What should I choose for a major?

I am junior in high school right now and considering some career options right now. As of now, some majors I am considering are nursing (to be a CRNA), comp sci (though you should note that I am not good at math, nor did I think I did too well in some programming related classes I took in school until now), or some kind of business major.

I am look for a major that is lucrative and pays well, as well as being something I can actually accomplish. Also, I am really interested in film studies, but it doesn’t not seem to be viable option for me for a wide variety if reasons; I guess I can’t really follow my “passion”.

Additional stuff:

  • I have 3.51 gpa (weighted)
  • My strongest subjects would be History and English (I know they are not really related to any majors I am looking into right now)
  • I don’t have good communications skills and I am terrified by public speaking (so I would prefer if it doesn’t have too much of these sorts)
  • The pay is important

This is a question you don’t have to decide for at the least a year, and up to 2.5 years. That might not seem like a lot, but think back to you this time last year- and this time 2 years ago, and you’ll see how much you have changed.

Your ideas and interests are obviously changing fast- and that’s great. So over the next year, find ways to check out the areas you say that you are interested in. TFor example, try to get some volunteer work in a health care facility to see if you would actually like nursing. Follow your interests and see where they take you.

Nursing sounds good.

If your school has an accounting course, take it an see if you like it. The math isn’t more than add/subtract and you can be very introverted crunching numbers. Pay is usually above average compared to most majors.

Some ideas on picking majors:

  1. Go to your college’s career center or HS Guidance Office and talk to them. They may have tests/tools that help you figure out what career (and therefore major) is best for you)

  2. What classes do you prefer? Science/Math? English/History?

  3. Read this article: What problem do you want to solve?

https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/pulse/20140804104444-17000124-let-s-kill-the-college-major

  1. Take an online quiz…there are many
    http://www.luc.edu/undergrad/academiclife/whatsmymajorquiz/
    http://www.slu.edu/beabilliken/quiz-college-majors
    https://www.123test.com/career-test/

  2. Talk to the professor/teacher in your favorite class and see what they think

  3. 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?

Majors don’t pay; careers pay. Some careers are relevant to your undergrad major (like in order to be a CRNA you would need to be a nurse) whereas others don’t (management consultants can be very highly-paid and have majored in anything!)

In business, communication is important and so is public speaking, so I’d encourage you to work on improving those skills. They’re required in all kinds of careers. Lots of people have a fear of public speaking so there are lots of ways to get better, including Toastmasters.

If you’re interested in film studies and given your other interests, you might be interested in marketing/advertising, public relations, or communications - all fields that are useful in business. On a more concrete level, many marketers put together commercial campaigns. On a more abstract level, the principles of film studies are often echoed when studying human communication.

I really like that SLU quiz above - it tells you WHY they recommend certain majors for you and presents you with a list of majors rather than one or two.

I wouldn’t really agree with the categorization of majors in #6, though. Most public health practitioners specifically don’t help people directly, actually, because public health is based on the health of populations and not individual people. I’m a psychologist and I solve technical/organizational problems, and actually most of the psychologists I know solve technical/organizational problems and don’t help people directly. That’s especially true with a BA in psychology or sociology, when you’re not really qualified to do individual services provision.

Also, there are roles in the latter group that allow you to help people directly - recruiters and HR; accountants (many accountants work for individuals or families instead of businesses); civil engineers or other engineers who work in the public sector; etc.

Also, solving technical/organizational problems and helping people aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive, either.