “So far, I feel like I made a great choice,” she says. “I believe computer science is the future and can open a lot of doors to academic research.”

Pande’s advice on choosing a major? “Choose a discipline that falls in the intersection of something you love, something you’re good at, something the world needs, and most importantly, something you can get paid for.” Some other options for those who want to study more than one subject, she says, include picking a minor along with a major, or two major subjects. Pande also emphasizes that it’s okay to make mistakes—a student may choose a major and decide not to pursue it further. Many schools allow students to change majors, “so if something isn’t working for you, be brave and change your course of study,” she says.

For more information on choosing majors and careers, Jolly recommends “The College Board Book of Majors,” published by The College Board; O*NET OnLine, an online occupational information source; and “The Occupational Outlook Handbook,” a resource on career choices created by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Michael Gallant is a New York City-based writer, musician and entrepreneur.

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