Chase Auzenne

UWRT 1103

October 20th, 2019

The “Major” Question?: The Factors in Deciding a College Major

College, what most students view as the first steps to adulthood and

independence. With college, one of the most important things that a student thinks

about is their college major. Usually students pick their major at the start of their college

experience, but what happens if they pick the wrong major? I know I experienced

something like this when I started school. I was experiencing doubts in regards to the

general workflow, topics of study, and overall climate of computer engineering, my field

of study. This was especially bad for the classes that specifically focused on topics

related to my major. This was a concerning attitude to have for what I’d be studying the

next four years and to specialize in for work so it lead me to this main question, “How do

I decide if the major I picked is actually best for me?” Ultimately the goal of this thesis is

to help improve the direction college students head so they pick the most beneficial

direction for their lives.

In order to answer the question of how to tell what major choice is right for

someone it is important to look at the sources of conflict in deciding a major. One major

source of conflict is the amount of options. With the growing number of job fields and

new technology the number of specific majors increases causing students to have to

“look in a haystack” in order to find one single major that they think fits them. Cecilia

Capuzzi Simon,​ a journalist who has written for the New York Times, the Washington
Post, and many others who specializes in education, health, and psychology, talks

about this idea in her article “Major Decisions”. In “Major Decisions” Simon gives an

example of this idea saying “At the University of Michigan and Arizona State University,

students choose from a dizzying 251 and 250 majors, respectively.” (Simon). Imagine

that, trying to decide a major out of around 250 options, the amount of work to decide

that seems almost impossible for a high school level student. This idea is worsened

when you take ​Cameron Wright, ​a writer with a master’s in writing and public relations

from westminster with several books under his belt, into consideration. In Wright’s

article, “Choose Wisely: A Study of College Major Choice and Major Switching” he

states that “Students make college major decisions with imperfect information and this

can cause inefficiency in course taking and degree completion stemming from

mismatches between student and major.”(Wright) This basically states that students

tend to make decisions regarding majors without that much information and while it is

important to do research on your major when faced with doing that for around 250

majors you can’t really blame a person for not going in depth. When faced with trying to

do a whole lot of research in a short amount of time, while dealing with their current

school and such, it seems logical to assume they go on more base level knowledge of a

major so when they get into it the students are then blindsided by aspects they were

unaware of. When I started college I choose to go into engineering because in part it

was practical but also because so many people told me I was good at math so

engineering would fit me. Then about a week into the engineering program I was
handed an introductory hand out that opened with “You probably picked engineering

because someone said you were good at math” and then just realized my actions.

The next cause of conflict is the effect money has on deciding a major. One part

of this is the effect tuition has on deciding majors. Wright also describes this idea in his

article, mentioning a source that says “The financial burden of tuition has long been a

significant challenge, but these challenges have grown in recent times.Inflation-adjusted

in-state tuition costs at four-year public institutions have grown 185% nationally between

2001 and 2016, and are projected to continue to rise over the coming years.” (as qtd. By

Wright). If a student has to face a large amount of student loans then they’re probably

less likely to want to take a major that costs more, even if it’s just by a slight amount. So

they then go with a less expensive one regardless if it fits with them personally. Another

aspect is how the economic status of the students affect choices. Joe Pinsker, a staff

writer for the atlantic who focuses on family and education, in his article called “Rich

Kids Study English” talks about how students from poorer backgrounds tend to go for

majors with higher paying jobs while students with wealthier backgrounds do majors

that are less paying. Pinskers sums up this idea in his response, “Kids from

lower-income families tend toward “useful” majors, such as computer science, math,

and physics. Those whose parents make more money flock to history, English, and

performing arts.”(Pinsker) This is sound logic because if your poorer you would want to

do a major that gives you more opportunity to make money and if you're rich you could

feel you have more freedom/room to do what you want to do.

