How did you choose your major?

[KSUViolet06]

More important than your major is also "who you know" (networking) and your actual experiences.

In fields that don't really have a prefered major, it's pretty much all about those 2 things.

Ex: getting into the TV/film industry. It really doesn't matter that you went to XYZ School of Art/Film. Or that you have a degree in film/acting. 9 of 10 times, the person who has worked on different sets before and is "in the know" with casting/production/director peeps is going to get the job/part over Suzie who was an acting/film major but has no real connections and has never interned/PAed/done actual acting.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

More important than your major is also "who you know" (networking) and your actual experiences.

Yep, this too.

[*winter*]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

Ex: getting into the TV/film industry. It really doesn't matter that you went to XYZ School of Art/Film. Or that you have a degree in film/acting. 9 of 10 times, the person who has worked on different sets before and is "in the know" with casting/production/director peeps is going to get the job/part over Suzie who was an acting/film major but has no real connections and has never interned/PAed/done actual acting.

I would say the school does help with this process. The school I graduated from (ironically with a science degree) has a HUGE and nationally-known performing arts program- everything from dance to theatre to stage and arts management. Being in that environment, you are working with and meeting those valuable "networking" people simply because of your educational environment. In the dance program, recruiters come to the school to find new talent because the school is so well-known for its program and its high standards. As a result of the excellence in the performing arts, grads can have an automatic connection to people in the industry because there are so many who are alumnus from this school. It also has name recognition. It certainly helps with internships, too.

Off topic...sorry MelindaWarren

[melindawarren]

Originally Posted by *winter*

I would say the school does help with this process. The school I graduated from (ironically with a science degree) has a HUGE and nationally-known performing arts program- everything from dance to theatre to stage and arts management. Being in that environment, you are working with and meeting those valuable "networking" people simply because of your educational environment. In the dance program, recruiters come to the school to find new talent because the school is so well-known for its program and its high standards. As a result of the excellence in the performing arts, grads can have an automatic connection to people in the industry because there are so many who are alumnus from this school. It also has name recognition. It certainly helps with internships, too.

Off topic...sorry MelindaWarren

Actually, not off-topic at all! Networking is huge. Sometimes, in certain fields (not the ones DTD Alum-by the way, FIGHT ON!-mentioned, but certain fields), networking is "it." Multiple people have said to me, "I wouldn't be any more or less inclined to hire based on what academic qualification was on the person's resume-I want the person who's best for the job." You're more likely to be in that room and up for the job in the first place if you have the connections, regardless of whether or not you majored in Biomechanical Engineering or Basketweaving.

But thank you all for your answers! I'm not really in that much of a rush-I have until the end of sophomore year (fall 2012, thanks to AP credits)- but my school has this really weird policy that, if you major in something in the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, all but about 24 units have to be CLAS units (this may not be a weird policy; I have no basis for comparison). I've already taken 8 (given that I was a major in a professional school)+3.3 from my summer class. This leaves me very little room for outside experimentation, should I decide to pursue something in liberal arts (which, in all honesty, is probably the case for me).

Either way, hearing your stories gave me some perspective (given that every other relative of mine, save for one, came in as a major in [poli sci, history, etc.] and saw that major through).

[SWTXBelle]

I wouldn't count on ANY degree being a guarantee that you'll be able to be employed after college - I know far too many unemployed business, finance, accounting and law majors to think that you can count on your degree. I'm also reminded of my grandfather who graduated from SMU. He wanted to be an architect, but as a child of the Depression, he listened to his father who told him to be an accountant, and he'd always have work. So he spent his life as a miserable accountant. Nope, life's too short to do something you hate.

That said - I started college as a drama major. I was given a scholarship, and thought for sure I would be a professional actress. I quickly discerned that I could be perfectly happy doing acting as a hobby, but really wanted the intellectual stimulation of a liberal arts degree. I graduated with a B.A. in English and a drama minor. I did NOT plan to teach. I then went to graduate school in order to continue my studies - again, NOT planning to teach. But when I needed to support my family teaching turned out to be the perfect career. I have taught college, high school and middle school. Teaching turned out to be my passion. I am also a newspaper columnist, but that is really more for fun than financial gain.

