If you have no idea what career you want, how are you supposed to choose a college since they specialize in different programs? And if you pick the college with the most options, what do you say your major is?

I took a test online at careercruising.com
Here are some of my results:

Ecologist
Conservation Officer
Director of Photography
Print Journalist
Composer
Musician
Translator
Casting Director
Activist
Public Policy Analyst
Writer
Set Designer
Producer
Agronomist
Arborist
Park Warden / Ranger
Zookeeper
Animal Caretaker
Psychologist
Genetic Counselor
Nurse Practitioner
Art / Music Therapist


As you can see, this is a VERY vast array of things. It would seem kind of weird to take classes in psychology, music, journalism, environmental science, and nursing all at once. Help
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03-21-04, 05:28 PM
juanruiz
Most college freshmen don't have a clue what they want to major in, and on average a student changes majors 4-5 times. That is one of the reasons colleges have graduate education requirements, so that you can sample a wide array of disciplines. It's been my experience that students have taken a course in a subject they never thought would interest them, and BANG! They continue on in that department. Go into college with an open mind, without firm plans, and see what happens.

03-21-04, 07:44 PM
methos
I agree. Even most of those who think they know what they will major in end up changing their minds, and many, many people don't end up in the field they eventually get their degree in anyway.

Choose a school that's academically strong overall in a location you like. Visit, stay overnight, hang out with some of the students, get a feel for it. It's amazing how much the school's feel will matter. An intelligent, motivated student such as you seem to be can get a good education at any decent school. If you do decide on something that your chosen school isn't strong in, it's possible to transfer. A large number of students do.

As Juan said, this is why most schools require 'general education' courses. In undergrad, I got 48 courses worth of credits. Only 13 of those were in chemistry (my eventual major and what I am now working on a Ph.D. in).

03-21-04, 08:10 PM
IndigoFlavours
That sounds reasonable. By the time I get into college though I think I will have most of my general education credit requirements filled in. By the time I enter college I will have credit for AP United States History, AP Physics, AP German, AP Calculus, and AP Chemistry. I'm thinking that will help save me time so I have more time freshman year to sample different courses, since I know I'm not going in to History, Physics, or Calculus. If it turns out that I really like chem or German I might take those over again in college.... we'll see.

03-21-04, 09:05 PM
Lydia
I couldn't agree more with Juan and Methos - go with a university that is academically strong and you can't go wrong. Get a solid education and decide what you feel would be best for your interests.

I started out majoring in Medical Technology and ended up with Marketing - HUGE difference!!!

03-21-04, 11:02 PM
coldfuse
It seems like you could write wongs, and articles with pictures, about how you protect the forest from corporate greed when you're not busy nursing infirm animals back to good health and putting on plays to keep their spirits high.

04-12-04, 12:29 AM
stampeding turtles
"A guidance counselor who has made a fetish of security, or who has unwittingly surrendered his thinking to economic determinism, may steer a youth away from his dream of becoming a poet, an artist, a musician or any other of thousands of things, because it offers no security, it does not pay well, there are no vacancies, it has no 'future'."
Henry M Wriston, 11th president of Brown University

Just thought I would pass that neat quote on to you. I think there are a lot of people who don't follow their real dreams because they get advice from Babbitts or money-grubbers, or people who have made a fetish out of security but are miserable, and just zombies getting a paycheck.

Good luck!

04-12-04, 11:08 AM
juanruiz
Wriston is very much an exception, or perhaps it is because he is at Brown. Most administrators, while paying lip service to the Humanities, view them as an anachronism, lacking any application to the modern world.

04-12-04, 01:46 PM
Elexina
I agree, you certainly don’t have to declare a major right away. Very few people know what they want to study before they apply at college. You can be "undecided" or you can call your major "liberal arts" (which, really, is just one step up from undecided), and take some time to decide what direction you want to go in.
You could even start off at a local community college, just to see how things go and what interests you, and then transfer to a four-year school.
You could limit yourself by distance, too. Will you be driving back and forth? How far do you want to drive? Then, check which colleges have the most of your interests in that radius.
I knew what I wanted to study before I went to school, but I narrowed it down based on distance and by what else the school offered that interested me, besides my major of choice.

04-20-04, 11:40 PM
MommyTimesTwo
PLEASE do not decide a major unless or until you have interned or worked in the field. What you learn in college and what you will actually be doing are two very different things.

I started college as a forensic anthropology major. What I didn't know then is that only about 1% of all forensic anthropologists actually work as forensic anthropologists. The rest are lucky if they work in forensics or anthropology at all.

Then I moved to a different school and decided information technology would be much more interesting and applicable. No, it turns out that IT is generally running help desk phones or putting together computers for Best Buy customers. No, thanks.

So what I did at that point was spend time with people in different jobs, and basically interview others. After about 6 months, I found that I have a strong affinity for accounting. Both in school and how it is actually practiced. So I am now nearly done with my accounting degree.

I would recommend that you start in just Liberal Arts, and after you have experienced a lot of different things you are interested in, then pick the one you like the best. While you aren't necessarily "stuck" with whatever you chose to go to college for, it's certainly easier to do the research now than graduate only to find out you hate your job, and have to go back.

04-22-04, 11:35 PM
Kirby Lynn
I'm one of those people who has no idea what they want to do with their life, and so I opted for one of the more "versatile" majors, Communications. While I don't want to push more information upon you--I know I feel like I'm constantly being pressured by faculty and professors to go certain (and generally always conflicting) directions--Communications is one of those majors that can be applied to pretty much anything you choose to pursue after college, and employers love a potential employee with good communication skills.

So, I basically just did what I said I wasn't going to and tried to push Communications at you. Wink

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