The topic under discussion, How to determine what to study in college, is a complex one. The decision of what should I study in college varies from person to person, from time to time and place to place for every individual. This resolution can not be made independently and relies upon numerous elements including:
1- Economic Factors
2- Personal values and traits
3- Industry growth
4- Workload
5- Ability to supplement with a minor
Let us have a birds-eye view that how the above-mentioned realities influence our crucial decision of what should I study in college.
- Economic Factors
It has become the reality of the 21st century that we opt for options that pay us a handsome amount of money. Money is the major rider of the drive of a career. We can observe the variation in the careers on account of how much they payback. For instance, let's take a look at the trends in salaries.
• Careers that pay the highest salaries :
There is a great diversity in the fields that pay high such as the occupation of Lawyer, Pharmacist, Surgeon, Marketing Management, Sales Management so on and so forth that shows these trends of average salaries $141,890, $128,090, $208,000, $136,850 and $11trendspectively.
• Careers that pay the lowest salaries:
Some careers give very low salaries. These include cooks, shampooers, fast food and counter workers, hosts and hostess and the amusement and recreation attendants etc. They have annual salaries of $27,030, $24,320, $24,540, $24,800 and $25,610 respectively.
The economic factors also include that how expensive is the major, one is planning to study. If it's too high, a person with financial constraints is unable to go for it.
-Personal values and traits
When a person majors in the field he is passionate about, he is surely going to put positive energy into all of his works. The personality traits of a person also play a major part. There are tests like the Myers-Brigs type indicator personality that includes four different domains. If a person is an extrovert, he should choose a major which involves interaction with the world such as international relations, political science and medicine. While an introvert should choose something like business.
- Industry Growth
Different fields have different chances of employment. The statistics are given below:
• Business – 27%
• Architecture & Engineering – 37.2%
• Computers/Statistics/Mathematics – 35.2%
• Education – 49%
• Health – 42.2%
• Psychology and Social Work – 39.8%
• Social Sciences – 37.9%
• Law & Public Policy – 37.4%
• Arts – 32.6%
• Industrial Arts/Consumer Services/Recreation – 22%
• Humanities & Liberal Arts – 39.7%
• Communications & Journalism – 36.7%
• Physical Sciences – 49.2%
• Agriculture & Natural Resources – 30.2%
• Biology & Life Sciences – 46.8%
Most demanding majors: Nursing, Culinary Arts, Computer science, Business administration, Accounting, Physical therapy, Medical assisting, Mathematics and Statistics, Information science, Finance, Psychology, Marketing, Civil engineering, Instructional design, Systems engineering, Economics, Public relations, Education, Criminal justice, Sports science, Biology, Chemistry, Agricultural science are the most in-demand majors.
-Workload
The workload is a very detrimental factor in the question that what should I study in college. Different degrees have different work requirements. A 4-year bachelors degree requires 120-semester credits for attaining that with various courses. 2 years associate degree requires 60-semester units. Remedial courses require excellence and basic know-how of English language and Mathematical computation. So the workload and your skills also play a major role in choosing what should I study in college.
Should you double major in college?
.Doing double major means to read two majors under the same degree. Doing dual major will increase the credit hours. For example, a person doing Bachelor of Art has two majors English and Psychology. It will only be worthful if it is really required for you to do it and solely depends upon your plans.
.While double involves two different majors, a conjoint degree is the one where a person completes two different degrees but in a shorter timespan if he does it separately. And the double degree is the one where two separate degrees are done by a person either at the same time or one after the other but it doesn't involve any reduction in the credit hours.
. If a person is unable to do a double major, he can go for a major and a minor. It will reduce the period and whereby major would be the one main concern of the students minor will help them to boost their majors.
-How do I know I picked the right major?
If you have picked the right major your heart will be content and you will enjoy studying that. You will be passionate about new things and your mind will be clear of second thoughts. You will feel fresh, lively and blissful. Your emotion will tell you that you chose the right option when your mind strikes with the question that what should I study in college.
-Conclusion
To conclude, the topic of ‘what should I study in college’ is dependent on different factors and one should thoroughly go through all of them while making this important decision of the future as it will direct their future.
• When do you decide what to study in college?
Mostly, students across the globe try to study in college just after their secondary studies. But it can go otherwise too as some belief in the precept of gal year's and work accordingly.
• Why are study skills important for college students?
This is the era of skills. Long went the days when cramming used to work. Secondly, when students go to college for their studies purposes, their level is up. They have to do research works and analyse different facts. All this requires skill work.
• Can you change your major?
If a person feels that he is not able to cope with a certain major he should not be afraid to let it go and change it. Though generally, this is difficult to do for a person due to societal pressures but colleges do have proper policies for this purpose.
• What should I study in the first two years of college?
The first two years of college are very crucial and this question is as important as the question ' what should I study in college '. As these years are the ones that make a base of the person so the person should try to read as many books as he can, related to his field.
• Can I have more than one major?
This process is termed as a dual major where you can take two majors but under the same degree. But the time limit of that particular degree will expand according to the college policy.
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