How to Pick a College Major: 3 Simple Questions

For some people, the hardest part of college is getting into the one they want. For other people, the hardest part is going to class and doing the homework. But for some, the hardest part of college is actually picking what to major in.

If you are having a hard time picking your college major, don’t worry! It is not as hard as it seems, and this article will help you along that path. So if you are trying to figure out what major to pick in college, keep reading, because this is written for you!

Choosing a college major can be difficult and confusing; I would know because I’ve been there! When I started college, I had almost no idea what I wanted to major in! But I asked myself a few questions and slowly narrowed down my search of what I wanted to major in.

The three questions you should ask yourself are:

• What Do I Like to Do?
• What Do I Want to Do?
• What Am I Good At?

Let’s look at each question a little bit more to help determine a college major.

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Ask yourself this question, and think of activities you enjoy doing. Maybe sports, video games, artwork, design, meeting new people or whatever. Now that you have some activities in mind, try to think about WHY you like to do those things.

For me, I love playing soccer, and the reason why is because I am a competitive person, so I like competition. So that made me look for college majors in competitive fields.

Once you have a few answers and ideas to this question, continue to question two.

This is important because for some people, they already have an idea of what they want to do in the future. So if your family runs a business, and you are planning to join it, consider a business or other related college degree.

If you have other ideas that don’t necessarily fit with any specific college major, then ask the why question again, why do I want to do what I want to do?

If you still are unsure about what you want to do, that’s OK! Continue to question three for the last question in picking a college major.

After the first two questions, you should have some ideas of what you like to do, and maybe what you want to do, but now ask yourself what you are good at. Are you creative and imaginative or direct and efficient? Do you evaluate people easily or are you successful at being heard by others.

Now use these three questions to connect the dots between what you like to do, what you want to do, and what you are good at. Don’t expect to find a specific college major from this, but it might help narrow your search.

In my case, after asking myself these questions over and over again, I determined I was a self motivated competitive person who wanted and enjoyed creating things and making money and I was good at being consistent, efficient and thorough. I took a business class and I enjoyed it and found it fascinating, I later took a class in marketing, and voila! I had chosen my college major.

Not everyone will have as easy a time as I did in picking a college major (some will have it easier!), but keep thinking about it and if you ask yourself these questions, you should be well on your way to picking a major in college.

If you are already in college and don’t know what to major in, try taking a WIDE variety of classes. This is what helped me narrow my college major search to business, and later marketing. Try a class in History, then a foreign language. Try business and communications. Look for classes that grab your interest, and then go with them. Just make sure these classes will count towards your as of yet undecided major if you are concerned about that. At my school, each student is required to take a certain number of electives and classes on other topics, so in my first year of school I took mostly these types of classes to help figure out what to major in.

Finally, three more tips to help you Pick a College Major:

Ask your family and friends – ask the people who know you what they think you might enjoy or be good at. Their answers might surprise you a lot, but they can also help.

Ask your advisor – yep, your advisor can help! So get to know your college advisor, and ask them for advice and tips on how to pick a college major. They should know, they deal with it every year!

Take a college major assessment test – there are college major tests available both online, and possibly at your school. Try asking your adviser about it or look up college assessment tests online.

I hope this information will help in choosing a college major. If you have more questions, leave a comment!