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I was recently asked a question by a
college student that I felt was well worth discussing. He told me
about how much he regretted choosing his college major. He was
looking for advice on whether or not to change college majors. I
figured I could respond best using a full article. Hopefully it will
help some of my readers too.
Hold on a second.
You want to switch college majors? I'm going to go out on a limb here
and assume you put a whole lot of thought into selecting your first
college major. Considering you put all that thought into selecting
your first college major, why are you now changing your mind?
I know this can
sound like I'm being a bit harsh but please stick with this. I
switched majors in college too. It's not a horrible thing. I just
want to make sure you can look at this honestly.
You made a mistake
the first time you picked a major. If you can admit that then you're
on the right track. That being said, since you made a mistake the
first time you made this decision, what makes you think you're not
making a mistake this time?
The Second Requires More Than The First
Selecting your
college major in the first place can be difficult. No one wants to go
down the wrong path and lose years of their life to a major that's
not quite right. Some high school students spend years working on
solving this problem. Eventually though, most of them come to some
confidence in their selection of majors.
If you want to
switch majors then deciding which major to switch to should require
even more commitment than you had with your original major. What do I
mean by that?
If you were 90%
sure you wanted to go for your first major then to switch to new
major you should be well more than 90% (I'd say 95% or more) sure you
want to go to the second major.
Sadly, most
students that switch majors aren't that confident. The fact that they
screwed up their decision in the first place destroys their
confidence. If you screw up a decision when you're 90% sure you're
right then it should be really difficult to be 90% sure again.
That's natural. (If it's not then I think you need to do some soul
searching.)
Going to college is
not cheap.
If you're taking
out loans to go to college then you're losing tens of thousands of
dollars a year. Even in the highest paying fields around, that's
going to take a while to pay off. Every month that you spend in a
major that doesn't increase your future income, you're making a
mistake.
Even if your school
is completely paid for. It's a big mistake to lose sight of the years
you're wasting. If you're like most college students, you're under
25. These are some of the best potential years of your life. You can
do more now then you'll ever be able to do in the future.
College is
expensive in every sense of the word. If you're not using college
like a real investment then you're making a mistake.
Consider The Hard Decision
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Before you think
about switching majors, consider the possibility of leaving college.
I know... everyone tells you that's one of the most stupid things you
can do but consider it. Do it solely to prove you're not just staying
in college to make everyone happy. Leave college out of the equation.
What are you motivated to do right now if you're out of college?
Anything?
Some people have a
very clear answer. Some want to start businesses. Some want to work
at good trade jobs. Some want to travel. If you have an answer like
this then know it before you decide to switch majors. Is switching
majors really what you want to do? If you're driven enough to do
crazy-awesome things then you can always go back to college later.
(As long as you're smart enough not to make life trapping decisions.)
Of course, your
clear answer might be, get into this particular career field. To get
into that field you might need college. If you don't need college for
a basic position in that field then consider getting into that field
without college. (If you want to be a nurse, spend some time as a
CNA. Sure, you won't get perfect experience but you'll learn to
appreciate the environment. Or, of course, you might learn you hate
it.) If you absolutely need college and want to get in that field
more than all your other goals then college is likely the route you
should be taking.
That being said,
most people don't have any particular goals. Most people use college
as a testing ground for potential futures.
I hate to break it
to you but college is a really expensive place to be experimenting
with futures. If you want to know what you want to do for a living
then get a few crappy jobs in environments that you might want to be
in. If you want to be a building project manager then get a crappy
construction job. If you want to be a doctor, get a crappy hospital
job. You get a paid chance to learn what the environment is really
like. You'll get to watch people in the position you want to hold. Do
you think you'd enjoy doing what they're doing? If not, don't. If so
then you can be on your way to a new major.
That doesn't
guarantee you'll like the job when you get it but it's a whole lot
more effective than studying random things from a textbook about the
career field.
Don't make the
mistake of assuming you need college to become successful and happy.
(It can certainly help if you're in the right field of study but
until you know where you're going, you're going to be wasting a lot
of time and money with it.)
Should You Switch?
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If you're damn sure
then you should switch majors.
There are
exceptions to needing that rule though.
If college is
getting paid off as you go to school (no debt) then don't worry as
much about it being perfect (as long as you're sure the money will
keep coming.)
If you've gained
knowledge about the major you're switching into outside of school
(like from a job) and that caused you to be interested in that career
field. You're probably more capable of making that decision than you
think you are. Trust yourself if you've actually gained knowledge
about the knew major.
If you're major
switch barely changes any of your required courses then you don't
have to be quite as sure while switching too. (If switching back
would only require a couple other classes then it's hardly worth
stressing about.) This works for switches between closely related
majors.
If you're still
struggling to decide whether or not to switch majors then try looking
at yourself from an external perspective. If you saw a person like
you planning to switch majors, would you bet on that person making a
smart decision. Bear in mind, they screwed up once. Do you have any
reason to believe this person is not screwing up again?
(If this person
studied for hours about the new major in their free time, or if this
person learned about the major from career experience, or if this
person knows why they picked the wrong major in the first place, you
can be sure they're more suited to make the decision now than they
were before.)
Does that mean you
should stay in a major you hate? Unless you're eerily close to
getting the degree then I would still recommend getting out of your
major. No... you don't have to quit school. Just take a leave of
absence for a year or two. Get a few jobs. By playing around in the
outside world you'll be much better suited to make the right major
decision when you get back. As long as you make smart decisions you
won't have any problem getting back into the school rhythm.
Are you tired of
hearing the same boring old advice from everyone around you? Do you
want to know how to study faster than ever? That's what this blog is
all about. Be sure to check out the books and the archives for piles
more o' awesome school hacks.
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