Hey! I’m currently starting my second semester as a sophomore at a state university in NJ. I’ve been trying to figure out my interests by taking a variety of classes but I still don’t have a major. I’m supposed to choose a major and a minor by the end of this semester and it is stressful.
So far I’ve been more drawn to sociology, psych, and social work. I enjoy doing things that are not fast paced, I have patience, I am kind to others, soft spoken, and I want to be in a job where I can help people directly. I enjoy those things as well as a bit of history and English.
I don’t like math, chem, or physics or computer-related majors.
I was thinking of doing something with psychology but I don’t know where that’ll lead me. Is there any advice any of you can give on how to choose a major?
(Psych majors: please give me advice and tell me if you regret or are happy that you majored in psych)
Thank you.
Fortunately, there are good job-growth and job openings projections now for counselors and clinical, counseling, and school psychologists (http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_102.htm).
I was a psychology major in undergrad. My initial career goal was to become a high school guidance counselor. I got my PhD in psychology and I’m a user experience researcher at Microsoft Studios. I do psychological research aimed at making video games more fun. I do not regret majoring in psychology. I love psychology, and if I could go back in time, I would still major in psychology. However, I would have double majored in statistics (my college didn’t have that option) and I’d take some computer programming classes. That’s because I, personally, love statistics and it’s relevant to my work - but it’s also an in-demand skill that I know would keep me employed and well-paid.
Choosing a major is a mix of passion and pragmatism. You want to choose something you love, obviously, and something you’ll want to study for the next four years. At the same time, you want to choose a major that you can parlay into careers you’re interested in. Although your major does not solely determine your career, it does have an influence on it. You want to do something that will support the lifestyle you want.
The best way to choose a major is to take some classes in the fields you are drawn to and see which one you liked the best. Like you, I was drawn to sociology and psychology, so I took the first class in the major in each and decided I preferred psychology. Also, pragmatically speaking, if you want to be a counselor psychology and social work are probably better majors. Although sociology is a great major and fine if you eventually want an MSW, psychology is the best major if you want to get a master’s in mental health counseling or a PhD in school, clinical or counseling psychology. Social work is the best major if you want an MSW because then you can do an accelerated program.
Psychology is also related to a lot of other fields - marketing/advertising, market research, industrial/organizational psychology, human resources, behavioral economics, human-computer interaction/user experience research (which is what I do), etc. You can take a psychology major into any of these careers too.
One thing I will say is that social sciences majors need to be a bit more driven and creative than STEM majors when it comes to figuring out future careers. You need to build hard skills that you can take with you, and/or be really clear about the necessity and power of the other skills you bring to the table. I spent some time crafting really good cover letters about the power of my research skills and how they could improve a business. ALso, learning some math and some programming is useful these days.
Also, helping people is broadly defined. I consider myself as someone who helps people both directly and indirectly; I help my development teams make changes to their games to make them more fun and less unintentionally frustrating to our players, and I help millions of players indirectly by making the games they buy better. There are lots of jobs that help people in ways other than counseling or healthcare - accountants help people save money or do their taxes; HR helps people solve workplace disputes and issues sometimes; market researchers help companies target their products to the right consumers and help consumers get what they want from companies…etc. You have to decide what helping people means to you and in what way you want to do that.