I started university as a pharmaceutical and chemical engineering student. It’s been three weeks and I feel like it’s not right. Every time I think of switching my major, I stop and think, what would I even switch to?
I’m really lost. I have no idea what my true passion is at life. I’m like the jack of all trades, master of none because in high school, I was getting perfect grades in every subject, but none of the subjects particularly interested me.
Just to give a little background information, my brother was an engineering student and switched to business and then again to mass media and communications. My parents think he threw away his future by quitting business and engineering. Mind you, he didn’t get good grades in school.
I, on the other hand, got great grades so they expect even more of me. They said they were supportive of any decision I might make, but I know they will be disappointed if I switch my major to something ‘less’.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my parents endlessly, but they have the traditional thoughts that only engineering or medicine brings a good future.
Back to the point, I am not enjoying the classes I’m taking at all. I don’t feel like it’s what I’m supposed to be doing. It just does not feel right to me at all, but then again, nothing else does.
I’m still in my first semester, so it’s not too late to change, but I’m scared and lost and I don’t know what to do.
These types of doubts and second-guessing are totally normal for college students, so please don’t beat yourself up about it. The College of Engineering most likely has undergraduate advisors whom you can schedule an appointment with to discuss your interests and goals. Investigate the advising options in your College and schedule those meetings. The College of Engineering probably also has its own Career advising team, that is another group to meet with. The Career team will likely have resources to help you identify your interests, strengths, and goals, and how to align your academic path. You may discover a different area of engineering that excites you, you may come to realize that your current path is actually just fine and what you are feeling is more about adjusting to the demands of university engineering classes – often considered the most challenging adjustment for 1st year college students – or you may discover that engineering is not the right path for you.
Please know that these sorts of doubts are totally normal for the new college students, and university resources are there for you to benefit from. Hang in there, these are challenging times!
nobody knows what they really want to do so don’t be too hard on yourself. you will find something and most likely there’s a career center at your college that will have decently helpful resources to point you in a direction.
In addition to the advising team in the engineering college, go pay a visit to the counseling center on campus. They see many students like you every single year, and will have ideas about good ways to start thinking about what you’d like to study now and what you might like to do once you finish college. Read through the course catalogue on your university’s website, and see what the general education requirements are for graduation. Pick some interesting looking classes in a variety of departments that you can use to fulfil your gen ed requirements, and register for them for the spring semester. That will expose you to a whole bunch of new stuff, and at minimum will help you fulfill your graduation requirements. With a bit of luck, you might also find a new major for yourself.
If you don’t have a part-time job, start looking for one. Working even part-time will give you job skills that you can take to a different position in the future and will help learn what you do and don’t like about working in different settings.
Meet with both engineering and LSA counselors. See where that leads you. FYI - Industrial engineering is like business engineering. Look at combinations of your interests. Think about what excites your interests. Then Google those and combine them and see where that leads you. Engineering is so much more then what you might think it is.
So as an example let’s take a look at engineering and politics. That’s timely… Lol… When you Google you might get.
I had no idea what I wanted to major in when I started university. When I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, I still had no idea what I was going to do with it. I figured it out over time and ended up with a great career. This is perfectly normal.
MOST students change their major after they arrive at university. Some universities will not even let you pick a major until the end of your freshman year.
You probably should talk to the career center at your college or university. Your advisor also should be helpful.
This is very normal. You will figure it out over time.
It’s only been 3 weeks. You are taking foundational classes (probably Calc and Chem). For just about any major you will need to take a math and science class so stick with these for now.
If you want to do anything with STEM then what you are taking is probably still part of the foundation.
Make sure you are not experiencing depression. Talk to the Counseling Center at college or your doctor.
Talk to your advisor about other possible paths for you
Think about what type of job you would like:
Pre-med/sociology/public health/psychology are majors where you want to help people directly.
-Business/engineering/comp sci are majors where you want to solve technical/organizational problems.
Which is more appealing to you?
GO to the career office and see if they have any tools to help you figure out your career/major
Google “how to pick a college major” and you will see various quizzes to help you
You left out your SAT scores. The reason why universities like them is that they are equalizers. The average IQ among engineers is 126 (95%ile).
The 90th percentile of the SAT is 1375. The 95th percentile of the SAT is 1440.