Need honest opinions: how important is what you choose to major in during college?

First of all, what year are you? How much more time do you have?

I went through 5 or 6 majors during my unfortunate time in college. At the beginning of my Junior year, they forced me to pick one. What I really wanted to do was take a few years off of college and get an apprenticeship at a recording studio. I ended up wimping out, majoring in Psychology just because I had taken a lot of classes in the subject and was closest to a degree there. What a big fucking waste of time. Luckily it didn't waste that much money, because I had good scholarships.

I would advise not picking a major unless you actually want to do something in the field. Sounds like no-brainer advice, maybe, but college is a confusing, pressured time. At some point, you'll have to decide whether or not to major in something practical, like business school, or like your friend, and be well off the rest of your life while not really liking your job, or to major in something you're actually interested in, and be poor and looked down on by your family. At least, that's what college was like for me. That's also why I have to go back to grad school, to study something I'm actually interested in.

It's not important at all, really if you do a liberal arts major. They are all about equally worthwhile or worthless. depending on your perspective. Follow what you are interested in. There's always grad school to study something more lucrative.

I'm somewhere in between my freshman and sophomore year in terms of credits, but the thing is that registering for classes is a real bitch when you aren't sure what you're majoring in. For example, if I stay on my political science track then I'll be taking three POLI classes next semester, an anthropology class, and one science class. But if I were to switch my major to science later on, then I'd basically have to almost start college over because I wouldn't really have any of the requirements that I needed.

undergrad didn't teach me much -- the real reason to be in college is the extracurricular stuff (newspaper, radio), and all the rebellious being-away-from-home-for-the-first-time stuff.

It doesn't matter.

If you have a clear career in mind, and a particular major would help you get into that career, then choose that major. It doesn't sound like that's the case with you, so pick whatever interests you.

I originally picked my major in my sophomore year (International Relations/Political Science), but changed it in my senior year to Asian Studies. I was able to do that, because I had the required classes nearly all completed already. So if you really can't decide, you can choose one major and continue to accumulate credits in another major of interest. If you discover that the alternate major interests you more, then you can probably switch over.

But in my experience, it really doesn't matter. Really. Do what interests you.

A major switch to the sciences (or engineering) would be big - but, uh, if you don't want to do that, why would you switch? Are you going to develop a new appreciation for chemistry? An aptitude taking you into grad school?

If money is your ultimate concern, major in business. You're as likely to live well with a BBA/MBA doing something you dislike as you are to do it with a BS.

Switching within the liberal arts college should give you considerably more lee-way, given that they feed into each other - history, philosophy, sociology, politics can all feed into a literature degree (and all the vice versas).

jbr otm

The experiences of my friends who've graduated with humanities degrees indicate that it doesn't really matter at all for your future career, unless of course you want to go to graduate school, in which case it may. Your degree is a lot more relevant to your possible career if you do sciences or business. So if you want to stick with humanities, just do what you like. (I am hoping this is actually true, as I'll be graduating with a degree in Russian and anthropology at the end of the year....)

I've got pretty much the same advice as the other posters. A Bachelor of Arts has become quite "worthless" in terms of just walking into a good job. That's what engineering departments are for. Graduate or professional school will have more of an actual bearing on your future job. Study whatever interests you, but make sure that you keep your grades up, so that you've got options after your 4th year. Also, if you think you may want to switch to science later, maybe take some of the pre-reqs now, just in case. I can tell you from experience, that summer school math sucks.

college is gay

yeah, it's not that big a deal. i picked a major after 5 years, and am now four courses away from finishing a history major/polisci minor with only one spare course. somehow i was spot on with my requirements despite spending my first four years just taking courses that interested me. really, go what you can see yourself doing happily into the future. i looked at my remaining upper division history requirements and i could see myself taking those courses happily; same with polisci. if it looks like a total pain in the ass, don't do it.

i've taken so long because i've done a LOT of extra-curricular stuff, i.e. student union exec, student senator, copy editor @ campus paper, lots of committee service. in fact, the work i've done in university governance is far more useful for my life in terms of academic bureacracy navigation and simply making connections. JBR is OTM re. what an undergrad good for, and what you can get out of it. the key is to close off as few options as possible. bad grades in anything does that, but super good grades and no outside experience can be just as crippling once you've graduated.

The only time it matters is if you plan on taking one of the more technical majors - something in the sciences, maths, pre-professional courses like medicine, law, pharmacy, etc. THOSE are some weird-dog majors, and their specific requirements veer from the general core classes in a big hurry. Like freshman year, in a lot of cases.

But ditto everybody else on the matter of humanities majors. It doesn't really matter. A humanities major is only as good as what you put into it during and after college. But there's a lot of freedom. If you're in a humanities mindset, spend your first two years getting your core courses out of the way, since they're the same or nearly the same for every major. Use your electives to try some different things, just to see if anything grabs you.

Bottom line - in technical fields, choosing your major early is critical. In humanities fields, it really doesn't matter.

This is based not only on my own education, but on a decade or so of college teaching, including a truckload of advising every semester.

Good luck! And try not to sweat it too bad.

it's been said throughout this thread, but what you learn in humanities courses is applicable to a wide variety of subjects -- the same theorists you read in your comp-lit classes will pop up in your sociology, econ, poli sci, and art history courses.

Oh I hope not.

yes - in fact, bringing knowledge of a certain theory/theorist from one discipline to another can be really personally useful (i.e. how it all fits together! also, you can use old textbooks as sources all the time) and can also really impress profs. interdisciplinarity is hot these days, at least as SFU.

for example, i've been able to use harold innis in canadian studies, english, polisci, and history.

jude's right also- i just assumed you were wavering between humanities/social sciences fields.

I'm in a similar situation right now so take this with a big chunk of salt, but I always got the impression that philosophy was at least somewhat less employable than the other humanities/social sciences majors you mention.