What Should I Major In? Don’t Make a Mistake

What should I major in? It’s the old age question that society expects 18 year olds to answer right off the bat. What they will major in will decide what kind of life they end up with after graduation. Whether we admit it or not, your college major matters tremendously in your life.

It’s not the end all be all. There are many liberal arts graduates who are far better off along than business school majors. Without a doubt. However, it’s all about what the average of each of those graduates will end up with. Liberal arts degrees and enrollments are on the decline.

For good reason. While money isn’t everything, it doesn’t mean that it’s not nothing. There are many liberal arts graduates who are miserable because they are not able to get a job. I started my college career with a liberal arts degree. Thank goodness that I switched over to business later on.

If you’re asking what should I major in? You’re doing the right steps. When I was going into college, I had no idea what I was supposed to major in. Therefore, I took on an economics degree. However, I thank my lucky stars that I switched over from a liberal arts degree to a business one.

Everyone told me that money is not a good reason in order to pursue a college degree. That’s malarky. Money is a fantastic reason to pursue a college degree. You don’t have a trust fund that’s going to set you up for the rest of your life. You need to work and generate an income to support yourself and your family.

What Should I Major In? Be Wary of Quizzes

The problem with so many quizzes are that they ask those questions when you’re just barely graduating high school. What? Are they serious? I didn’t know myself when I graduated high school. Not even enough about the world to strategize and make a decision on what to major in.

Those quizzes that ask you all these questions and somehow come up with the right solution are doing students a disservice. When I look at other people’s answers to what students should be majoring in, it disgusts me. None of them give the readers a realistic answer.

Yet, they love to give fairytale answers like “follow your passion” or “do what interests you”. No. It’s a job. Jobs aren’t supposed to be your passions. There’s few people in the world whose passions are their jobs. Your job is supposed to make you a living, first of all. Then it should be in something that you enjoy.

I grew my net worth to $420,000 at the age of 27. That is one of the top net worths in the country. I would be absolutely miserable if I couldn’t have gotten here. I don’t even feel rich at this level and I’m supposed to be at the top 1% for my age group! Imagine what I would feel if I had less.

Take those quizzes with a grain of salt. The colleges who offer these quizzes have an undisclosed interest in you believing these results. Some will downright steer you to studying the humanities because so many fewer students are enrolling in those classes and majors.

What Should I Major In? Be Wary of Popularity

So then there’s the other side of the coin. The popular majors. The popular majors does not mean good majors. Just because everyone else is majoring in them, doesn’t make it a good one. Psychology is one of the most popular majors that you’ll see. However, some get into the major without understanding what they want out of it.

Some don’t even like psychology but go into it because that’s what everyone else is doing. Substance matters more than popularity. Just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t make it the right degree. Make a choice that’ll help and benefit your life going forward.

When I was in liberal arts, I told myself I was doing the right thing, that I’m in a higher moral standard than everybody else because I wasn’t doing it for the money. Man, was I naive before. I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor, and let me tell you, rich is better. I was miserable when I was poor.

When you answer what should I major in? Don’t make a choice based on the popularity of the major. Plenty of people in college are trying to figure it out as they go just as you are. The freshman in college really don’t have it figured out. Only the 1 – 5% of students actually figured it out.

This is a conversation that I wish I had with one of the ones who already figured it out. No one had this conversation with me yet I’m so glad that I figured it out on my own, at least. I got ridiculously lucky by being honest with myself on what I wanted. Some mistakes are downright irreversible.

What Should I Major In? The Mistake Students Make

The biggest mistakes students make in answering, “what should I major in?” is that they major in what interests them. What their passions are. While I’m not saying go for a major that makes you miserable, I’m saying there’s a difference between marketability and passion.

If you’re really interested in learning latin, then minor and/or double major in it. However, the primary major has to be there. The primary major that will get you the job that you need in order to fund your life, hopes, and dreams. You can’t follow your passions if you don’t have the money in the first place.

It’s not all about the money. But the money matters in funding your life. When you can’t put food on the table is when you’re going to feel miserable. Not being able to put food on the table will make you more miserable than working a job that you hate. At least with the latter, you don’t go hungry.

I’m so glad my friend interested me in watching a show called Shark Tank. A show all about American capitalism, growing a business, and making the American dream come true. That sparked my interest in wanting to make a lot of money. I wanted to be rich.

What should I major in shouldn’t be all about the money and I’m the last person to say money is the most important factor. What I am saying is that it’s a big component in your life that you will need to take care of. Otherwise, you will be struggling to even finance your passions going forward.

So Then, What Should I Major In?

What should I major in can be answered right after you SMASH that social share button and post to your favorite social media! Your friends could be going through something similar and this article might just change someone else’s life. If anything please do it for me.

So then let’s get into the article! The first and most important answer in what you should major in is that it has to be marketable and sellable. If you can’t sell the degree, then others won’t want you.

1) General Business

It doesn’t have to be a specific business major such as accounting or marketing. However, it can be any general business major. What should I major in? A general business degree doesn’t sound like a bad choice. Many companies won’t take you seriously with this major as opposed to if you specialized.

However, it’s better than not getting a business degree at all. The world runs on business. Without businesses, the world is gone. Therefore, if you have a basic understanding of how business works, then things are just going to be fine.

2) Computer Science

This degree is a hot commodity. The world is becoming much more technologically advanced. More so than ever. Very few computer science graduates will be without a job. What should I major in? Computer science will NEVER be a bad way to go.

