I’m currently a high school junior and I’ve come here because I need some advice on choosing a major. I’ve had this issue for a long time and I’ve always heard the response “You have a lot of time left.” Well I disagree because time seems to be flying right by and soon enough the college application process will be right around the corner. Now I’m not asking for anyone to choose my major for me, I’m simply asking for some majors I should be considering based on my interests. I’m aware that I can put undecided as my major when applying to colleges but I’d prefer to leave that as my last option. I hope to explore my options and at least have an idea of what direction I want to take in the future. & yes I’m very aware that people tend to change their majors in college anyway.
Anyways, now that that is cleared up, I’d like to say that I’ve flip-flopped many times when it came to figuring this out. I once wanted to become a lawyer, then came to the realization that I just really like watching shows like Law & Order, White Collar, Suits, etc and it wasn’t truly something I’d like to pursue. Right now, one thing I can say for sure is that I’m really good at math. I’m currently taking Pre-Calc as a junior (my current avg is a 99) and next year I will be taking AP Calc. I feel like I should do something math related in the future because I actually enjoy my math classes. I’ve been looking into business, and most recently have been researching about computer science. It would be helpful if any of you have some knowledge on these subjects. Any advice on how I can narrow my options down would be greatly appreciated (although I’ve only stated two majors, I’m aware that there are many sub-majors within them). & please ask any questions that would help to get a better understanding of what I might be looking for. I’d greatly appreciate it :).
I don’t have any direct recommendations, but I would check out myroad.collegeboard.com because they have an intricate personality quiz thing that totally nailed my personality, and they have recommendations for majors/careers after you take the test. Good luck!
Well, I do agree - you do have a lot of time left. You don’t have to decide on your major before you go to college. Technically, you have until your sophomore year to decide, although it’s generally prudent to have it down to 2 or 3 closely related choices by the end of your freshman year. At most colleges, specifying a major on your application means nothing, so putting undecided on the form won’t really hurt or help you at all. Besides, you can always change what you put - I put political science on the application to the college I ended up going to (and something completely different at other schools - I think I put civil engineering when I applied to Georgia Tech!)
A love for math can take you in a lot of directions. You can, of course, major in math. Some schools have a statistics major, which is also an in-demand skill. You could also major in finance or economics, both of which require tons of math. So do physics, computer science, and engineering. But there are also social sciences that benefit from a knowledge of math, such as psychology and political science.
It’s very difficult to narrow down your choices before you go to college. The best way to narrow them down is to actually take a class or two in 2-3 fields that you are considering and then decide which classes you enjoy the most. That’s why people are saying it’s too early - it’s difficult to get a solid handle on what it’s like to be a computer science major if you can’t take any classes in it. One thing that helped me before I left for college was looking through the course catalog for colleges and reading course descriptions. That’s what helped me realize that I didn’t want to major in political science - the course descriptions looked really boring to me. So I changed my major to sociology (and then ultimately to psychology, which I love(d)).
I hope you maintain your love of math. You say you have research computer science. Have you taken any CS classes? That is a great combination-CS and math and will open doors if you are good at it. Get experience in CS. Take some actual classes or do them on line. So much is now available on line. I agree with you, by the way. Most students begin college with some idea of what they want to major in . Switching, which is common, is different than going in undecided. If you spend the first year or two hunting down a major, you may miss the pre-reqs for the major you eventually want to pursue. It is good to start exploring now. If you end up with interest in computer engineering, for example, you’d want to start college with the courses that will put you in on the trajectory to graduate in 4 years-that means getting pre-reqs out of the way. So, your idea of figuring things out now is a good one-and you can change later if you want.
Note that law school does not require any specific undergraduate major, so any possibility of law school imposes no constraint on your undergraduate major.
Math-heavy and math-like majors include math, statistics, physics, computer science, and various engineering majors. Economics can be math-heavy at some schools; those aiming for PhD study in economics are better served by a math-heavy department.
As mentioned above, most social studies majors will make some use of math and statistics.