What should I major in?

College Majors
1

Hey ya’ll,

I’m a sophomore in high school right now and (although I know it’s a bit early to tell) I’m trying to figure out my interests career-wise. At first, I wanted to do chemical engineering - for no particular reason, just I like math and science and well the money to be honest (I know, I know, not right for me to do that but still). But I was talking to a counselor (outside of school), and he took a look at my courses and ECs and told me that I wasn’t very “science bound”. Here’s my junior course/EC schedule for next year:

AP English III, AP Chemistry, APUSH, Precalculus Honors, Spanish II Honors, Student Council, Medical Elective, Colorguard.

Student Council (Liason), LEO Club (Historian), Destination Imagination (President), Math Honor Society and (hopefully but not yet) National Honor Society

I’m also a very communicative person and I love debating and talking with other people. I don’t have debate as an EC or class though, because as you can see my hands are already pretty full and our debate team is pretty bad as well.

I was considering something along law or government or politics, but I’m not sure how well it will suit me. I enjoy learning history and how people interact, but I’m just not good at taking tests over it. Also, I absolutely love English, which is why I’m taking the AP course. All the courses above are taken purely out of my interests, as I love every class I’ve taken (though I’m a bit iffy about APUSH cause I heard it’s pretty hard).

Oh, also I have Indian parents and (particularly a dad) who wants me to go down the “engineering/science” route and you know, make money and be secure and stuff. I mean, I get his point but I don’t know how to tell him that I could be interested in something else…that might not be as secure as well.

Any help is appreciated! I know I wrote a lot and this is now basically a diary entry, but I’d love if someone can help ease my distressed mind. Thanks!

2

There’s nothing wrong with being interested in a career for the money. It shouldn’t be the only driving factor, but some students know up front that they want to make a lot of money to have the lifestyle they desire, and that’s OK as long as they have a broad understanding of what that means for them.

You’re a sophomore in high school. I had a friend in college who majored in math. She only took up to algebra in college. Yup, that’s right, she got to college and she had to start from pre-calculus in order to finish her math major. The pre-calc class didn’t even count towards the major! She still completed a major in math and went on to get a master’s in statistics from one of the top departments in the country.

You’re taking AP Chemistry next year, and you are also taking precalculus. You don’t have to have a student schedule stacked with science classes to be a science major. In fact, you look like you have a well-rounded, regular/normal HS schedule - a science, a math, a language arts, and a social science; a language class; and a couple electives that reflect your interests.

The question for you, however, is whether you are actually interested in a science/engineering major. You can major in the sciences or engineering and go into law, government, and/or politics; there are lots of people with all kinds of backgrounds in those fields. But if you want to study those things in college…there are plenty of career opportunities for someone who majors in history or English or political science. Science majors tend to get jobs a littlefaster, but social sciences and humanities majors get jobs too. They also make less on average than science majors, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case for you - and even if it is, it might be worth it if you’re in the career that you want.

Besides, a physics major and a political science major who hold the same position on a political campaign will earn the same amount…the physics major isn’t going to get paid more because she knows thermodynamics. Science majors tend to get paid more because they tend to go into careers in the sciences that pay more.

3

Wow, this is a lot of good information! Thank you so much - I am actually leaning more towards the English field, as I’m currently posting articles on my own blog and have a novel on the way too. I’m also entering a bunch of writing scholarships to test out how much I might actually be able to achieve!

4

One thing you should keep in mind is that people change their majors all the time in college. You may have your heart set on one major and decide after freshman year that its not for you and switch. Like Juliet above mentioned, it also depends on how interested you are in the sciences. If your interest is only marginal, you could always minor which would make your appeal much greater and open up more opportunities.