Which major should I choose?

Question

I am currently a junior at my university and I have narrowed it down to these majors and minors:

Psychology/Sociology
Psychology/Management
Psychology/Marketing
Elementary Education/Psychology
History (Social Sciences)/Secondary Education
Sociology/Pre-Law Business

Which do you think would be the better path to choose?

Answer 1

Psych or Soc. at the bachelor's level won't get you a job in those professions - you'll need a master's or doctorate for a good job.

Management and Marketing are pretty marketable. Even more marketable if you get some experience and then an MBA.

Education (with state certification) will get you a job and the career isn't a bad one. Even then, a master's is preferable since it gets you a considerable pay increase.

"pre-law" as a major isn't too useful in the employment world and isn't all that great at getting you into law school. A law degree is a very valuable thing to have though.

Which you pick depends entirely upon what you want to do for a living. 3/4 of your choices there will require grad school for a good job and with the other choice (education) grad school is a big plus. With that kind of investment looming, you need to clarify your occupational goals.

Answer 2

"Better" depends on what it is that you think you might want to do with your life. If you want to be a psychologist, then be the best psychology you can be. I'm not sure any of the minors would help you. If you want to know about psychology, but think you will be looking for a job in something else, then the minors make sense (except for sociology, and although I love sociology, I think its only purpose is in knowing about it). If you want to be a teacher, then decide which level you want to teach on, and choose that. If you want to be a corporate lawyer, then the last one makes sense (sort of; why the sociology?). If you think you will be taking a job in business, then the second and third choice make sense, and neither is "better" - just pick the one which interests you more or which has the better faculty to keep you interested.

Answer 3

If you want to go to law school, choose an easy undergraduate major that you know you can get a high GPA. Law schools just look at undergrad GPA (they don't care which major) and then they look at LSAT scores. If you know you want to go to law school, pick an easy major and then take a LSAT prep course.

All the other majors sound fine. You will probably be most marketable with a business degree (Management, Marketing) if you decide not to go to law school.

Answer 4

Your major / minor should be closely tied to what you truly enjoy doing. To figure this out, try this:

Pretend you won the world's biggest lottery and would never ever have to work or worry about money forever. If that were true, ask yourself what you would do to keep from becoming bored each day. (write the list on a sheet of paper...but make 3 columns, and make your list in the left column. Then fold up the paper and put it away for a few days.

A few days later, take out the list and look at each item carefully. For each thing you like to do, try to figure out A) what is so intellectually/mentally exciting about it for you? (and put those things in the center column)....and then B) what physical activity is associated with the things you like to do (and list those things in the right column).

When you are done, you have an inventory of the things you like to do, and why you like to do them (knowledge and skills). Now the grand prize is to figure out what job exists in the world that deals with your areas of interest that requires the knowledge and skills you either have or are interested in....so in essence, you want to find a job that pays you do to do what you would normally want to do anyway.

Since you narrowed your choices down to the fields of Psychology, teaching, and possibly law or business, visit the following sites to look at various jobs in those areas.

http://www.acinet.org/acinet/
http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/home.htm...

Once you identify that dream job or some prospective jobs, check them out in two ways...salary/career info, and then do a knowledge/skills inventory.

For salary and career track info, try visiting sites such as www.salary.com

Personal inventory to match job knowledge/skills: Use the US Dept of Labor SCANS lists..
For a free copy of the US Dept of Labor SCANS lists, a knowledge/skills inventory for work, visit http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/public/c...

There are a number of ways to use these lists. Start with a self-inventory. Then use it to inventory a job description for any job you might be interested in. You can get job descriptions for these other jobs and inventory them using the SCANS lists to see how close a match your personal inventory comes to the job descriptions. The closer the match, the higher the probability of success and enjoyment in that job. You can also use the lists to inventory what you learned from any classes you take....and to see if the classes are giving you the knowledge and skills needed for the job you want.

The "better" path for you depends on what you value...but to give you some insights, consider that it will take you several years to complete your degree. Perhaps you should consider the potential job market for those majors by visiting the US Dept of Labor site http://www.bls.gov/oco/home.htm
And also check the relevant site for your state of interest at
http://www.bls.gov/oco/oco20024.htm

Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Answer 5

which industry you're really interested in.

many famous comanies in different industry

http://www.bizdrv.com/company/list/i-r200/USA.shtml