Applying to college and sticking to a major are a few of the hardest choices a girl makes in her young life. Here is some advice to get you through it.
Trust me — I get it. Applying to college is stressful enough, but picking the right major? It sounds like an impossible task. Coming from someone who has never had a “calling,” picking a major was a nightmare for me. Seeing my friends apply to college with the nursing major that they put on their “What I Want to be When I Grow Up” crafts in first grade, I was lost.
Beginning To Narrow It Down
With over 5000 colleges in the United States all with unique programs, picking a college seems hard enough, but a major too? In my experience, I narrowed down colleges first. Picking categories helped me to find the right schools for me. Location, dining, housing, ranking, acceptance rate, tuition, and study abroad were all factors that led to my decision. All of these aspects work together to make the atmosphere of the college experience, which other than setting you up for success, can have a huge impact on mental health.
After looking at all of these factors, I came down to a list of about ten schools. UC Irvine, UC Davis, UC Los Angeles, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Diego, SDSU, and Cal Poly Slo. These schools all fit into the outline of factors that I knew would set me up for success.
Already, limiting the schools that I was applying to allowed me to narrow my search for majors, as each school offers only certain programs.
Major Choices: How To Decide?
Now that I had the schools I knew I wanted to apply to, it now came down to the program I wanted. This felt like the commitment of a lifetime. I took career aptitude tests, talked to adults about their careers, and researched salaries. While this is all helpful information, I realized that the only thing that can help you decide- as cheesy as it is- is figuring out where you see your passion to lie for the future.
This led me to two very different paths: Nutrition and Communications. I have struggled with food allergies my whole life, and because of that, I knew I would be passionate about a career in nutrition. On the other hand, Communications is such a broad field and I love writing. I knew that Communications could lead me to a job in marketing- a passion of mine ever since watching my dad in his career.
This situation seems to be the same for many: two very different paths with the forces of fate pulling you each way. This led me to the realization that it’s okay to apply to different schools with different majors. So that’s what I did.
Depending on my acceptance, my major would follow. Getting accepted into UC Santa Barbara, I knew it was my calling. The location was impeccable and the extracurriculars would set me up for what I knew was my calling. The decision was essentially made for me.
Sticking To A Major: How Hard Is It?
One-third of college students change their major throughout their time in college. Committing to a major when applying is not the end of the world, and you will quickly figure that out once you enter college. Students change their major all of the time, and although it may set you back a little depending on your credits, it is not the end of the world like everyone makes it seem.
At the end of the day, you attend college to get a job that you love. If you later discover that the job will not be achieved with the major that you decided on when you were a mere seventeen years old, so be it!
The Decision is Yours!
There are so many factors that play into picking a major. Despite this, coming from a current college student, you always have options: adding a minor, switching majors, and even transferring schools! None of it is the end of the world as some may think. My best advice: consider your options, play in all the factors, and go where your passion lies!