Process of Choosing a College Major

Are you having difficulty choosing a college major?  Are you unsure what you want to do for a career?  You are not alone.

I meet with numerous students who are undecided in their major or career.  In fact, many first enter my office with a single primary concern, "I just want a good paying job, what classes do I need?" Students verbally and non-verbally communicate their woes, worries, excitement and epiphanies, during our 30-minute academic advising appointments, as they attempt to choose the next term classes.  This produces both opportunities and challenges during their academic planning process.

As we discuss opportunities for new beginnings, making plans, learning and growth, students experience a wide-range of emotion.  Some perceive endless doors and are filled with excitement as they explore a future lit with possibility.  Others find themselves gripped with fear, or even perhaps apathy at the thought of choosing a college major. 

Most students experience doubt in their abilities at points, particularly in the first few terms, and varying degrees of fear of "choosing the wrong path."  When ambivalence takes hold, a perfect storm of decision-making deadlock and procrastination occurs.


Fear escapes them as they convey worries of the perpetual "what if."  "What if I invest time and money into a degree that won't produce a financial return."  "What if I don't like this career."  "What if I change my mind." "What if I fail." "What if what I love isn't valuable in the job market."


Internal wrestling matches surface as students search to find "their way" and for the confidence to make decisions.  Unfortunately, this very desperation and weariness may lead some to procrastinate decisions as they become locked in fear of making the "wrong" one.

During these points of standstill, students may struggle finding motivation to persist to the proverbial "finish line."  As students struggle balancing school and life, they simultaneously struggle holding onto their goal to complete, especially through a fraught-filled decision-making process towards an obscure "end" goal.  This seems particularly hard for those immersed in the day-to-day grind to survive or while experiencing an external crisis.   Sometimes desperation for structure and framework takes hold as these weary survivors seek a clearer picture of a "finish line" to run toward. 

Fortunately, COCC has responded in a variety of ways including an 8-step guideline to help students through the the exploration process.  One of those steps includes a FREE, non-credit class, "Process of Choosing a College Major," to help students take the first steps toward determining their college major.  

What many find as they persist toward their goal of choosing a college major, is that the process is as valuable as the product.  Discovering strengths, weaknesses, interests and values is part of the journey towards a degree.  Using a decision-making framework assists many students through the abyss of the unknown.  Arguably, perhaps even more valuable than the degree, is the process of growth, self-reflection and learning it represents, in pursuit of a better future.