Choosing the Right Major for Your Career

So you’ve graduated from high school and are setting off for college in the fall.  You have visions of being on your own, doing your own thing, and not having to worry about your parents being around to tell you otherwise.  Keep in mind, you are setting off for college to gain an education, that will help you land the right career after you graduate.  While it will be good to be on your own, don’t forget your college career is a prelude to the career that will last you a life time.



If you are like a lot of recent high-school graduates, you may have an idea on what you want to be when you grow up, but may not have it narrowed down just quite yet.  You may want to get into education, buy maybe you’re not quite sure if you want to teach pre-school or high-school students.  Maybe you like the business world, but not sure if you want to get into finance, accounting, marketing or management.  Choosing the right major is a critical fact of attending college, and something that should not be taken lightly.

The nice thing about college is you have the freedom to take the classes that are of interest to you.  So if you want to get into the business world, you have a vast array of classes to choose from.  The nice thing about this is that you wont’ loose credit taking classes that don’t necessarily fit into the major you will choose in your second or third year of school.

In your first year of college, you’ll be taking a lot of general education courses.  These are courses you’ll need to complete to earn your degree regardless of the major you choose.  These are courses like science, math, and language arts that you absolutely must take.  However, you’ll also have the choice to take some electives, and this is your opportunity to “try out” some various classes that will help lead you to a major you want to focus in.

For example, let’s say you want to get into business, but you’re still not sure what sort of business program you want to focus in.  By using your electives, you can start to take a marketing or management class to see what that does for you.  You’ll need these types of classes to graduate with a business degree, so why not try them up front to get a feel for what they are like.  You may fall in love with marketing and immediately know that’s what you want to do with your life.  On the off chance that marketing doesn’t have that appeal, you’ll then know that’s not something you you’ll pursue.

Let the college programs work for you.  Take you electives up front in your college years, and let that help you choose a major that you’ll live with for the rest of your life.