<p>GAAAHHHHH I don't know wtfuq to major in and it's stressing me out. I mean people say to base your major off of what subjects you in excel in and what subjects you don't. But I'm good at every subject even though I don't particularly excel in anything.
Alright, so step 2 would obviously be to pick based on what subjects you're interested in. I can be equally interested in any subject except art and English. It just depends on the teacher. I like learning in general.
Hmmm, well maybe I should base my major off of what I like to do in my free time. Yeah well in the little free time I have I go to the gym, go hiking, hang out with friends, or browse reddit if I stay home.
So maybe I should take a personality test! I did and my results were very vague and I didn't feel like some of what it said even applied to me. Then it gave me a laundry list of like 25 different fields I could excel in. Thanks for narrowing it down.</p>
<p>So all it's really come down to is I like money, and engineering would be the best decision for me financially. Probably gonna major in that even though I barely know what an engineer does and more importantly if I would enjoy it or not. I figure it's easier to switch out of engineering school than it is to switch into it, so I might as well start there. But I could totally pull off being an accountant or actuary too. Man idfk. I'm so done with this shit (can I cuss on here?)</p>
<p>EDIT: I cannot cuss on here.</p>
<p>EDIT DOS: My entire post was a rant and barely related to the original question. ¯(ツ)/¯</p>
<p>What kind of academic stuff do you look up and find out stuff about online during your free time?</p>
<p>I’m kinda all over the place. I like learning about other countries that I would want to travel to and looking on google street view. But yeah other than that there’s not really any consistency, it’s just whatever is on my mind at the time.</p>
<p>It’s good to know what you want to major in early because it increases your chances of graduating in four years, but most college students change their major(s) multiple times. </p>
<p>I’ve wanted to be a math major for the past two years. (I’m a senior now, so since tenth grade. Before that I wanted to be a dietitian, which is a good example of how people’s interests can change in high school.) I’m better at math than most people are, but that doesn’t mean anything because most people dislike math. I don’t enjoy math the way I enjoy most other subjects, either. I like philosophy and a few other humanities subjects because I think they’re fun even though they’re challenging, but I like math mostly because of the giddy sense of accomplishment I get when I solve difficult problems. </p>
<p>Just because you like doing something in your free time doesn’t mean you’d like it as a career. A lot of things stop being fun when they turn into obligations. </p>
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I’m also only a high school student, but I really wouldn’t recommend this, especially if you don’t even have any reasons to think you’d enjoy it. People sometimes tell me I should go into engineering because I like math, but I’ve job-shadowed engineers and I don’t like it at all.
I guess it depends on how much boredom you’re willing to put up with to make money, though. I might do it if I were even a little more interested, but I’m not. </p>
<p>Overall, I don’t think you should worry about this too much, especially if you’re not a senior. Just pursue things you enjoy (or think you might enjoy, or want to try out, or whatever) and you’ll develop more perspective without even trying. </p>
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<p>@halcyonheather, How does one get to job shadow an engineer? I feel like I should try that.</p>
<p>Also, I don’t really want to apply to any school undeclared because it makes transferring into engineering (and other majors?) more difficult, so I was gonna apply for engineering. But for now I guess I have to give it time.</p>
<p>@halcyonheather Your situation is kind of like mine. I really like Math and Physics and want to become a Physicist (I’ve “known” since the 9th grade. I’m a rising senior), but people think I’m either an idiot or crazy for wanting to pursue it because Engineers tend to make more money. If I do Physics, it is for the enjoyment of it and the discovery, not just for the money. @jsies11 Just know that at this point one thing you might not want to do is think about money. If you think about money, that might alter your perception of what your interests are when you are searching for them. I don’t know what year you are in, but if you are in high school right now, go into college planning to take a course from every type of field. I would suggest one hard science (Probably Math, since that is used in many research fields), one writing type course, one social science, and then maybe another course that looks really cool but you don’t know a lot about. It might lower your GPA a bit but with hard work it might be doable. Then, just see what you like and maybe try to develop a relationship with that subject.</p>
<p>I did a 50-hour mentorship at a chemical plant through a program my school sponsored. (We also had a required career class where you got to shadow any professional for one day, but I picked a math professor for that.)</p>
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You might look for schools where you apply to the whole university and then pick your major later. (I’m going to Case Western Reserve University, so that’s the only example I know off the top of my head. The admissions process is the same whether you’re planning to go into Arts & Sciences, Engineering, or something else.)</p>
<p>@cosmological I’m a junior. And idk, applying undeclared just makes me really anxious.</p>
<p>@halcyonheather That’s a great idea! I will look into that more</p>
<p>What electives have you taken in high school? Those might help!!