Every company needs some sort of technology in order to do business in. The world is becoming more digital. The degree will be challenging and tougher than you’ve ever imagined. However, that doesn’t mean it will be without reward at the end. Many CS graduates are earning six figures straight out of school.

3) Engineering

This is also another hot commodity. In 2016 – 2020, there was one special engineering degree that was losing steam. That was petroleum engineering. The oil prices were on a downswing and there was overall less demand for petroleum engineers. However, in all other aspects of engineering, it’s a very valuable degree.

If what should I major in? is answered with engineering and you are a logical person who enjoys using math to solve problems, then this is a good option. Many engineers have to take computer science classes as well, adding further to the usefulness of their degree.

4) Nursing

This degree is for you if you enjoy helping other people. You enjoy serving others and making their health better than before they saw you. Nurses are more in demand now than ever with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and many labor shortages with nurses quitting at record pace.

Who knows if the job market will be saturated going forward but as of right now, nurses have a tremendous amount of power. What should I major in? Nursing is a hot commodity these days. Hopefully companies will realize that abusing nurses is not the way to go in order to keep their staff on point.

5) Health Sciences

This could be in sports medicine, healthcare management, and the like. What should I major in? The health sciences is a broad general degree that is in demand, especially at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Now, the coronavirus pandemic could be a temporary virus that passes after a year or two.

However, people will always need help with their health. Sports are always going to happen whether there’s a pandemic or not. Healh sciences are coupled with nursing. The healthcare field will always be in demand. They may not make a lot of money as the ones in business.

However, there is a level of job security in exchanges. I’ve seen many rounds of layoffs go through in my time in financial services. Employee changes were more common than having no change happen.

6) Journalism

Megyn Kelly reportedly got paid $15MM – $20MM per year at NBC. Not a bad gig! That’s obviously an anomaly but there is always a demand for people who can tell a good story that captivates an audience. Journalism can be an extremely lucrative career if you are the top of the top that people want.

However, very few people can get there for a 9-5 job. Therefore, you can get there by telling good stories by having your own brand of having a blog, Youtube channel, and the like. There are many creative outlets to tell stories these days. This degree can help get you there.

What should I major in can be about teaching you the skills to get there. Not necessarily the degree that will bring you the money.

7) Finance

Finance is a lucrative career! Investment banking analysts starting pay is now bumped up to $100 – $110,000. Wow! Who said you can’t make six figures straight out of undergrad? That’s just the base pay. The bonus could be up to 100% as well. Which is insane.

What should I major in? Finance isn’t a bad way to go. Every company generates cash and needs finance folks in order to know what they should do with the cash and/or do budgeting. The most lucrative careers that finance majors go into are financial services.

The war for talent is there.

8) Accounting

Accounting is one of those jobs that will ALWAYS exist. Every company needs to file income taxes. Every company needs to know how to account for their revenues and profits. There will never be a shortage of accounting jobs. However, the pay is smaller than traditional finance folks.

However, people who major in accounting pretty much have the same level of job applicability to finance people. What should I major in? Accounting may be one of those boring majors but it will be a great marketable degree. The upside could be limited for the accounting jobs, however.

9) Political Science

This is if you want to work in government and/or want to become a lawyer. Some people are really passionate about being in government and making decisions that will better the lives of the citizens. Which doesn’t sound bad! If you are one of those people, then what should I major in can be answered with political science.

You can even go a step further and run for student body government. Then you can get a sense of what it takes to market yourself, sell yourself, and convince others why you should be in the office that dictates and determines the future of the citizens’ lives. Many students major in this to go into law school, as well.

10) Criminal Justice

I LOVE criminal justice. I originally wanted to go into law school and took a lot of criminal justice classes in high school. There were a lot of intersection between criminal justice and the legal profession. So words like voir dire and hearsay isn’t new to me.

My high school teacher was actually an ex-FBI person so he knew what he was talking about. Criminal justice is one of those fields in which can have job security. Criminals will never go away! At the very least, people will always look to police offers to keep order in societies.

What Should I Major In? Choose Carefully

Don’t answer the what should I major in question willy nilly and have that decision affect you for the rest of your life. I can’t imagine what I would’ve done if I stuck with my liberal arts major. It would’ve been very hard for me to find a lucrative job. Would I be able to find a job? Yes. However, a lucrative one? Unlikely.

I wish I took the time to rightfully answer the what should I major in question before going to college. I can’t imagine how further along my life would’ve been if I started my student career in business. The job opportunities available to business students were unparalleled compared to liberal arts students.

Choose a major carefully. You don’t want to major in something that you were passionate about only to find out no company is willing to hire you. You need to make a good living for yourself. There are people miserable working a job they’re getting well paid at, sure.

However, there are people miserable because they can’t put food on the table, as well. Would you rather be miserable hungry and malnourished or would you rather be miserable with a full belly? One sounds better than the other to me.

Read the other what should I major in articles with a grain of salt, as well. Some of the articles are written by the colleges themselves, who have a vested interest in steering you towards one way or another. I personally don’t care what major you do, all I want to do is help other people’s personal finance lives better.

What Should I Major In? Shortlist:

• General Business
• Computer Science
• Engineering
• Nursing
• Health Sciences
• Journalism
• Finance
• Accounting
• Political Science
• Criminal Justice