Choosing a College for Your College Major
Before you read any further, I want you to know that, in most cases, you do not need to know exactly what you want to do in life the minute you arrive on campus. In fact, many students change their college major more than once as they discover new areas of interest. (I personally changed mine 4 times.) That being said, having some idea of what you may be interested in studying can be a great help as you search for a school that will be the right fit for you.
Taking a career interest inventory is a great way to focus in on what general college major areas you may be interested in. These are often offered by guidance counselors and are even included as part of the PLAN test and the ACT. With this information, you can look more critically at the colleges you may be considering; evaluating course offerings as well as special programs that may be available in that field. For example, if you think you want to choose a college major in Environmental Science, a school that produces a good portion of its power with its own wind turbine or offers field studies in the Arctic, may be much more appealing to you than one that only offers a few courses in Environmental Studies. Perhaps you’re leaning toward Business as a possible college major, then a school with a live trading floor might be exactly what you’re looking for. These types of things can be very helpful as you try to sort out which school is the best for you.
Choosing a college major can be an inexact science. That’s why, if you’re feeling indecisive, it’s good to know there are some schools that won’t even let you choose a major till you are a Sophomore and have had time to do some exploring. However, that is not true for all schools - or all majors.
Some college majors, such as Engineering or Nursing, can require that you have taken a certain sequence of courses in a specified period of time which may make transferring into these programs extremely difficult. While this can be problematic for a student who is unsure of what their college major should be, it can be a great thing for someone who is sure of what they want to study because it can mean that they will get to the heart of their studies more quickly. The moral of the story? Be sure you look up the schools’ policies regarding when you must declare your college major, as well as departmental policies and prerequisites for transferring into a major.
So, do you have to know exactly what you are going to major in before you apply ? No, but knowing what a college has to offer in the areas that interest you right now should be weighed carefully when determining which schools you ultimately apply to.
