<p>I'm currently a sophomore in high school, and I'm looking for schools already but can't do that without knowing what I want to major in unfortunately... </p>
<p>For a while, I was COMPLETELY convinced that I would major in Journalism, but recently I don't see that happening for any career in journalism is not one you really need to major journalism with (after my research). I'm looking into other options, and Criminal Law fascinates me. What kind of major should I look into based off my personality? </p>
<p>Love history and debates. Very good in arguments. Can express myself very well with writing. Big reader. Small but fierce. Looking for a job that isn't gonna be a 9-5. Love learning about human behavior and working with people (just not in retail/sales). </p>
<p>My current classes are:
AP Euro. (Enjoy it)
Chem honors (hate it)
English 2 honors (hate the teacher)
Italian 2 (love the language)
Algebra 2 honors (hate math)
Yearbook (love it.)
Student Government (love it)</p>
<p>I plan on taking AP Psych, APUSH, AP Lang/Lit, AP Gov/Econ, AP Italian, AP Stats, Sociology, (etc)</p>
<p>Why do you have to know what you want to major in before you can stay looking at schools? Many students go in as undecided, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Just look for schools that have a lot of options for majors.</p>
<p>Some schools have excellent programs for certain majors that may curve my view on it, like UPenn has their business program or Yale is known for the #1 rank in Law school.</p>
<p>Most of the rankings are based on graduate programs, which–while nice–isn’t the end all and be all of what a “good program” is. For instance, Yale having a good law school has very little to do with whether or not you should go to Yale for undergrad. The rest is typically hearsay–some schools have a good reputation in certain fields, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they suck in other fields or that there aren’t other programs that don’t have the same “reputation” but are equally good programs.</p>
<p>I would recommend against boxing yourself into certain fields by deciding that you want to major in something and looking only for schools that have “good programs” in those majors. You don’t know exactly what you would like to major in, which is perfectly fine as a sophomore in high school. It is also entirely possible that you could radically change your mind later. So what I would recommend is looking for a good SCHOOL, not necessarily a “good program.” Find affordable schools that are solid choices in a variety of areas, so you have a lot of different options (and good professors who could sway your interests in fields you may not have otherwise considered). See if you can find out anything about the quality of their advising and career services or the opportunities they have that you might be interested in (internship programs, research opportunities, study abroad, writing or debate opportunities based on your interests). College is what you make of it. Going to a school with a seemingly “excellent program” means squat if you decide you want to major in something else or there are no opportunities available at the school that you can get involved in.</p>
<p>Obviously, you don’t want to go to a school that has a horrible reputation in your field, but the vast majority of schools with a good overall reputation generally won’t have a bad reputation in any one major. Don’t limit yourself by looking for schools based on prospective majors, and you definitely don’t have to wait to look at schools until you have a major in mind. Every school will tell you that they have a great program in such-and-such, but that doesn’t mean that you have to major in that for that school to be a good fit for you.</p>