My education is far more than a way to earn a living, as important as that is. I cannot imagine what my life would be without it.

[IrishLake]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

^^^True this. I can only think of MAYBE one or 2 fields where you can leave college and immediately have a shot at getting into the decently-paying/fulfilling jobs. I think nursing is one of them and to an extent education is, although with the advent of Highly Qualified Teacher status, I think it's becoming more difficult to get positions in a lot of school districts without a grad degree. Even if you do get the job, you can't reach your highest level of salary potential without it.

You could include Pharmacy in that. If you select a school where it has a straight 5-6 year pharmacy program, you're making 6 figures or close to it when you graduate. That is versus 7-8 years if you get a BS undergrad, and then go to grad school of pharmacy. This is why Ohio Northern is so popular for Pharmacy school, I think it's one of the few left in the country that offer a straight 6 year program (I think they did away with the 5 year program, everyone now has to get their PharmD).

When I started college, I was a biology/pre-vet major. I loved science, was good at it for the most part, and loved animals. What better career, right? Wrong. I started shadowing vets the summer before college started. I passed out a few times. I nearly barfed a few times. The vets kept telling me I'd get over it. First year of college came and went, and I struggled with keeping my grades up. I partied too much, and I struggled with passing chemistry classes. After my first year of college, and my dismal GPA, my mom said "If you want to flunk out of college, you can come home and do that from the community college." I didn't want to leave school, so I changed my major to something I didn't even know my school offered at the time: environmental science. I could still keep my biology and science nerdiness, while doing something I thought I'd enjoy. As a bonus, I didn't have to take as many or as difficult chemistry classes. I was always an outdoors enthusiast. My grandparents took me hunting, fishing, riding and camping as a kid, and I was in 4-H for 10 years. I got to take awesomely cool classes like Mammology, Herpetology, Ornithology and Entomology. I also got to take engineering classes, which got my foot in the door with engineering consulting companies in the petroleum industry. I've always been fortunate to have a career in my field (with the exception of some unemployment). Now, I am an environmental geologist at a nuclear facility, I love my job, and my salary is decent.

[KillarneyRose]

I chose English Writing/Journalism for basically two reasons: I'd always been a very good writer and I wouldn't have to take a lot of math!

[KillarneyRose]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

More important than your major is also "who you know" (networking) and your actual experiences.

In fields that don't really have a prefered major, it's pretty much all about those 2 things.

Ex: getting into the TV/film industry. It really doesn't matter that you went to XYZ School of Art/Film. Or that you have a degree in film/acting. 9 of 10 times, the person who has worked on different sets before and is "in the know" with casting/production/director peeps is going to get the job/part over Suzie who was an acting/film major but has no real connections and has never interned/PAed/done actual acting.

I just saw KSUViolet's quote and I had to add an emphatic head nod to it because she is spot on. It definitely works that way in public relations, which was my chosen field. In PR, you're essentially no good to anyone if you don't know people who will run things on your client.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by KillarneyRose

I just saw KSUViolet's quote and I had to add an emphatic head nod to it because she is spot on. It definitely works that way in public relations, which was my chosen field. In PR, you're essentially no good to anyone if you don't know people who will run things on your client.

Right, but keep in mind that there are other fields where the actual credentials are very important, maybe even moreso than what you actually know.

Relatedly, in some fields (mostly IT stuff), a certification on top of ANY bachelor's is fine.

[psusue]

When I started at Penn State I really didn't know what I wanted to major in. Everyone in high school was like "well what are you good at?" and the only thing I could think of was French. So I went in as a French major. However my senior year I kind of fell in love with science and was thinking of double majoring in microbiology and French, to eventually do medical research or be a doctor in Africa. Enter intro chem, which I was not a fan of. I had to work really hard at it and it just did not come naturally to me, so I decided to stick with French, since I was naturally very good with languages.

I loved my 200 level grammar, writing, and speaking courses. I originally had planned to graduate early since it wouldn't have been difficult to do so. I also thought maybe I'd double major in German since I'd taken a year of it in high school, but wasn't sure. At about sophomore year I realized that French was not a marketable degree. I tried to think of what else I could do but came up with little. But then it came to me-- a lot of people in my family are teachers, so maybe I'd teach.

