Choosing Your College Major: How to Plan for Your Future
Help: What Should I Major In?
Quite often we go to college expecting it to be simple - the hardest part was getting in right? Wrong. At McGill University, where I went to school, you declare your major after the first year. Your freshmen year is designed for you to essentially take the required or core classes for you to then have an idea as to how to major / what to major in.
Structure your classes around the skills and knowledge you need post-graduation
At the program level, try to take as many different core classes in a semester to understand what you could possibly like most, or want to do as a job, post-graduation. Understanding what’s out there is the first step. There are a lot of possibilities and ways you can structure your education and building the skillsets you need for your future is a way to work backwards. For example, if you are in business but want to be a Product Manager, you can major in Information Systems or something related to tech while minoring in Computer Science or a related background to have the knowledge and skills (i.e. basic programming knowledge) you may need down the line.
Talk to people you admire - what did they study?
If you aspire to be somewhere, look to those who’ve achieved those things and ask them what they studied. What did their paths look like? What would they do differently? I often spoke with my sister and her friends who were 2 years my senior. I remember one of them told me she wanted to combine Finance into the mix because Marketing was too creative. I struggled myself to be taken seriously because I has been an actress for 10 years. Coupled with being a minority woman - many thought of me as the creative girl. The fashionista. Not the smart nor savvy business woman. I looked at my sister’s friend and thought: “She’s right. Maybe I need to pick a major that is more male-dominated or regarded as more difficult to be taken seriously and not pigeon-holed”.
Don’t like the options? Create your own major
There are also a lot of different kinds of jobs out there that you may not be able to major in or take classes in. However, if you learn early on what you want for your future, you can take active steps with your college to get you there. For instance, a friend of mine cared about business and sustainability. Seeing as there was no major in this, she went to the university and helped create it.
Get creative - Combine your major and your minors for a greater story
I got a triple concentration in Finance, Marketing and Information Systems. Speaking to my university, the Desautels School of Management, is one where you’re able to select 3 minors to convert them into large concentrations, instead of 1 major. It was perfect. I designed my education to compliment my interests, skillset, knowledge, while also support where I wanted to be. I was a polymath and didn’t want to be pigeon-holed.