Choose a College Major or Double Major with Both Your Heart and Mind

This is a response to "Advice for Choosing a Major in College."

In "Advice for Choosing a Major in College, Joanne Faries makes a pretty good case for choosing a college major with your heart. While choosing a subject you like is important, choosing one without consideration of post-college work options may leave you both unhappy and broke.

First, let me second Joanne's recommendation to put off choosing your college major as long as you can, at least wait until your sophomore year to declare a major. Take classes that are related to what you think you might want to do along with the basics like composition I and college algebra. Keep in mind that if you're interested in more technical fields, like engineering, programs may require classes even in your freshman year.

The classes taken during your freshman year shouldn't be the only "what do I want to be when I grow up" exercise you do. Consider job shadowing (it's not just for middle school) and even part-time jobs that expose you to different fields. Perhaps a day or two of substitute teaching would rule in or out education as a major. In lieu of a job, set up some informational interviews with people working in the field you think you would like. Get out the yellow pages or call professional associations. Most professionals will give you a half-hour of their time. Use it to find out what the person does on a daily basis, what the working conditions are and, most importantly, what the person's educational background is. Don't ask about salary specifics, but it's okay to say, "Hey, do you make enough to live on doing this? Is there a demand for more of these

Joanne is also right in saying that there is no "best" college major and few "awesome" jobs. Parents should not push students into certain majors and students should be allowed to take a broad range of subjects. Students who don't give some consideration to the jobs a particular major may open is wasting a great opportunity to begin life with good financial footing.