I was taking education classes for about a year and liked them, but I only really enjoyed teaching preschool and elementary aged children. Unfortunately, there is not a big market for that as most world language programs only start in middle or high school. That, in combination with a GPA drop from a family tragedy had me scratching my head again about what major I would stay in.

Spring semester junior year I decided just to stick it out with my French major (I had never technically changed it to French education). However my French was rusty because I hadn't been consistently taking classes or immersing myself in the language and I could not afford to go abroad. I started avoiding taking French classes (smart, right?) by taking TESOL, applied linguistics, and linguistics classes. I loved those, but again for personal and family reasons failed at least one of them in each area which prevented me from technically minoring in them. Womp.

At the beginning of my (first) senior year, I hated French. I could not do it anymore. I hadn't gone abroad and so my French was abysmal in comparison to everyone else's (my conversational French isn't bad, but my academic French wasn't great) and I was just over it. I knew I had to take 4 more advanced French literature classes to graduate and I could.not.do.it. So I decided to switch to the major that I could graduate from the fastest- Communication, Arts, and Sciences, or the liberal arts version of Communications.

I've been a CAS major for about a year and after trying a few different courses within the major I realize that I really enjoy rhetoric classes. I am also working on doing an internship this spring (and hopefully summer as well) to count for one or two of my classes and give me some more useful skills and contacts. I've already had one internship and I've also worked as an RA, which could definitely help me if I go into event planning or student affairs. Right now I'm looking into working for a nonprofit, in the social services, in student affairs, higher education, admissions, advising, or in ministry/as a missionary. I realize that getting my heart set on a specific career path at this point is not super practical and that I need to be open minded to get a job. I also do not care one bit about how much I get paid as long as I can eat sometimes and have some sort of roof over my head.

I guess the turning point for me came when I realized I do not have high material needs, I love to help people, I love working with people, and ideally I'd like to travel. My plans this August after I graduate is to just apply to a whole host of internships and full time positions and see where it leads me.
I'm not too worried about it; in fact, I'm pretty excited.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

Right, but keep in mind that there are other fields where the actual credentials are very important, maybe even moreso than what you actually know.

Relatedly, in some fields (mostly IT stuff), a certification on top of ANY bachelor's is fine.

The education field is kind of like that, to an extent. You could be super awesome but it doesn't matter how awesome you are if you're not certified (unless you're in a district that needs people SO badly that they'll hire you without it, but even then, the district is going to want you to be cert eventually because the state requires it.)

It's even becoming about more than just the cert because lots more districts are demanding grad degrees (so "any BA + a teacher cert" isn't cutting it anymore.) But "who you know" still matters to an extent because there are many schools/districts (esp. private schools or some suburbs) who really aren't going to hire anyone who's not "in the know." Like, if you haven't subbed or student taught there, it's hard to get your foot in the door.

[als463]

Originally Posted by psusue

When I started at Penn State I really didn't know what I wanted to major in. Everyone in high school was like "well what are you good at?" and the only thing I could think of was French. So I went in as a French major. However my senior year I kind of fell in love with science and was thinking of double majoring in microbiology and French, to eventually do medical research or be a doctor in Africa. Enter intro chem, which I was not a fan of. I had to work really hard at it and it just did not come naturally to me, so I decided to stick with French, since I was naturally very good with languages.

I loved my 200 level grammar, writing, and speaking courses. I originally had planned to graduate early since it wouldn't have been difficult to do so. I also thought maybe I'd double major in German since I'd taken a year of it in high school, but wasn't sure. At about sophomore year I realized that French was not a marketable degree. I tried to think of what else I could do but came up with little. But then it came to me-- a lot of people in my family are teachers, so maybe I'd teach.

I was taking education classes for about a year and liked them, but I only really enjoyed teaching preschool and elementary aged children. Unfortunately, there is not a big market for that as most world language programs only start in middle or high school. That, in combination with a GPA drop from a family tragedy had me scratching my head again about what major I would stay in.

