How did you decide what to major in?

HS senior here.

I have no clue what I am going to major in.

I've taken AP...

Calc 1, World history, Human Geography, Lang, US history

and am currently taking

Calc 2, Comp Sci, Literature and Econ.

I honestly don't have any subject that I particularly favor. My grades are usually pretty good. Also, I don't mind calc or anything but its not exactly my forte (though I manage B's).

I know this doesn't really give you guys much to go off of, but I'm sure some of you also lacked a real passion for anything and didn't know what to major in. Any suggestions?

Also if it helps, I doubt I would consider engineering, mechanical stuff, comp sci, or lib. arts...

I've been looking into accounting. More than anything I'm just looking for a major with a decent salary with decent job opportunities (like everybody else is... lol).

Anyways, suggestions or insightful stories are appreciated. Thanks everybody!!!

Where do the babes go?

Where do the babes go?

That's how I should decide? Dang... guess I'll have to look for a "my bedroom" major.

Thanks for the help lol

As someone who has changed their major and career path multiple times, I'd say that it's really difficult to know what you want to do with the rest of your life when you're just 18 years old.

Do you know a general field you want to go into? Or are you a completely blank slate right now? lol

*edit* Read back over your post. My experience with accounting/people who are accounting majors is that it VERY quickly weeds out people who don't truly love it. lol

petroleum engineering ....woulda,coulda,shouda

I majored in having fun(which don't pay well)

http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report-2013/majors-that-pay-you-back

Sport Management while minoring in Comm

After being salutatorian and having a 4.08 GPA in HS, ppl don't understand why

I say major in something you love because I know plenty of kids that struggle at Drexel because they hate what they're majoring in whether it be accounting, engineering, etc.

I knew from my early teens I wanted to be in computer science. My father worked for IBM, and I wanted to work for IBM. I owned an Apple and IBM computer prior to most people having a computer.

I didn't take any major courses this term and this term has sucked because of it.

Doing what you love is the way to go

Interesting to see this thread two days before I graduate from college.

I chose journalism because I feel like it's my life's calling. When I was 13, I knew I wanted to be a writer of some kind, but I was still kind of aimless. Then, while channel surfing, I caught a glimpse of the NBC Nightly News and I knew that was for me.

Being a journalism major has it's pros and cons, but it has been an enjoyable experience.

Regardless of which major your choose, remember the old cliche: college is what you make of it. Your experience at whatever institution you choose to attend is whatever you want it to be. If you keep your social life and academic life in balance, you'll have the time of your life. If you put too much emphasis on one or the other (and yes, you certainly can put too much emphasis on your studies) then you're going to be miserable and you'll probably find yourself back home in a matter of three semesters

Also, I suggest going to a community college for a couple years. That way, you can knock out your gen-ed classes at a lower price and have time to do some soul searching. Hell, you might even find out that your calling in life doesn't require a four year degree. Don't feel like you have to go to a university.

Pick something you're passionate about.

I was a Sports Management major, I started school in 99...so everyone then wanted to be Jerry Maguire. Didn't like it, switched to English, creative writing concentration...which I was good at, but not passionate about. Should have picked photography.

Unless you want to be a doctor or a lawyer, what you major in doesn't necessarily have 100% relevance to what you do after school.

Unless you want to be a doctor or a lawyer, what you major in doesn't necessarily have 100% relevance to what you do after school.

Pretty much just a doctor. You can major in anything and go to law school. Obviously some majors have more utility than others, but there's no required courses/majors for law school.

Pretty much just a doctor. You can major in anything and go to law school. Obviously some majors have more utility than others, but there's no required courses/majors for law school.

Neither are there for medical school. You do have to take a fair amount of bio and chem but it doesn't even amount to a minor in either or those fields.

As someone who has changed their major and career path multiple times, I'd say that it's really difficult to know what you want to do with the rest of your life when you're just 18 years old.

Do you know a general field you want to go into? Or are you a completely blank slate right now? lol

*edit* Read back over your post. My experience with accounting/people who are accounting majors is that it VERY quickly weeds out people who don't truly love it. lol

I'm basically at a completely blank slate right now. It might sound horrible but other than sports and snow I really don't have a passion for much.

Basically I "chose" accounting because I see myself as a step below the real braniacs in most of my intensive math/comp sci classes. Likewise, I consider accounting to be a step below the real killer classes like Engineering, Comp sci etc...

I'm definetely a capable person, but I'm not naturally Stephen Hawking or anything.

Yeah... idk how I'd know if I loved accounting or not. My school didn't offer any accounting classes.

Major in physics

Physics majors can get into pretty much any grad program, with a little tweaking. The same cannot be said for other majors. E.g., a physics major could get into a chemistry grad program alot easier than a chemistry major could get into a physics grad program.

Neither are there for medical school. You do have to take a fair amount of bio and chem but it doesn't even amount to a minor in either or those fields.

