For a student, choosing the right major or program to pursue in college can be a stressful process. The student must realize that this decision will dictate what they will do with the rest of their life. A major will lead to a career in a certain field that the students must really enjoy as the student will be in that field for many years. Generally, most students will have some idea what they want to pursue as a major. Through their childhood and throughout high school, the interests of the student have been growing and maturing. Whether it is history, medicine, law, finance or something else, the student will know their interests, which is the first step in selecting the right major or program. Also, the careers of parents and loved ones will also have a profound affect on the selection of a major as the student will be comfortable with the topic.

After the student’s interests are determined, it is time to research different job opportunities. From the interests, a student can make a list of different relevant occupations that the student would like to pursue. Making this list will be a great help in determining a major that will keep the student both challenged and entertained. It is very true that if your heart is not in it, your head will not be either. The choice of a major is tremendously important because the student will most likely be “stuck” with it for life. After the list of relevant occupations is created, there is a wonderful trick for ruling others out while pursuing the rest. Find people in the local community that are involved with these occupations and speak with them. If possible, the student should job shadow these individuals as well to get a first hand experience of the occupation. When this is complete, the student should be left with a list of occupations that they wish to pursue.

With this completed list, the student can then use a resource like that offered by the Princeton Review. This service lists different occupations and the typical majors for the occupations. As well as the typical majors, different things like expected income, a “day in the life” and the future of the occupation are presented as well. With an excellent resource like this, the student should then be able to convert the list of worthy occupations in a smaller list of prospective majors. From this point, the student can then begin checking out the different programs that schools have to offer. Some majors are more popular than others and are offered at many different colleges, while others may be more limited. In fact, some colleges are better known for certain majors than others. A quick chat with a guidance councilor will help determine if there are any specialized colleges or programs offered by colleges for the small list of majors that have been compiled. Another important thing to remember is that some majors and programs have different requirements. Whether the requirements are passing SAT II subject tests for subjects relevant to the major or a certain grade point average (GPA), these requirements will vary from college to college.

If the student wants to pursue a medical career or law career, there are many different colleges that offer pre med and pre law programs. Generally, after acceptance into the college, the student must then be accepted into the program. Highly competitive schools, like the Ivy League colleges, expect a lot from their pre med and pre law students so being accepted into the program can be very difficult. Many students will be delayed in getting into these programs and will spend a year at the college taking courses to satisfy the general requirements of the curriculum. If the student does not want to be delayed a year, then it may be important to select schools that are a bit less competitive. Settling for a less competitive school may be unfortunate, but there are plenty of lesser known schools that can offer a great experience and education.

When a final choice is made on a major or program, the student can begin their search to compile a list of colleges of which to apply. Generally, the student should apply to four to eight schools. The applications should consists of at least two safety schools that the student is sure to be admitted to, at least two target schools that the student has a fifty percent chance to be admitted and at least one reach school where the student may not have a great chance of being admitted. The reach school is generally the top choice for the student as it will be a well known, highly regarded college. Choosing the colleges to form this list can be difficult as well, and it is the next step to take in the college admissions process.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 30th, 2007 at 6:04 am and is filed under College, Search. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.