5 Factors to Consider When Picking the Best College Major

Picking a college major was probably the most stressful part of my college preparation process. It’s one of the first steps you take before applying and picking colleges you want to go to. It is arguably the most important decision because if you choose the wrong major, you could waste a lot of time, stress, and money. To prevent this catastrophe, you must consider these 5 factors when choosing a college major.

You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself.
- Alan Alda

How to Pick the Best College Major for You

1. Skills/Interest

What hobbies do you enjoy that could potentially turn into a career? What are you good at? If you like sports, maybe you could be a coach one day and major in sports management. If your good at math, there’s majors you could choose from that could utilize those skills such as, mathematics, economics, engineering, and physics. Me personally, when I used to play basketball, my teammates always told me I was a good compromiser and listener. This was one of the reasons I picked psychology as the best college major for me. Figure out what it is you do that come naturally to you, and research which majors could utilize those skills and interests.

2. Course Rigor

When choosing the best college major for you, you have to consider your strengths and weaknesses. Are you able to handle classes that are fast paced? Are you good at memorizing large volumes of vocabulary? Can you handle extensive readings and writing assignments? These are the things you want to consider if you want to have a good learning experience in college. After I took anatomy, I realized that the pace, and volume of the information and vocabulary were too much for me, so picking a health science major would not have been a good fit for me.

3. Priorities

What are the things that you prioritize for your future career choice? Are you looking for the highest paid jobs? Do you want a good work–life balance? Are you seeking personal fulfillment? These are important when deciding what the best college major is for you, because you want to make sure that the major you choose can land you a job that align with your future lifestyle and goals. For me, my priorities are personal fulfillment and work-life balance. I dream of having a family one day, so making sure that I have enough time for them would be my main priority. Also, I don’t want a job that feels like work, instead I want to pursue something I would actually enjoy.

4. Demand

Some things to consider when picking the best college major for you are the demand for people in a particular field. The sad reality is that we will all eventually die, so there’s always a need for doctors. The world is corrupt and is full of crime and unfortunate situations, so there’s always a need for lawyers. STEM majors and careers want to increase their diversity, so there’s a demand for more women in those fields. What field do you feel like is in demand for you?

5. Intuition

What is your gut feeling? Where is your heart leaning you toward? Sometimes our intuition can predict things that we can’t see. Ever had an experience where your heart was drawing you to a certain place, but you had no logical reasoning behind it? Sometimes we just have to trust our gut and take a leap of faith into something we may not know much about. I’ve taken a leap of faith when choosing the college I wanted to attend. I didn’t know anything about Abilene Christian University. But for some reason, my heart was leaning towards it. Plus, with the constant promotional emails, the free application offer, and even them showing up at my school, led me to believe that this school choice was meant to be. Sometimes, we don’t have to make decisions, the decisions will come to us.