My D is attending school in the fall and although she feels like she has made the wisest choice for her major, everyone at this point second guesses.
As a parent, my suggestions for HS students trying to figure out their path–
1.....check out - BLS.Gov (bureau of labor stats)--this will tell you what's trending in the way of jobs/degrees/future outlook.
2.....Indeed.com (or other job search site)--this will tell you what business' expect from you (just enter job you are considering and see if it looks good or bad).
Last, try to eliminate the worst and figure out the best ( ask people who know you, they may surprise you on what they think your qualities are).
The job prospects associated with specific majors could change significantly over four (or more) years. So can general economic conditions.
Obviously, you also need to be good at and not dislike the intended college major and intended career path (whether or not they are specific to each other).
Students who are somewhat undecided should plan their frosh year schedules so that they are fulfilling prerequisites for all of their possible majors, so that they do not end up having to back into a major by default because they are behind on the courses for all of their other majors of interest.
^Agreed with the above. The BLS shows projections for a 10-year period, but those can change drastically with the economy. I always say, not many people predicted the fall of the law market or real estate the way it went - as late as the mid-2000s people were still advocating those as good careers.
Besides, majors don’t really translate neatly into careers. A few majors, maybe - an engineering major is likely going to be an engineer. But a psychology major can go into social work or marketing management, or strategy consulting or rehabilitation counseling. Or they can go to business school, law school, or med school. Or get an MPA…and so on. Even computer science majors can end up doing lots of things - there are the well-paying software development jobs at Google and Facebook, but then there’s also doing IT at your local small firm or developing software for a nonprofit or maintaining the cloud systems of your city government.
I do advocate looking at Indeed or another job search site to get an idea of what employers are looking for, but I think this is difficult to do well unless you are nearing the end of college and have a career (or job) in mind. For a freshman who has yet to be exposed to a lot of the jobs out there, this is not really possible. I had never even heard of my current career when I was in college; I didn’t hear of it until probably around my third or fourth year in graduate school. However, once I DID hear about it, I did take a look at some job ads in the field and tried to develop the skills that were listed in the ads (like R, multilevel regression analysis, data visualization, statistical consulting experience, etc.) You really have to be able to concentrate on a specific field and set of jobs for this to work out.
@ucbalumnus, @juillet
Just checked back on this thread and although you both have valid info, you are not taking into consideration the financial implications of what you are preaching, a bit “old school,” perhaps.
Of course, it is nice to go in “undecided” or to take a major and “see where it takes you in life”.
Personally speaking, I am in CA. My D is going in state this fall to a cheaper public Cal state schools (not UC’s) and the total cost per yr is 26K ( I think that’s a lot, hopefully it is not just me).
My point for the original thread was-----I hope HS students will make every attempt to find information that can help them decide on the most realistic path for them (look around, these are just (2) we found helpful). BLS is a government web and of course it’s speculative, but it is excellent for comparing jobs across-the-board. Check job sites for what you will need to land a job!!
College has become very expensive for most people and not a place to be taking unnecessary classes hoping to discover one’s path in life. Honestly, who wants to see these kids 25k, 50k, 100k in debt when they graduate and still be looking where their degree will take them in life?
I’m 29. I graduated from college in 2008, directly into the recession. My entire young adult life so far has taken financial considerations in the new world order into account 
I started poking around on the Occupational Outlook Handbook when I was around 12 or 13.
I wasn’t saying that students should just go in with a major and see where it takes them in life (although I do think that’s a valid choice). What I’m saying is that employment trends change anyway, and a college education is a foundation for a career, not vocational training. I started college in 2004, so if I had looked at job ads to see what employers wanted in 2002-2004 I would’ve seen lots of ads for corporate lawyers and financiers and real estate mavens making lots of money, and very few for computer programming and social media type positions. Not many would be asking for experience with Python and SQL.
By the time the high school juniors of now enter the post-college workforce in 5 years - assuming that they don’t go to graduate school - the employment landscape will have changed. In who knows what ways?
I am a HUGE fan of being pragmatic and making choices about acquiring skills, internships, and experiences based on real-world opportunities. I did that myself, throughout college and grad school. I’m also a huge fan of exploration and a little vagueness and being led by one’s interests, too, because you never know when something you studied that seems obscure, unnecessary and useless will actually be super useful either in a direct or indirect way in your career. I transitioned from public health to the tech industry, but I use some of my prior and seemingly unrelated research into psychosociological theory in my work here in a very direct way than I wouldn’t have anticipated. In fact, it’s valued on my team because I am one of the few people with that background, and it was at least partially related to my getting hired here.
I would argue that college is exactly the place students should be taking some ‘unnecessary classes’ hoping to discover their path in life, because when else are you able to do that? I hope that we don’t become a society that expects teenagers to decide what they want to do forever at age 17, and I hope we don’t become a society that transforms college into a glorified technical school to turn out employees for corporations rather than critical thinkers who can function as citizens in a democratic society. (I think it can serve both purposes, if there’s some compromise!) I also think it’s fine for students to chase dreams and pursue things where the job market is maybe not so good, as long as they go in with realistic expectations, open eyes and a Plan B.
It’s totally possible to do both - be pragmatic and develop hard skills while also following your interests and engaging in a little exploration and interest-chasing to figure out what you want.
@juillet-- Sadly, I think colleges in the US are no longer a place of unhindered exploration (due mainly to the heavy financial burden). You are obviously very bright and ambitious…but for ‘average students’ trying to go to school, get a job, and eventually buy a house it is difficult, at best,to navigate the college/job market. Personally, my D cannot afford to waist any time on even one class she does not need to graduate.
A student who plans reasonably carefully can explore several majors without “wasting” any courses. Colleges have minimum credit requirements to graduate, and these are generally not filled completely by majors. Some are to be used for general education requirements outside of one’s major (the CSUs have a fairly large volume of general education requirements), and many majors leave enough space for the student to have some completely free electives. In addition, a student may find that some courses overlap between several majors.
For example, suppose a student is interested in mechanical engineering, physics, math, and economics. S/he will find that the first year courses for mechanical engineering cover the courses for physics and math. S/he can take economics courses as well; if s/he chooses any of the other majors, the economics courses can fulfill a social studies general education requirement. If s/he chooses economics, the math courses will be useful for the major, and the physics courses can fulfill a natural science general education requirement. So no “wasted” courses here.
^And, let’s say she chooses economics. Let’s say that the degree requires 120 credits. Her major requires 42 credits, and the university requires 48 credits of general education and divisional requirements. That’s 90 credits…which leaves 30 additional credits (~10 classes) that she could spend taking art, writing, computer programming, history, or whatever her interests are. And while they’re not technically required as part of her GE or major, they ARE required in the sense that every college student needs to take some electives in order to graduate.