How to Chose a Major in College
When you first begin to decide on a major, begin by looking at what types of classes you have enjoyed in the past. What grades did you get in those classes? Did you enjoy the subject material? Did you find the subject difficult or interesting? These are all important question you must ask yourself. A person such as myself who majored in Political Science might want to look at what they watch on television or in movies. A person interested in law shows such as Law and Order, Boston Legal, The West Wing, Madame President, or 24 might strongly think about taking the Political Science major. Another factor to consider is what subjects did you enjoy in high school. I have always loved history and have always gotten high marks in those classes; another strong reason why I chose the political science major. Someone who enjoys watching ER, Gray’s Anatomy, or SCRUBS might like a career as a doctor and choose biology to study.
However I did have some friends suggest that I take English as my major. After all, I had always received high marks in English and seemed to enjoy English. After thinking it over for a short time I decided to stick with Political Science. My reason was that while I did like English, I wanted to be a lawyer and go to law school. Taking Political Science courses was a major that would best help me fulfill my career goals and dreams.
In college, if you are undecided between two or more majors, I strongly encourage you to take a few courses in each of those majors. If you are interested in business and science, I suggest taking a few business courses and science courses to see which you enjoy better. A great example of this was when I was undecided at first between choosing Political Science or another major called Philosophy, Politics, and Law. I thought that learning about politics and law would be interesting to me but I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy philosophy which was part of the major. After taking a philosophy course called Philosophy of Law and Justice which I hated, I vowed never again to take another philosophy course in college and that ended any uncertainty I had about choosing a major.
If on the other hand you are really an ambitious person, you might want to look into taking a double major which is choosing two majors that you really like and both want to major this. However, keep this in mind: your course work will be almost doubled and free time that you might have had while only taking one major with be drastically reduced and you will probably have to double the amount of hours you spend on homework and studying each week. Your class schedule will also double.
Another alternative is to take a minor in a subject. You can choose a major that you would like such as sociology and then minor in another subject such as Christian studies. Your course work will be longer and you will have to take more classes but it is a medium between only one major and taking two majors.
Before you finally pick a major, you should speak to an academic advisor in your school as well as a department head on the major you have to mind to get the best idea if this major is right for you. You might also want to look at the course catalog of your school to determine what classes you will have to end up taking to fulfill the qualifications of the major. For example, the English major in most schools require that you take at least one Shakespeare course. If you really hate Shakespeare, then you have to decide if you want to take English as your major. Whatever major you decide on, I wish you the best of luck in the future.
