<p>I've been thinking hard lately about what to major in. How did you guys choose your major and what thought process did you go through to pick it?</p>
<p>My selection of major was mostly influenced by a couple classes taken in my senior year of high school, as well as a few opportunities I had over the summer before going to UMich. I put myself through a few intro classes for the discipline to make sure it’s what I truly wanted, and so far nothing has changed and it’s still my focus. It turned out to be something I always had an affinity for, but never really realized it. It took some encouragement to unearth it.</p>
<p>Deciding a specific major can be overwhelming. I think what’s best is to first figure out what broader field you want, whether it’s social sciences, mathematics, physical sciences, art, literature, language, humanities, business, etc. At this stage one typically should be able to pick probably two of those as possibilities. So then you throw the others out and focus on the one or two you know you like.</p>
<p>Check out what your school offers as majors in those fields, and make a list of ones that interest you even a little bit. For example, if you want to go into the physical sciences, what specifically piques your interest? Do you want to go down the pre-med track? Or are you more interested in engineering? Or how about earth science-- how interested are you in the areas of oceanography or geology, is the way the world works something that’s fascinated you? Or maybe you want to go outside this world and study astronomy. Though these are all physical sciences, they’re vastly different and involve extremely varying areas of knowledge and expertise.</p>
<p>Check out the curriculums and what they mainly consist of. Especially look at upper-level course descriptions-- they will give you a good idea of specific topics and areas of study you’ll encounter. Early on in the deciding process, you may discover that it’s not always best to try and see what turns you on and hold on to those, but instead to see what turns you off completely and throw those aside. If your initial gut reaction to anything is overwhelmingly negative, it’s just about guaranteed that’s not the thing for you.</p>
<p>Another thing to take into account is how well you could handle the coursework-- I personally love physics, but I would never be able to go heavily into any engineering, astrophysics, or earth systems science track because my brain simply can’t handle all the necessary math. Sometimes one of the most important steps is to separate what you personally could actually handle studying from what would be better suited as a side interest or a hobby.</p>
<p>I like entenduintransit’s advice. I also recommend looking ahead to your post-graduation plans, and how your choice of major will help you to achieve them. For example, you may want to select a major that will help you get a job, command a higher starting salary, get into a good graduate program, or position you well for whatever else you want to do for a career. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, the University does not publish university-wide employment data for grads by major. However many schools and colleges keep their own employment and salary data (it appears the LSA does not, however many individual departments do publish employment data):</p>
<p>[Employment</a> Data - Stephen M. Ross School of Business](<a href=“Which MBA Format is Right for Me? | Michigan Ross”>Which MBA Format is Right for Me? | Michigan Ross)
[Salary</a> Information and Surveys | Engineering Career Resource Center](<a href=“http://career.engin.umich.edu/salary/index.html]Salary”>http://career.engin.umich.edu/salary/index.html)
[Comprehensive</a> Employment Statistics](<a href=“http://www.law.umich.edu/careers/classstats/Pages/employmentstats.aspx]Comprehensive”>Comprehensive Employment Statistics | University of Michigan Law School)
<a href=“http://www.ssw.umich.edu/overview-MSW/Job%20Survey%202004-05.ppt[/url]”>http://www.ssw.umich.edu/overview-MSW/Job%20Survey%202004-05.ppt</a>
[Occupational</a> Outlook Handbook | Career Center](<a href=“http://careercenter.umich.edu/resource/297]Occupational”>Occupational Outlook Handbook | University Career Center)</p>
<p>Also I found some data about LSA employment:
[First</a> Destination Profile | Career Center](<a href=“http://careercenter.umich.edu/article/first-destination-profile]First”>First Destination Profile | University Career Center)</p>
<p>thanks everyone</p>