The college major you choose can shape your career path, paycheck and day-to-day work, so it’s important to balance what you enjoy with realistic career goals and the job market.
“Find a major that aligns with what you are exceptionally good at,” says Dr. Shaan Patel, CEO and founder of Prep Expert, a tutoring and college admissions consulting company.
Here are four tips to help you pick a college major:
— Find your passion
— Research what schools offer
— Calculate possible salaries
— Consider declaring a major when applying
Find Your Passion
Figure out what interests you most by participating in clubs and other extracurricular activities during high school.
“It isn’t always the case that students don’t yet have a clear passion. They often know they want to do something in a broad field,” says Lise Youngblade, interim provost and executive vice president at Colorado State University. “But they just don’t know the different career paths they can pursue within a particular area of study.”
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Teachers, counselors and family members can be particularly helpful in providing insight into different majors and career paths.
General education courses typically take up the first year and sometimes part of the second, giving students time to explore their interests and consider potential majors, experts say. Students can choose a double major and study two disciplines at once, or add a minor.
Finding your passion can sound straightforward, but for many students it’s not that clear-cut.
“Instead, work really hard in a certain field and you will become passionate about it,” Patel says. “Why? Because you are passionate about things you are good at.”
Research What Schools Offer
Students committed to a specific major should assess how it’s taught, a school’s track record in that field and whether the major is available. But keep an open mind beyond preferred schools, experts say.
“If in doubt about what major is right for you, seek out key institutional resources available to you,” Youngblade says. Visit your college’s career center or meet with an academic adviser or professor.
“If you have a class that is particularly interesting or inspiring, seek out time to talk with that faculty member outside of class to learn more about the subject,” she says. “Faculty members love to mentor students and help them learn, discover and thrive.”
Experts say it’s also important to look at alumni outcomes.
“This means talking to students who graduated from the particular major you are interested in,” Patel says. “Ask them how difficult it was to secure a job, how much support they received from the university and earnings you should expect in your first few years post-graduation.”
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Read industry reports on the growth of certain sectors and jobs of interest, he says.
“If your particular career path is in a shrinking market due to AI or otherwise, then it’s probably not a good long-term plan to choose a major related to that career,” Patel says.
Calculate Possible Salaries
Knowing which majors tend to pay more can help students plan when it comes to budgeting or student loan repayment.
“Thinking about potential salaries once a student is in the workforce is an important factor, but it’s only one piece of the much bigger picture,” says Heather Daniels, executive director of admissions at Colorado State.
Consider your long-term life and career goals, like whether graduate school is part of the plan. Some careers, such as in health care, research or law, can require advanced degrees. In these fields, an undergraduate major may not lead to high immediate earnings but can provide a strong foundation for higher-paying opportunities later, Daniels says.
“It is also important to think about job satisfaction and day-to-day enjoyment,” she says. When choosing a major, “think about a meaningful and sustainable career, not just a paycheck.”
The return on investment is the top factor to consider, Patel says. “If you find out that graduates of a particular major typically only earn a $50,000 annual salary, but it costs $200,000 to get your degree, it will take you four years to just break even.”
And with student loan interest, it can even take longer, making it a bad ROI, he says. “College is a serious financial decision, so take the time to calculate the return on your investment. ”
[READ: Pros, Cons of Applying to College as an Undecided Major.]
Consider Declaring a Major When Applying
Identifying a major on an application can help give admissions officers a sense of where a student wants to go academically.
Undecided students should choose a major that aligns with their career interests, high school coursework and activities since it will “signal to admissions committees that you have a plan and stick with it,” Patel says. “It significantly improves chances of admissions at most universities.”
The exception is when schools have an exploratory or undeclared program designed for students who are still deciding. For example, CSU’s Exploratory Studies program ensures that “students are matched with advisers trained specifically to support exploration,” Daniels says.
While students are not locked into the major indicated on their application, it can influence a few parts of the admissions and enrollment process. Declaring a major matters most when a field has selective or specialized prerequisites, when students want a clear academic roadmap early or when a major has limited capacity, Daniels says.
“The best recommendation would be for students to take notice of the subjects or topics that naturally excite them,” she says.
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Choosing a Major in College: What to Know originally appeared on usnews.com