I am a Senior in high school with just a semester left. I know where I am going to school. Now there is one thing I really don't know. What should I study? How do you pick a major in college?
Well as of so far I have narrowed by choices to things I think I would be good at. I am considering majoring in psychology, business, political science, public policy (public administration), and international studies. There are problems with a bunch of these though. With all of them with the exception of business and maybe psychology, if for whatever reason I do not continue on to graduate school, educations in these fields will put huge limitations on what I can do with my future, the kind of job I can get, and the life I will live. My parents have always acted as though graduate school is an expectation, but I want to make sure I have something for a worst case scenario.
My goal is to become a lawyer or business man and eventually a politician. Politics is really my calling, but without money, it is very difficult to get into politics.
How should I make a decision? If you were put in this situation, would you take the high risk high reward path or the low risk possibly high reward path? Longterm, it may be better for my political aspirations to go straight into politics after undergraduate, but is this too much of a risk?
Don't plan out your entire future just yet. Just take classes that you think sound interested in, and everything will fall into place by the time you have to declare your major. You're too young to be stressing about this.
I know I shouldn't plan, but it makes me nervous in some ways not to.
Ross Kressel
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/rosskressel
Double Major. Take something practical and something that you want to do, but won't necessarily support you.
"But are not the dreams of poets and the tales of travellers notoriously false?"
H. P. Lovecraft
Don't go into a general poly sci major... you'll have a very had time finding a job.
[Krst]
My dad and other people have said the same exact thing. What can you do with a BA in Political Science? Nothing.
Ross Kressel
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/rosskressel
Well I'm kinda in the same boat your in but totally different field. My problem is I want to major in Acting. But after I graduate it will probably be really difficult for me to find a job. So what am I doing I'm going to be safe and double major. Its always good to have something to fall back on just incase it is dificult to find a job.
my blog!! http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/fighter25
I went in with everything planned and I saw my life a certain way and I got to college after the first semester *brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrakeeee* *slam into brick wall*.
I, and so many others I know, tried picking a major and ended up switching (I know only a handful of students who knew from the get-go what they wanted in a career and did it from start-to-finish, no changes.)
Unfortunately in high school they don't tell you that so many people switch majors or that you change in personality and interests so much within the first year. Everyone pretty much agrees with me that I was totally different from senior year in high school to sophomore year in college. Things become much more stabilized by junior year.
My advice is to pick the school you feel most comfortable at with people and settings and offer things that interest you outside of the classroom. As for a major, the best advice I recieved from an Honors College professor was to take classes your first year in a wide variety of subjects. You are not going to lose anything by doing that (you can technically really earn your major within a year of classes, so don't sweat it at this point.) Also, you will have to fulfill general education requirements which mean you do take a variety of subjects.
Obtaining a BA in any field isn't just about the degree you get, it's about the internships, networking, etc. you make while you are there. You could work for the city with a BA (government is the largest employer after all), you can work in research, go into journalism, work on campaigns, work for elected officials, work for a nonprofit organization, get your secondary education teaching certification, work for a lawfirm or progress further and go to law school. If you want to go to college just to make money, then just go to pharmacy school or accounting and get CPA, but if you wnat to go college to become a better educated adult, your major is not of too much significance.
My intent for college is to really learn a lot. I want to educate myself about the world and everything, but at the same time, I want to have a high earning capability once I am done. My parents have the expectation that some type of education after college is very necessary and I tend to agree with that. Whether it ends up being law school, medical school, or any other type of graduate education, I intend to get an education that I gain an education as well as the ability to make a good amount of money. I would hate being a CPA. Way too boring for me. Pharmacy is interesting, but I really don't think it is the right field for me. I am just going to have to wait and see. The school I am going to in the fall does not allow us to declare a major until the end of sophomore year which is cool.
Ross Kressel
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/rosskressel
There is no rush in deciding. Get more involved with activities to see what you are interested in. Talk to some people who are already in college and see what they have to say about the majors your interested in.