 Some may say what’s wrong with deciding a major based around making a lot of

money off of it. I mean if college is meant to help you with your future why shouldn’t you

pick a major that leads to high paying jobs? However this line of reasoning is flawed

when taking in specific factors. A study done by Florida National University titled

“Considerations for Selecting a College Major” finds about this perspective of choosing

a major based on financial reasons. In the article, one of its sources describes that

“Blindly pursuing a degree solely for financial reasons can backfire if a student washes

out because of lack of ability or switches majors, or schools, because of a lack of

interest”(Florida National University). This makes sense, if someone picks a field of

study based entirely on financial reasons they may be faced with a level of work entirely

out of their range possibly resulting in them failing the classes and not be able to get a

job, a complete 180 in their original goal. Another flaw in this reasoning is it looks at the

long term while ignoring the short term and what that can lead to. Cecilia Capuzzi

Simon also talks about this idea in her article stating a quote that says ​“It makes no

s​ense, she says, to “suffer through a major” because you think it will lead to

employment. “We tell students, ‘Find a major that makes you intellectually engaged, that

expands your brain and deepens your understanding of the world’ ”(Simon). It makes no

sense for a person to spend 4 years of suffering through a major they hate for the slight

chance at getting a job which they might not even like. Along with that if you hate the

major you’re in that can lead to you becoming less motivated and affect the work you do

causing your grades to be negatively impacted & may result in you failing the major.
 Another thing to keep in mind is if you want to get a job or be wealthy after

graduating, that doesn’t mean you should take the obvious majors, like STEM(Science,

Technology, Engineering, and Math), it just means you need to be smart with the majors

you pick. Jeffery J. Selingo, a professor at arizona state and a best selling

author/award-winning columnist, in his article “Six Myths About Choosing Your College

Major” talks about how fields like STEM don’t automatically make the most money

compared to other fields. He specifically states this in his quote “ Myth 1: For the big

money, STEM always delivers.It's true that computer science and engineering top all

the pay rankings, but salaries within specific majors vary greatly”(Selingo). If you want

to make a fair wage it doesn’t mean you have to choose STEM because the wages in

specific jobs in any field can vary so you shouldn’t rule out a field all too quickly. Another

thing to mention, and the most obvious, is that you never know what the future might

hold. Capuzzi Simon greatly explains this by mentioning “ Still, it’s difficult to predict the

employment market, says Michele Campagna, the executive director of the Center for

Advising and Student Transitions at Montclair State. Many students choose majors they

think will lead to jobs, but ‘four years from now,’ she says, ‘freshmen will be applying for

jobs that don’t even exist today” (Simon). Since the future is still unknown you can never

truly say there is no market for a major or find a job because after 4 years anything

could happen. It is also important to state that there is never truly a useless major. One

of the oldest jokes you can make is that if your a liberal arts major then you will never

have a job, you can probably make a few off the top of your head. But this is not entirely

true and Selingo confronts this notion in his article stating that “Interpretive dance may
not be in demand, but the competencies that liberal arts majors emphasize -- writing,

synthesis, problem solving -- are sought after by employers”(Selingo). Even thought

Liberal Arts are constantly made fun off for being useless for jobs it actually gives a lot

of useful skills that may work in your favor finding jobs. Also, lets say your an artist, it

actually has a lot of practical uses for jobs, like you can design advertisements for

companies, design concept art/storyboards for movies, teach it to others, do comics,

etc., it all depends on what you think you can do with it.

So now that we got all the basic out of the way, what do we do to find a major

that fits ourselves. Firstly, may consider taking a year and be declared undecided. This

can give you some time to help decide what major you really want to go with. But if you

do decide to take a year undecided there are some aspects to take in mind. The article

from Florida National University also talks about this idea stating “Undecided students

should begin with taking classes in subjects that they are already excited about.

However, they should also be open to exploring new passions through attending

classes that they never imagined taking!” (Florida National University). Doing this

method will allow you to see if you want to do a subject that is familiar to you our maybe

even try something that you wouldn’t have guessed, either way this will open you to new

options. But what if you are already decided on a major but feel it may not be right for

you, is it too late for me to do anything, fear not. Carl Straumshiem, a journalist for the

website higher education, wrote an excellent article on this topic titled “Decision Time”

which focused on the topic of switching majors. In the article Straumshiem explains that

“ Most students -- as many as 80 percent in some surveys -- will switch majors at one
point during their time in college”(Straumsheim). He also mentions in the article that

students who switch majors have a slightly higher rate of graduation compared to the

ones who don’t, so if your feel you made the wrong choice in major it is alright, and

maybe beneficial, to switch.