I started taking cad/drafting this year (i’m a junior also) and I LOVED it. I don’t know why I find so much joy in little mechanical parts but after taking this class and going on field trips to engineering firms, I’ve never been so excited about college. </p>
<p>@cosmological anybody who says that physicists don’t make money don’t know their stats. The average salary for an astronomer/physicist is about 106k a year. Six figure salaries definitely are not going to keep you going hungry. That 's a higher average actually than most engineers.
@jsies usually the first two semesters (and for most he first two years) are just courses that are required by the school and serve many different majors. Like taking calc3 will serve a math major just as much as it will serve an engineer. Going in undecided doesn’t hold you back one bit because most classes you take during this period like GEs and English courses serve as requirements for every major.</p>
<p>@jimmyboy23 I already knew that Physicists make a very good salary. I don’t know why I didn’t include that. Just my friends wouldn’t really listen to me when I talked about Physicist salaries. My main point is that one shouldn’t take a job for the money, and that Physics is really about the discovery. And also, a lot more PhDs are graduating then there are desirable academic or industrial positions, so many end up in accounting or other math related jobs.</p>
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But how hard are those jobs to get, and how many people with Ph.D.s in physics were considered “physicists” for the purposes of that survey? </p>
<p>@Halcyonheather
<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/physicists-and-astronomers.htm”>http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/physicists-and-astronomers.htm</a>
From 2012 so pretty recent.
The number of jobs was fairly good for a major that is not popular. Job outlook was considered average. Almost all considered in the survey had doctorates or professional degree.</p>
<p>I’ll try a sales pitch on engineering to keep you in it 
Jobs/Competition: Depends on the school you attend and the subfield you emphasize in. But in general, I will say there are a lot of jobs out there / your chances are much higher than other majors, the salary is good, and there aren’t as many people such as the medical field competing against you.
Schooling: Most of the time you only need your B.S.
Interest: As an electrical engineering major, I get to play with wonderful toys for homework, labs, and as a hobby for fun. The projects involved allow you to solve unique, real world problems, build stuff, and give you a huge sense of accomplishment. I love all of my classes because you get to learn how things such as computers and circuits work as well as get to experiment with them.
–I do not know what the actual job is like, but I’ve seen videos of engineers getting to do some of the same cool stuff done in an industry oriented program :)</p>
<p>From an old person’s perspective, most of my peers changed their career goals multiple times. I applied to college intending to major in public policy or international relations and work for the state department (diplomatic corps, travel etc.) changed my mind in first semester. I majored in math and by the end of college had decided not to continue. I went to medical school to be a Family Doc in a small town, but today work in inner-city Emergency Medicine. My husband began as an engineering student and switched to Biochemistry, did a PhD in cell biology, then a post doc in Immunology. One friend majored in French, went to medical school and does Malaria research in Africa. College major, first graduate degree, first “real job” will hopefully just be steps in a long and winding road that is completely unique for you. Most successful professional people didn’t set a goal and aim straight for it. We wind our way through many things that intrigue us until we focus in. </p>
<p>So practical advice…read about potential majors or careers and find something that gets you excited. Explore the career path it might lead to. If you have a lot of diverse interests look for a college with a wide core curriculum and lots of different strengths. </p>
<p>Story of my life omg</p>
<p>So all it’s really come down to is I like money, and engineering would be the best decision for me financially.
^
even this haha</p>
<p>Like since most subjects interest me somewhat and I would rather make sure I get a job with good income so I can pay to travel/invest in hobbies… But then it’s like what do I do lol</p>
<p>Figure out what you love to do and do it well. Making money and having no time to spend it is more frustrating than being poor.</p>
<p>My former business partner had a double major in physics and philosophy from Harvard as an undergraduate. He went on to get a Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard, then an M.B.A. from University of Chicago.</p>
<p>Oh…he ultimately became a marketing research consultant. (Bet he didn’t see that coming when he was a 17-year-old freshman physics major!) </p>
<p>So, I’m with @Torveaux Study what’s interesting. Use the fact that you enjoy and are good at both STEM and liberal arts subjects as an advantage. </p>
<p>I wanted to be an engineer/physicist for the past 5 years, and just this year decided I want to major in English. I do have a very mathematical way of thinking of things, though, so it kind of combines my interests into one.</p>
<p>Check out statistics (as in the field of study) if you haven’t already - even though I don’t want to be a statistician, I LOVED this class because it was very mathematical, but also involved the critical thinking/writing aspect of a liberal arts discipline. Plus, you can apply it to just about anything - physics, engineering, chem, medicine, history/archeology, politics, etc. Best of luck :)</p>