What’s so hard about choosing a major?
Noise. The noise sounds a little different to each one of us:
I need to choose a major that will lead to job security.
I need to be in a major that my family approves of.
If I select this major, it will limit my career options.
Everyone who is in pre-med is in this major, so it must be the best way to increase my chances of admission.
I like the sound of this major.
I need to choose a major that has coursework I am actually interested in.
If I don’t choose the right major for me, this will all have been a waste.
I’m going to choose this major so people will stop bothering me about choosing a major.

When we are trying to make an important decision, our brains can become a wild place to be. What if I told you that you don’t have to figure out your whole career plan right now, and that you just need to choose a direction?
I know that it feels more comfortable to be able to give a simple, straightforward answer when people ask “What do you want to do with your life? What are you going to do after graduation? What will you do with that major?” But bear with me: choosing a direction rather than a specific, linear path will truly give you more room to breathe and less stress than rushing into a set path without having all of the information you need.
By focusing on choosing a direction, you can select the major most likely to support your career journey which could be headed in various directions throughout the lifespan of your career.
Like any other significant decision, it’s important to reflect on the knowledge we have about ourselves and the careers we are thinking about so that we can identify the information gaps. It is often these information gaps which keep us feeling stuck and unable to take any direction. To make this decision less complicated, let’s take it step by step.
Depending on where your information gap(s) are, you can go through all of these steps or skip steps along the way. However, I strongly recommend that you do not skip the first step.
Step 1: Knowing Yourself
This might seem like an obvious suggestion, but it’s common to make decisions based on voices in our head that might not actually be representative of our own interests, values, and strengths. Taking time to reflect on what we actually like learning about, how we enjoy making an impact, and what we are good at, will help us make important decisions founded on intrinsic motivations rather than extrinsic motivations.
When we pursue goals based on extrinsic motivations, such as pursuing a career that will earn the respect of your family and peers, we are more likely to experience emotional distress[1], and we are giving outside sources the power to determine if we are successful or not. When we pursue careers based on intrinsic motivations, such as pursuing a profession that allows us to continue gaining knowledge and expertise in the subjects we are most interested in, we are more likely to perform better as we engage fully with our learning[2] and experience higher performance, which is more likely to open doors to various career possibilities.
Now that we have established the importance of choosing a career path based on intrinsic motivation, it’s time for a brain dump. Get out a pen and paper, and jot down the answers to the questions below:
- What are you interested in?
- How do you want to make an impact?
- What are your favorite classes (or what were they before)? When do you feel yourself engulfed in a particular activity or topic?
- If you have volunteered or had a job, what did you like and dislike about the experience?
- What skills do you enjoy using? What skills would you like to develop? What skills have you seen others utilize that inspired you and made you think “I’d love to be able to do that too.”
- What careers have you been considering?
By answering these questions, you may start to notice themes. You may also notice interests that you feel confident are more of a hobby than a career. If you notice certain interests might be related to skills and knowledge gained through majors, jot that down.
Step 2: Using Resources for Exploring Career Options
When looking at your careers of interest, you might have a hard time deciding on one direction or another because there is something you don’t know about each of them. For example, perhaps you are really interested in careers in Environmental Science, but you aren’t sure if there are careers in that field that will provide the income you are hoping to earn. Maybe you know what some of those entry level jobs are, but you don’t know what the salary growth potential could be with a more advanced degree. These are all fantastic and important questions. Take note of them to help identify what information you need.
If you know you are interested in various curriculum areas, but you don’t know what career opportunities exist that are associated with those degree programs, What Can I Do With This Major is a great tool to utilize to close this information gap. Once you have utilized this resource to gather information about majors of interest, you can then use O-Net OnLine or Occupational Outlook Handbook to gather information about tasks, rate of employment growth, related occupations, education required, and much more.
Step 3: Identify Majors That Support Your Career Direction
Once you have identified some themes in your career interests, the next step is to identify the degree program that best aligns with giving you the knowledge and skills necessary to build a foundation towards those opportunities. What majors have courses that will support knowledge and skills required for careers of interest? While some majors have a very clear path which lead to certain careers, the majority of majors can form excellent foundations for a wide variety of career paths, so choosing a major with the goal of gaining skills and knowledge that are of genuine interest will form building blocks for multiple career possibilities.
Step 4: Evaluate Your Major Options with Academic Advisors to Finalize Decision
Take a look at the courses within the degree program through the Undergraduate Catalog. When you imagine yourself taking a semester or two of coursework, do you feel excited about taking those courses? Does it seem like the courses will help you build skills you would like to further develop and knowledge that you are excited to learn?
Once you have identified either one or more majors of interest, the next step is to meet with an Academic Advisor that advises for that major to assess your eligibility to pursue that particular degree program. They can also assist you with getting an idea of what your upcoming courseload will look like, and collaborate with you to build a course plan that is complementary to other responsibilities and goals you may have during your undergraduate experience.
I hope the steps above have helped you break through some of the noise that might be making it difficult in committing to a major. When in doubt, keep the affirmation below in mind.
“I won’t always know where I’m going—but I can always know whether I’m going in the right direction.”[1]
More resources for Major Exploration
The Center for Career and Professional Development has a variety of resources to support students with selecting a major:
- Focus 2 is a self-guided assessment that can help you understand more about your interests and strengths and how they align with career possibilities and majors.
- Career Coaches are also available to support you in gaining clarity in pursuing a career direction. You can make an appointment with a Career Coach through Handshake or stop by the Career Cubes for drop-in Career Coaching services.
[1] Kasser, T., & Ryan, R.M. (1993). A dark side of the American dream: Correlates of intrinsic and extrinsic goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22(3) 280-287.
[2] Belle Liang and Timothy Klein. How To Navigate Life (St. Martin’s Press, 2022)
[3] Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life (2016).