Another idea to keep in mind when deciding on a major is passion. Passion

should be a key idea in deciding on what to do in your life because it gives excitement.

If you are passionate about a certain topic it not only motivates you to keep doing the

work but to also do the best quality work you can. However it is important to tell the

difference between passion and skill. Florida National University gives a good

explanation of this difference with the quote “Being talented in a particular subject does

not necessarily mean that you want to spend the rest of your life engulfed in it. While

talent can play a part in your interests and projected career path, it should never solely

determine a major or career choice.”(Florida National) Like mentioned earlier I choose

engineering because multiple people told me it would be good because of how good I

was at math. But, I was never really into math, I was very good at it but I felt nothing

towards it. So, it seems crazy to decide your future based on something you have no

feelings for and this is the difference between passion and skill.

But some may not agree with some of the things I said or feel there are

counterpoints/doubts to what I said. I never expected my words to be the final say in the

matter but if you do still have doubts here are some aspects that should be done.

Firstly, always bring up your concerns with an academic advisor to talk about. Talking

with an advisor can give you some insight and clarity into dealing with major choice and
is an action that should always be done if a person feels doubts about their chosen

major. Florida National sums this up in the saying “If a student is torn between studying

criminal justice and nursing, they should meet with advisors from each department and

go over the expectations and requirements for that degree, along with the career paths

and job outlook for these options.” If you get the chance to talk about what subjects

interest you or the problems you're facing with an advisor then they can give you helpful

guidance that can drive you in the right direction.

Lastly, I would like to give a quote and an experience I had regarding a line of

text by Stephen R. Covey. Stephen Covey is an american educator who has several

books published and has studied at multiple universities, including Harvard, and his

book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” is about providing habits that can

improve a person’s overall life and demeanor. In this book there is one simple yet

thought provoking line of text where Covey says ​“ ‘Assume you only have this one

semester to live,’ I tell my students, ‘and that during this semester you are to stay in school

as a good student.” (139). While this line was originally meant to help tell a person's

priorities are, when I read it I was shook up. I picked my major based on financial safety, if I

go with this major then I know I can get a job while I pursue my passions. But this line of

text really made it feel like it was all for nothing and shows why passion is so important.

Some people may say you need to go one way but like at the start of this thesis, college is

the first step to adulthood which means your the one deciding your future and what's

important to you is what matters.

 Works Cited:

​Covey, Stephen R. “​The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People : Powerful Lessons in

Personal Change ​.” 25th anniversary edition. New York: Simon & Schuster,

2013. Print.

Straumsheim, Carl. “​Study Finds Students Benefit from Waiting to Declare a Major.​”

Study Finds Students Benefit from Waiting to Declare a Major​, 24 Aug. 2016,

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/08/24/study-finds-students-benefit-waiting-de

clare-major​.

By CECILIA CAPUZZI SIMON. "​Major Decisions​". ​The New York Times, N

​ ovember 4,

2012 Sunday.

https://advance-lexis-com.librarylink.uncc.edu/api/document?collection=news&id

=urn:contentItem:56YW-G7P1-JBG3-61V8-00000-00&context=1516831​.

Accessed October 1, 2019.

(May 29, 2014 Thursday). Considerations for Selecting a College Major. ​US Official

News. ​Retrieved from

https://advance-lexis-com.proxy4.athensams.net/api/document?collection=news

&id=urn:contentItem:5C9X-1SJ1-J9XT-P2BN-00000-00&context=1516831​.

Pinsker, Joe. “Rich Kids Major in English.” ​The Atlantic​, Atlantic Media Company, 6 July

2015,

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/07/college-major-rich-families-liberal

-arts/397439/​.
Wright, Cameron, and Goldman, Charles A. “Choose Wisely: A Study of College Major

Choice and Major Switching.” ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2018. Web.

By JEFFREY J. SELINGO. "Six Myths About Choosing Your College Major". ​The New

​ ovember 5, 2017 Sunday.

York Times, N

https://advance-lexis-com.librarylink.uncc.edu/api/document?collection=news&id

=urn:contentItem:5PWG-6PS1-JBG3-635X-00000-00&context=1516831​.

Accessed October 11, 2019.