Welcome to FORUM's new Student Survival Site!  We hope you'll be able to use this site as a resource and also share your thoughts with others on this blog.  Each month, you'll find a new topic of interest.

A logical first step in choosing a major is deciding what interests you.  It sounds simple enough, but what if you have many different interests?  The next step would be not only finding a major that fascinates you, but also picking a major in which you would excel.  If you were good at math in high school, chances are you’ll be good at math in college.  So what happens if you’re still having trouble settling on a major in college?  Most colleges offer career centers.  Career centers are designed to be taken advantage of by students.  They typically offer tests and counseling to figure out what major a student is best suited for.  They also tend to offer classes regarding résumé and cover letter writing, as well as preparing you to apply for jobs.  If all else fails, sometimes you just have to experiment and switch majors.  If you switch a few times in the first or second year, you can typically still graduate on time.

Another thing to think about is how the major you choose will impact your future career.  In general, it seems that if you are looking for a career in a mathematical, scientific, medical, or technological field, it is more important to have a major that specifically coincides.  If you want to be an engineer, you need to major in engineering.  Not only that, but you need to major in a specific kind of engineering—mechanical, industrial, electrical, chemical, etc.  If you are looking for a career in business, marketing, or communications, your major doesn’t necessarily have to be as directly related.  If you are an English major, you could probably go in all three directions.  The same is true with most liberal arts majors.  It is important to keep in mind that most of the job responsibilities you attain will actually be learned once you are in your career—not in college.