Picking Your Major (and College): Tools for the Undecided

Undecided about your major, and therefore equally undecided about where to go to college? Relax — you’re perfectly normal! The reality is, the most popular major nationwide at the start of the first year of college is “undecided.” So no one expects you to really know this for sure now. If you’re really unsure, you might want to go to a college that offers a lot of different types of majors instead of one that specializes in one or two specific areas. For example, don’t pick a college that specializes in business and health professions if you think you might want to be an art or literature major.

Some students find it helpful to take a quick quiz to get some direction. Obviously, the results aren’t scientific and therefore shouldn’t be taken as gospel, but they can be helpful. I really like About.com College Major Quiz because, rather than telling you specific majors to look at, it tells you what type of things you might enjoy. For example, I am the “investigative” type according to that test, which makes sense, because I’ve always loved research-based subjects, and almost all of my degrees are in that area. So that might help to give you some general guidance that gives you several options to consider.

Another helpful tool is the Myers-Brigg Type Indicator. Used by literally millions of college students, career professionals, and community servants every year, the MBTI helps to determine which of the sixteen most popular personality types fits you best. Your result can help you to determine your strengths and weaknesses, and the analysis of your type can give you a list of potential careers that might be of interest to you. You can take a free MBTI-style test at HumanMetrics and then compare your result to common careers at The Personality Page.

To figure out which colleges might be good matches for you, I am a huge fan of the Princeton Review’s Counselor-o-Matic. You’ll need to register, but it’s free and simple. The Counselor-o-Matic will help you figure out locations, college sizes, competitiveness, and a lot of other factors, all based on your personal profile and interests. Best of all, it can put you directly in touch with colleges that might be good fits.

And once you’ve done all of that? The reality is, you still might not be completely certain — and that’s still very much okay. Colleges typically don’t require students to declare their majors until the end of their sophomore year or the start of their junior year. The first two years of college are really designed as a time to explore your options and find out what works best for you through trial (and maybe some error). Chances are, once you start taking some general courses and electives, you’ll settle into a field that seems like the perfect match for you, and then it will all come together perfectly for you, just like it does for most students.

Additional Resources:

Major Decisions: How to Pick Your Major in College (Boston College)
Choosing a Major in College: How to Pick the Right Field (CollegeView)
MyMajors.com (Townsend Communications)