How did you choose your major?

[bakajana]

These days I'm thinking hard about what to do after high school but I'm still not sure about what major to do at university. I have some ideas but nothing stands out particularly.

How did you choose your major? Did you already know what you wanted to do in life or you had trouble choosing?

[Curmudgeon]

1. In today's world, if you are not S. T. E. M., you are not shit. And even some STEM requires going beyond just a four-year degree, sometimes much farther (medicine, biology, botany, chemistry, research science).

2. If you cannot hack that, there is the Accounting and Finance cop-out, which is face saving and at least still practical, but good jobs will be hard to come by at first, and ultimately will definitely not be as lucrative. I am not casting aspersions here; I found myself going this route, as my high school had great reading and writing, but not so great calculating.

3. If you have a sincere desire to be a real bona fide English Literature or History or Philosophy or other "Classics" or "Letters" student, just understand that you will need to go all the way to a doctorate and you will have to be a professor, or maybe a masters degree if you can tolerate secondary (high) school teaching. And you will have to endure the political crap that has poisoned academia. If you can fight that crap as much as you can, a la Jordan Peterson, I salute you, but you might be driven mad.

4. If you find yourself getting shunted into " Bogus Studies" academic garbage, you have failed. Save money and cut your losses at that school. If you have to "downshift" to a lesser university or college in order to study for a real degree, do so. A Bogus Studies degree from a "prestigious" university is STILL bogus. A good STEM degree from even an unknown school, or a medical degree from a Caribbean medical school, is STILL a STEM degree or and MD. "A mind is a terrible thing to waste", and the people who get degrees in Bogus Studies of debunked Marxist dogma have wasted their minds.

5. if you find you like using your hands and don't mind getting a little dirty or a little sweaty, consider trades. A good skilled mechanic, welder, electrician, plumber or HVAC (heating ventilation air conditioning) person is better than another lame liberal arts degreed person, and certainly better than a bogus studies waste of mind person.

[MTC29]

I planned to become an engineer; the only question was which branch of engineering to select? Aerospace was my first choice, but with the war in Vietnam over and the Apollo space program ended the demand for engineers in that field had drop off considerably. Due to the supposed energy crisis of the 1970s, petroleum engineering seemed like a safe bet, but that branch normally means a considerable knowledge of chemistry, which was my weakest STEM subject.

In the end, I choose structural engineering.

[Youryeodongsaeng]

I already knew what I wanted to do. I was in the 12th grade, final year of high school when I decided. I am attending college on 22nd of August of this year. I've had a thing for technology for when I was 16, maybe younger. First, I had to look for a major at a college that I am going to attend, so I searched and found mechatronics. So, in that major, you can either learn how to use technology for everyday use or make a career out of it.

I've planned on going back to college to take up another major, automotives. I am not the person to stick to just one thing, so I decided that I want to work on vehicles as well. I find both mechatronics and automotives to look fun.

[bakajana]

Sounds interesting, wish you to archive your goal

[jengeorge26]

I was just your age and trying to decide on a major, then I found out that you don’t have to declare your major until you start your junior year of college. So just take the required classes.

[TheNewGeneration]

I'm an engineering major heading into my second year of college. I had a hard time deciding what to study, but in the end, I went with electrical engineering because it was my father's major; it requires math, which I'm good at; and it will help me get a high-paying job once I graduate. Lately, I've been considering maybe changing my major to computer science so that I can work in the software industry and maybe make even more money than I would if I stuck with engineering. I've already learned the basics of three programming languages and am pretty good at it.

[bakajana]

Wish I were you

[TheNewGeneration]

Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I need to edit these comments before I submit them. I sounded like a jerk.

[bakajana]

No you didn't, don't worry! You seem ambitious, smart and pretty down-to-earth, those are good things. I'd just like to have all figured out already too.

[WindAtMyBack]

It was something I thought I'd really like doing for a living. For various reasons I ended up dropping out. But in hindsight I still think it would have been a good profession for me. Unfortunately it was also the second lowest pay of any profession. I didn't care about that though, because I'd rather do what I like that make a lot of money.

[Guy13]

Work beforehand. Work during in Combined Program. Get off Stupid government University SAME as high school :-) SORRY you were not advised by anyone in Public Schooling who gave A flying F about you...

[bakajana]

I'm doing a lyceum so I have to go to university. I can't do a proper job otherwise, just get minor ones

[Guy13]

Look up Northeastern University. There is a Study-Work program 40 plus years old. If you are Excellent in this... sometimes Penn or Duke or Harvard Business grabs you up into and advanced degree. Look into this Design. Look into other Designs. Look at their outlets to Employers...

[bakajana]

Oh since I'm not American I didn't know about those ones, interesting. Just I'm not sure if there's the chance to do it with the subjects I'm into or if there are other ones in other countries too. I'm tryna evaluate all the options 😅

[Guy13]

I have one simple experience. Most people co
E to this country for those kinds of things. 🤷🏻‍♂️ I bet you’ll be fine. You seem really bright.

[Curmudgeon]

But how many "entry level jobs" ask for "3-5 years of experience"? All too many:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR2qUXmqgv4

[bakajana]

@Guy13 oh thank you

[Pudsmucker]

You still have some time while in college you have a lot of gen Ed classes to attend. How is your mathematics skills? What are some classes that you like?
Talk with your guidance counselor. They should be able to help you.

For me I love drawing and design work drafting in school. I enjoyed math I did go into engineering.

[exitseven]

I went into Computer Science because I needed to major in something that would provide me with a good paying job when I got out. I knew a little about computers and thought it would be a good choice for me.

[FunkyMonkee]

I love music so, I went for a music major. It was either that or become a gynecologist. They're just about the same thing.

[exitseven]

Except one pays a lot more than the other.

[andreasderjuengere]

What I had in mind - did not come to pass.

What ''happened'' to me turned out to be a lot better :D

[FilmGuy93]

I chose 3 things and started school. I just went down through the list by process of elimination.

[Harbringer26]

I simply pinpointed where my greatest interest and ability lay.

[SunnyHeythere]

Based on salaries