Spring semester junior year I decided just to stick it out with my French major (I had never technically changed it to French education). However my French was rusty because I hadn't been consistently taking classes or immersing myself in the language and I could not afford to go abroad. I started avoiding taking French classes (smart, right?) by taking TESOL, applied linguistics, and linguistics classes. I loved those, but again for personal and family reasons failed at least one of them in each area which prevented me from technically minoring in them. Womp.

At the beginning of my (first) senior year, I hated French. I could not do it anymore. I hadn't gone abroad and so my French was abysmal in comparison to everyone else's (my conversational French isn't bad, but my academic French wasn't great) and I was just over it. I knew I had to take 4 more advanced French literature classes to graduate and I could.not.do.it. So I decided to switch to the major that I could graduate from the fastest- Communication, Arts, and Sciences, or the liberal arts version of Communications.

I've been a CAS major for about a year and after trying a few different courses within the major I realize that I really enjoy rhetoric classes. I am also working on doing an internship this spring (and hopefully summer as well) to count for one or two of my classes and give me some more useful skills and contacts. I've already had one internship and I've also worked as an RA, which could definitely help me if I go into event planning or student affairs. Right now I'm looking into working for a nonprofit, in the social services, in student affairs, higher education, admissions, advising, or in ministry/as a missionary. I realize that getting my heart set on a specific career path at this point is not super practical and that I need to be open minded to get a job. I also do not care one bit about how much I get paid as long as I can eat sometimes and have some sort of roof over my head.

I guess the turning point for me came when I realized I do not have high material needs, I love to help people, I love working with people, and ideally I'd like to travel. My plans this August after I graduate is to just apply to a whole host of internships and full time positions and see where it leads me.
I'm not too worried about it; in fact, I'm pretty excited.

You sort of sound like me psusue....sort of. I started out as a film major because I was certain I would be a music video director (think rap videos). Why, I'm not sure! I did a semester of school before getting pulled out to go overseas for the military. When I returned, I decided I would be a Russian Translation major with a minor in German. I was going to be a spy. Why? Still, not sure! I realized I would be in college much longer so, I decided to become a Sociology major. I mean, I hated math so this would be great---right? Wrong! Apparently, the Sociology program I was in was (at the time and I think still is to this day) ranked #17 in the nation because of its high content in research---which includes SPSS and statistics. I decided to just "pick up" my History degree since I had taken so many History courses and I ended up with two B.A.s in something I really enjoyed!

I later earned my Master's degree from the same school in Education as I prepared to attend law school. I completed a year of law school before realizing I didn't want to be an attorney. I am now in my second year of my second Master's program with hopes of getting into a Ph.D. program. I'm an advocate for people who want to make a difference.

psusue, you said you enjoyed helping people. May I suggest you consider checking out an MSW program? I promise you would love it! We could use people like you in this field! If you have ANY questions, please pm me. The same goes for anyone else who is the least bit interested in an MSW program.

[melindawarren]

So, can I bump this to announce that I chose a major?

After taking classes, evaluating my skills and interests, a lot of discussion and a great conversation with my advisor, I figured it out. You are now speaking to an English Lit major.

I have to say, I didn't realize how good I'd feel once I figured out what I wanted to major in!

Thank you all for your amazing answers and ideas, because outside perspective is so helpful (and thank you for being considerate and noting the importance of the question. I post frequently on another board--skating related--and I was pretty much laughed off for asking this question. In fact, I avoided going there for a few weeks after that incident).

[DubaiSis]

Now, don't forget you need to get internships, by-lines (if professional writer is a goal), paid jobs, etc. I'm all for a solid liberal education, but remember it results in just about squat if you don't prepare for post-college beyond just the education.

[IUHoosiergirl88]

I actually can say that I never changed my major in undergrad, although there are many times that I came thisclose (curse you, orgo II). I went into college loving science but not wanting to go to med school, which is strange for IU students. I started with a straight B.S. Bio and added a poly sci minor, and graduated that combo. I'm now finishing up my M.S. in Biotechnology, but have found breaking into pharmaceuticals, my goal field, to be incredibly difficult. However, it turns out that my odd major/minor combo actually made me extremely appealing to the intel community, where I did an internship in undergrand and I've since accepted a consulting position. Just goes to show that what you major in doesn't matter quite as much as what skills you have and how you can apply them