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How to choose a major

Choosing a major is an important part of your college search process. However, you do not need to know exactly what you want to do with the rest of your life before you go away to school. College is a chance to explore, to discover subjects that you have never had the opportunity to study before, and to challenge yourself in new ways. It is not uncommon for even the most confident and competent students to change their major at some point during their college career.

When looking at colleges and universities, you may want to see if there is an "Undecided" or "Exploratory" option. This may allow you to take a variety of courses without being tied to one specific major. If "undecided" or "exploratory" is not an option you wish to pursue (or is not available), think about the courses you have taken in your high school career. What have you enjoyed? In which courses have you excelled? Are you more a math/science person, or does your mind naturally grasp ideas in English and history? Maybe you enjoy the arts (e.g. theater, fine arts, music). If you are a math/science person, do you want to study pure math or science? Would you want to become a doctor or an engineer? If you excel at English or history, maybe you would choose philosophy, sociology, or anthropology…maybe even journalism or a foreign language. If the fine arts are your strength, do you want to perform or exhibit your work? Would you want to teach your craft?

Once you have narrowed your focus, you can start asking questions or surfing Web sites of the institutions that offer majors in your area(s) of interest. Doing some investigation early on can help to make the process of selecting a major as easy as possible.

Northwestern University is fortunate to have six outstanding schools offering over 80 different degree programs. "Undecided" majors are available in three of the six schools (Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the School of Education and Social Policy), and nearly a third of our students will graduate from a different Northwestern school than they applied to, giving students a great deal of academic flexibility.

• Majors available at Northwestern

Choosing a major

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