At what age did you know what you wanted to major in at college?

Question

At what age did you know what career you wanted, and what you wanted to do with your life? My older sister and brother knew what they wanted to do before they entered High School. I'm fifteen (tenth grade) and have no idea what I want to do. I'm starting to get stressed out about it. Any advice? Thanks!

Thanks to everybody! I really appreciate everyone's encouraging answers and advice.

Answer 1

I was 18 but hey, don't stress out. Take college prep courses to be safe. Some people don't declare a major in college until the end of their sophmore year. You have plenty of time to think and pray.

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Answer 2

After two years of college. Luckily I didn't take too many non-general classes. I was a criminal justice major, and realized I really had no interest in a job in the criminal justice field. So, I changed to a general business major, which is more generic and I will be able to do pretty much anything after I get my degree in a year and a half.

Don't get stressed out - you don't even have to declare a major for a couple years after you start college. Just go, take the general classes required for any major, and then meet with advisors, interview alumni, etc until you find something that really clicks for you.

I would recommend thinking about the job field before you ultimately pick a major though - a friend of mine got an anthropology degree - now he works for the power company. The weird degrees aren't that good of an idea unless you plan on working in that field.

Answer 3

No need to stress so soon. When I was in high school, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do as well. When you enter college, you can also enter as an undeclared major, which helps you to explore different areas of interests and decide at a later time what you want to focus on. I am 21 right now, and about to graduate college, and I STILL have no idea what I want to do. I've been visiting career centers to see what options are available for my major. I think once you are older and have more experience in life, it will also help you to figure out what you love doing and what you don't. But don't rush into a career too soon, you might want to take an internship when you are older to see if a certain carrer is the right for you. Or talk to people in different professions to see what their life is like and what they like doing in their job to see if it might appeal to you too.

Answer 4

Don't stress; there's plenty of help out there. Try your school career counselor. There are tests you can take like Myers Briggs, which helps you understand your personality which ultimately helps you finding a career that suits. Read the book What Color Is Your Parachute. I've used it (they print a new version every year), and have recommended it to people I know. Once you do that, you might look into "job shadowing", or summer jobs in places where you can have a good "feel" for the job. Ultimately, a career should be such that it's 100% satisfying to you that the pay is just an added bonus. Best of luck.

Answer 5

I'm a sophomore in college and I have no clue yet, most of the time you can go in not knowing b/c you have to get all the general education out of the way neways. If you're really worried though see if your high school offers some type of career counseling, if they don't most colleges do. Just think about what you have a talent for and also what you have a passion for, see if there is a career that involves both.

Answer 6

The only advice I've ever heard that makes any sense is to think about what your favorites hobbies were as a child or now and think about how you could apply those skills to a job. Also think about things like if you want to sit at a desk all day or if you'd rather be out and about. This can help a lot. If you can at least figure a category of jobs that you would like to do that would be a good starting point (Example: science, architecture, art, politics.) That way you could start on the right path in college with your classes. You can research later and figure which job in that category you would most like to do. Do as much research as you can on jobs and what you'd be doing every day in one before you choose one.

Answer 7

I wanted to be an Algebra teacher my entire life. Then I enter college. Sophomore year I decided that it wasn't right for me and I changed majors to accounting. Then after sophomore year I didn't like that either and I transferred to art school and now I am happy as a photographer. Point is. You don't need to know yet. Many college students don't know. The first year or so of college you will be declared as a general education major and you will be able to experience all sorts of classes and careers.

Answer 8

I still don't!!!! and I already graduated college. See the fact of the matter is you never truly know until you go out there in the real world and even when you do know, you must certainly will change your mind once you go into that field. My advice? Take your time, Experiment with jobs out there and find what you want to do. Trust me you will know what that is. how? you ask. When you find a job that fully satisfy you mentally,physically and physiologically...that's the one. Good Luck, Cause till this day I'm still looking and I'm 30 Years old, LOL.

Answer 9

I knew what I wanted to major in when I was 16 (Math).

I figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up when I was 43. I went back to graduate school at that point, getting an MBA and a PhD. I'm now a college professor.

You don't have to know what you want to do right now. Just make sure that you take classes that allow you to keep your options open.

Good luck.

Answer 10

you don't need to worry about it until at kleast the time you're aplying to colleges - even then 0 you only need to know which "college" you're applying for such as the "Business" school at Penn State of the "Science" college