Right, but you are REQUIRED to take biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics at the minimum to even apply to medical school (even if you majored in something completely unrelated, like journalism or marketing). For law school, you literally can have a bachelor's in anything and have taken any courseload you want and still apply.

I'm struggling with this same thing to be honest. Though my situation is vastly different. Don't feel like getting into my back story--shared it on here many times before--but basically I'm older and have to decide something. I got my associates (Magna Cum Laude) in just Liberal Arts, Applied Sciences. I got a decent office job now, making decent money (esp for someone with my background) but eh. I'd love to go back to school (even if it's just nights, a class or two a semester) and get my bachelor's. I just don't know wtf to major in. I'd LOVE to teach, would die to be a history teacher, but I don't know if that's realistic for me. Again, with my background. I...just...don't...know.

I'm basically at a completely blank slate right now. It might sound horrible but other than sports and snow I really don't have a passion for much.

Basically I "chose" accounting because I see myself as a step below the real braniacs in most of my intensive math/comp sci classes. Likewise, I consider accounting to be a step below the real killer classes like Engineering, Comp sci etc...

I'm definetely a capable person, but I'm not naturally Stephen Hawking or anything.

Yeah... idk how I'd know if I loved accounting or not. My school didn't offer any accounting classes.

Look, I felt the same way as you. I just hope your path doesn't turn out like mine:

I decided in HIGH SCHOOL that I really wanted to go into sports law and be an agent. I was serious about it too, and I went to college and interned in agencies, made a lot of NFL connections, and learned a great deal about the field. I even went as far as to apply to law school and got into a top 20 program. I then realized that being an agent was just not a practical approach to life, given the low rate of success and the amount of debt I could incur if I wasn't successful.

I realized about a semester into law school that I didn't have the heart to make it through and become a lawyer because it truly just wasn't what I wanted or was interested in. I did extremely well my first semester, but it just seemed a waste of time. My passion was always in science and medicine, but I wanted to do something different from what everyone else in my family did and wanted to follow my dreams of being involved in sports, since I loved them so much.

You'll find your passion eventually, and it's completely okay if you don't know right now. Most people don't even pick a major until a year or two into undergrad. Right now, I pretty much threw away everything I worked for and am doing my post-bac for pre-med and I love what I'm doing. I just wish I knew sooner and didn't waste time with something I didn't really have a future in.

Don't take this as me saying to not follow what you are truly passionate about. PLEASE. Just make sure it's viable and you don't foresee any snags or obstacles along the way that could disenchant you to what you're doing. My advice is to take a little bit of everything in years one and two and see what sticks. If you work hard in your classes, you'll be able to see what truly interests you and you can go from there.

I'll continue contributing in this thread as much as I can, but also feel free to PM me if you need anything else.

Look, I felt the same way as you. I just hope your path doesn't turn out like mine:

Don't take this as me saying to not follow what you are truly passionate about. PLEASE. Just make sure it's viable and you don't foresee any snags or obstacles along the way that could disenchant you to what you're doing. My advice is to take a little bit of everything in years one and two and see what sticks. If you work hard in your classes, you'll be able to see what truly interests you and you can go from there.

I'll continue contributing in this thread as much as I can, but also feel free to PM me if you need anything else.

Yeah that's basically what I anticipate doing at the moment. I wouldn't major in anything unrealistic - I'm pretty grounded. Thanks so much for the help though.

And one question (for anybody to answer...) a lot of people talk about the "weed-out" classes that people end up failing/dropping.

How exactly does that work? Let's say I went out on a limb and took some really difficult engineering class and proceeded to drop it. Would it devistate my GPA if I dropped it before the end of the first semester, or would it simply not show up on my college transcript? Not that I'm anticipating bombing any classes lol...

How exactly does that work? Let's say I went out on a limb and took some really difficult engineering class and proceeded to drop it. Would it devistate my GPA if I dropped it before the end of the first semester, or would it simply not show up on my college transcript? Not that I'm anticipating bombing any classes lol...

You are stressing too much on this.

College is easy. Go to class, study and do your homework you will be fine. If something is way out of your realm of understanding, drop it before the deadline and it will not mess up your GPA or show up on your transcripts.

People fail college primarily because they don't go to class, don't study, don't drop the class before the deadline.

Trust me college is easy if you go to class and do your work.

Yeah that's basically what I anticipate doing at the moment. I wouldn't major in anything unrealistic - I'm pretty grounded. Thanks so much for the help though.

And one question (for anybody to answer...) a lot of people talk about the "weed-out" classes that people end up failing/dropping.

How exactly does that work? Let's say I went out on a limb and took some really difficult engineering class and proceeded to drop it. Would it devistate my GPA if I dropped it before the end of the first semester, or would it simply not show up on my college transcript? Not that I'm anticipating bombing any classes lol...

