How to Choose a College Major: A Practical Process

This guide is for college students choosing a major, and for parents who want to help without steering. The best process combines four things: what you are curious about, what you do well, what the required courses actually look like and what people in the field do day to day. Being undecided for a while is normal, as long as you are testing options rather than waiting.

Start with what you already know about yourself

Before browsing the course catalog, spend an hour writing honest answers:

Which classes, in high school or college, did you look forward to? Not the easy ones, the interesting ones.
What do you read about, watch or tinker with when nothing is assigned?
Which assignments made time disappear?
What do people ask you for help with?
Do you like working with people, ideas, data, things or a mix?
What kind of day do you want: outdoors, at a desk, moving, teaching, building?

Look for patterns. Two or three themes usually show up, and they point toward a cluster of majors rather than one answer.

Read the requirements, not just the name

A major’s name can be misleading. The real picture is in the required courses.

Pull up the full course list for two or three majors you are considering.
Look closely at the upper-level courses, since that is where you will spend junior and senior year.
Note the prerequisite chains. Some majors need a sequence that starts in the first year, so waiting too long can add time.
Check whether the major has an application, a minimum GPA or a limited number of spots.
Take one introductory course in each serious option. Notice whether you like the homework, not only the lectures.

Talk to people who are a few steps ahead

Course descriptions tell you what is taught. People tell you what it is like.

Upper-year students in the major. Ask what surprised them, which courses were hardest and what they wish they had known. Clubs and department events are easy places to meet them.
A professor in the department. Go to office hours and ask where students in the major tend to end up. See how to talk to professors.
People working in the field. Short conversations with alumni or family contacts are often called informational interviews. Ask what a normal week looks like and what they studied.
The career center. Many can show what graduates of each major have gone on to do.

Separate the major from the career

Students often think the major locks in a career. For some paths, such as nursing, engineering or accounting, the major matters a lot. For many others, employers care more about skills, internships and experience than about the exact major. A few questions help:

Does the career I am thinking about require a specific degree or license?
Could a minor, an internship or electives give me what I need instead?
Am I choosing this for me, or because it sounds safe or pleases someone else?

Trying the work directly helps more than guessing; see landing a college internship.

It is fine to be undecided, with a plan

Many students start college undecided, and many who declare early change later. Undecided works well when you use the time:

Take general education courses that count toward several possible majors.
Try one new subject each term.
Set a date with your advisor to narrow to two options.
Know your school’s deadline for declaring, and when a late choice would add a semester.

If you have already declared and it does not fit, read changing majors.

For parents

Your experience is useful, and so is restraint. Ask questions that help the student think (“What did you like about that class?”) rather than questions that push (“What job does that get you?”). If cost or time is a real concern, say so plainly and ask the student to bring a course plan from their advisor. A student who chooses a major they care about tends to work harder at it.

Where a mentor helps

Choosing a major is a series of small steps that are easy to put off: the advisor meeting, the conversation with a senior, the email to an alum. A mentor helps the student turn the process into weekly actions, prepares them for those conversations and helps connect interests to real options through career and education planning. Mentors are not academic advisors, so official requirements come from the school. Sessions are by video in the student’s time zone, and with the student’s permission parents receive progress updates. See mentoring for college students and first-year college mentoring.

Common questions

When do you have to choose a major?

Many colleges ask students to declare by the end of sophomore year, but deadlines vary and some majors need earlier course sequences. Check with your advisor.

Is it bad to be undecided in college?

No. It is common and can lead to a better choice, as long as you are taking courses and talking to people to narrow your options.

Should I pick a major based on salary?

Earnings are a fair factor, but a major you cannot sustain interest in is hard to finish well. Look at both, and remember that many careers do not require one specific major.

Get started

Is a student stuck on choosing a major? Call (888) 305 5422, email contact@blackburnmentoring.com or start with a short assessment. A member of our team reviews every assessment personally and sets up a free intro call.