I don't know what college major to select

College Majors
1

Hey everyone,

I’m about to begin my 3rd year in University and I’m running out of time to choose a major. I have no idea what major would suit me but I do have passions and interests. I spend several hours everyday making music with a continuing desire. Ranging from beat making, vocal recording, engineering, mixing and mastering. Before music occupied me, I spent literally all day everyday doing computer programming. I ran my own game servers and specifically did a lot of scripting, database management, web development and barely tapped into 3D Models but dealt with them a lot.

The common element that exists with my passions, including making music and games, is the computer. I have to use a computer to accomplish these interests so I got good with them, primarily in software. But I don’t want to be limited because of that. I don’t want to be at a desk job really to be honest. And I find it hard to envision myself working for someone else or even a large corporation as an end-goal. I know that I want to have something that’s my own and that’s successful. And if I can add to that, I’m a firm believer in “long-term” goals not having to cost a life-time in order to achieve. Selecting a major right now and thinking about going down this path makes me feel like it just won’t get me to my true desires. I don’t know.

I feel overwhelmed having to choose a major and I would appreciate anyone who’s willing to provide some support.

Thank you.

2

Your major doesn’t necessarily determine whether you work a “desk job”. There are some majors that are probably more prone to working away from a desk, like environmental sciences perhaps, but even jobs that do require being on-site often have desk components (reports, analysis, communication).

Your interests do seem to tilt towards something related to computer science, but you certainly don’t have to work for someone or a large corporation. Lots of folks in the field start their own companies or work as freelancers on ventures. There are hundreds, probably thousands, of startups that you can work at if you prefer a small, agile company. And there’s a need for computer scientists in lots of fields where you might not be tethered to a desk - investigating cybercrime, for example, or using computational methods in a life sciences field or something.

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