You'll usually have a "Withdraw" date somewhere after the second round of midterms, where if you drop the course, it will show up with a grade of "W".

It doesn't count toward your GPA, but the W will be on your transcript. Usually if you have one or two on there, it isn't a huge deal if you're applying to grad school (especially if you can explain why you dropped). I wouldn't try and do too much because too many Ws look bad.

That being said, there are very few classes IMO that certain people just CAN'T pass no matter how hard they try. If you're willing to work extremely hard, you can do very well. Just don't try and overload on too many of those types of classes at once.

Remember that a lot of the time, freshmen and sophomores are experiencing their first freedom from their parents. Some people can't handle it and that's why they end up failing courses. Make sure you're not one of those people and you'll be okay.

---------- Post added December-12th-2012 at 11:06 PM ----------

You are stressing too much on this.

College is easy. Go to class, study and do your homework you will be fine. If something is way out of your realm of understanding, drop it before the deadline and it will not mess up your GPA or show up on your transcripts.

People fail college primarily because they don't go to class, don't study, don't drop the class before the deadline.

Trust me college is easy if you go to class and do your work.

Usually the deadline to drop before it shows up on your transcript is 10 days into the semester. Not really enough time to know how you're performing. If you drop in the middle, it will show up on your transcript but as a W. Be careful on this though, because some schools give a "WF" which means "waived while failing". That doesn't look good.

I do agree 100% with chipwich that people fail mostly because of their own mistakes. If you go to class, study consistently, and have a good attitude, you'll be fine.

Whatever subject/classes you actually like and can see yourself studying more of. You want a career that pays decent, of course, but ideally you want a career you can enjoy also. You don't want education to be a mind-numbing experience aimed solely at getting a good paying job you have no interest in. Money isn't everything.

Find out what you would have to do for each major, and determine if the course load is what you would want to do.

For example my undergrad was history. I have taken many history courses, AP level in high school, my family likes discussing history, and I knew going in that I would be writing a lot of essays and reading a lot of history books and primary resources, archives, etc. and I was happy with that. I am very glad I went that route. I didn't worry about money because I knew I was going for my masters after and that a BA in history could be applied to a lot of fields. That kind of flexibility may be good for you in a major if you aren't sure of the exact career you want, whereas a specialization narrows the field and may trap you.

Also, you really do not need to declare a major at most colleges until sometime during the sophomore year, so take that time to have fun in education and get your feet wet in a bunch of subjects. If you can find something you like and turn it into a career you'll be much happier in the long run and the experience will be much more rewarding than picking education and career based solely on the money.

I used the always reliable inny minny miny mo method.

Okay, I actually changed my major 2 times and took 5 years to get through college (Biology to Exercise Science - the second major being totally aswesome: easy plus fun). I then proceeded to grad school where I went into public health. Worked in a public health career for 2 years, then decided to go back to school for my doctorate in preventive health. I say all this, because even after all this schooling, I am still unsure of what the hell I EXACTLY want to do. I kind of feel like I went through a mid-life crisis starting at 18 and still have yet to get out of it.

So, bottom line, don't stress too much if you don't know exactly what you want to do...most people don't really know when they enter college (and some of us don't know what to do well after graduating from college). Start out by taking your general education requirements for the first two years and in that time, you might find something you lean toward or are even passionate about. Also, if there is a subject area you think you might be interested in, maybe try get a part-time job in that field, or an internship or something.

If you are interested in accounting, business might not be a bad major because it opens up quite a few options for you right out of college, or you could go on to an MBA program.

My advice is to go into college open minded.

My other advice, rely on student loans as little as possible and come out of college with as small of debt as you can. Also, please don't party yourself out of college...you'll seriously screw yourself over.

Good luck

No rush to decide right away. When I was in school we weren't required to declare a major until the end of our sophomore year. Try a bunch of different things. College isn't just about preparing for a career it is also for getting an education. Use the opportunity to take a variety of classes, anthropology, geology, astronomy, history, sociology, religion, math, biology, chemistry, physics, economics, business, comp sci, poli sci, english lit, etc. That's what I did. Not only do you learn about a variety of subjects, but you get a better feel for what you're interested in. I chose biology to start, then after taking a course in plant morphology realized that wasn't quite right for me and switched to microbiology. Nailed it.

One of the best things you can do as you're going through all of this is develop your ability to think critically and write well. Those skills will serve you well in whatever field you finally choose.

If you aren't on a mission, like some nut jobs that were born knowing they were destined for nursing school, you'll need to test a few things out. If you start to feel lost and clueless just distract yourself until it passes, it's normal. It happens to everyone, though some fail to notice.

I was dumb enough to treat college as a path to enlightenment instead of as a place to obtain a marketable status symbol. Pick something that plays to your strengths but don't pick something that has no marketable value. You might be able to get away with studying what you love if you go to Harvard or Princeton.