I’m a junior in high school and I’m new to searching colleges and majors. I think that I am well-rounded in several subjects and have loved everything at one point in my life, but I don’t know of any majors that will financially support my future (a pretty good income). I love art and am really good at it. I’ve been considering graphic design; however, it’s not very lucrative. I don’t necessarily want to teach anything and I don’t particularly like the medicine field either. Last year I took chemistry and fell in love, but it doesn’t really interest me anymore. I have a slight interest in computer science though my school doesn’t offer it and I’m not exactly sure if I would be good at it. I’m good at writing books and poems, but it’s not easy to find a steady income with these jobs. Possibly web developing? Possibly industrial design? I definitely don’t want a career involving mechanics or manufacturing (as you can tell, I like to design not build lol). Psychology interests me also, but most people I know with this degree had much difficulty finding a well-paying job. I’m really good at algebra, creating ideas, creatively solving problems (not so much analytically though). I’ve spent countless hours searching different majors that will benefit me in the future and I can’t find many. Any suggestions!?!?
First of all, you’ve got at least a year and a half before you begin college, and then another year before you have to settle on a major. So don’t agonize about this right now. Many students select their major on the basis of what classes they enjoy in college - so they narrow it down to make 3-4 fields and then take classes and see what they like.
Second of all, there are a lot of stereotypes about what majors lead to jobs and don’t, and what majors are “lucrative” or not. I’m not saying completely throw that out of the window, but take it with a grain of salt. There are lots of jobs that pay well or lead to decent employment that you can get with more majors than you might expect. For example, you can find a decently paying job out of college with a psychology major, depending on the skills you learn in college. I knew college graduates who found good jobs with all kinds of majors - philosophy, English, French, history, psychology, sociology, political science, etc.
If I were you, I would go into college as “undeclared.” During your freshman year, take classes in these subjects you say you’re interested in and who knows? It could be like chemistry where you love it one year, but lose interest the next. And a lot of people (myself included) love the lower level “general” classes, but quickly lose interest in a subject once we hit those more difficult upper level classes.
And lastly, it’s difficult to predict what the economy is going to be like after graduation and what opportunities will present themselves along the way. Keep your options open, do some research on what fields you’d like to work in, and then decide when the time comes.
Thank you, very helpful!