College Applications: A Guide to Picking Your Major

By Matthew Rinaldi, 2028

Published 9/10/25

College awaits most of us in the near future, and with it a new freedom to begin studying what we are passionate about. Although high school allows you to take electives and courses that may fall into your career of interest, there are still major limits to your choices. College, however, allows you to pick specific ‘majors’ that align with your career interests and allows you to take courses in those chosen fields. Major availability is important to take into account when applying to colleges, as offered courses vary from school to school, and may also determine what jobs may be available to you in the future. Making such an important decision may be very difficult and stressful, especially if you aren’t certain about what you would like to do in the future; Luckily, you are not alone, and many colleges are very flexible about major selections!

In general, your major should be catered towards your passions and potential career interests. As you are approaching college, it may be a smart decision to begin considering what you may be interested in pursuing after college (if that is what you plan to do after high school). Your college major can be seen as placing a stepping stone on your path to a career. On top of defining what courses you take in college, majors also help to pair you with other students that have similar interests as you, allowing for intellectual exchange. There is a large spectrum of majors that are offered at colleges all over the world, some being very broad and some being very specific. Having broader major options can be helpful if you know what general field you would like to work in after college without binding you to a specific career. For example, if you are interested in working in the science field, you can enroll as a STEM major, leaving you with many options and broader course requirements that can help you narrow your options throughout your time at college. On the other hand, if you know that you want to be a kinesiologist, you can enroll as a kinesiology major as well, depending on what your college offers. 

Picking just one major can be difficult for some people who have many interests, and luckily many colleges offer chances to study two potentially contrasting subjects that strongly interest you at the same time. If you are interested in studying two different subjects at an equal commitment, you can do what is called ‘double majoring’. If you are interested in double majoring, which is essentially majoring in multiple subjects, it is important to take that into consideration when researching colleges, as not all colleges offer this at the same extent. If you are someone who is strongly interested in a specific subject, but is also moderately interested in a completely different subject, you can also do what is called ‘minoring’ in a subject. Having a major and a minor allows you to focus more heavily on a primary subject while also opening up opportunities to study a secondary interest.

Picking just one major can be an extremely difficult and stressful decision, let alone two. It is important to understand that if you are not strongly passionate about a specific subject when applying for colleges, you are not alone, and that you do not need to necessarily decide before applying. Many colleges allow students to enroll as ‘undecided’, which means that you do not have a specific major selected. Luckily, this does not mean that you are ‘behind’ everyone else, or at a ‘disadvantage’. Many colleges understand that picking a major isn’t a decision that can be made overnight, and they aren’t going to penalize you for thinking about a life-changing choice. In addition, if you do happen to pick a major that you feel loosely interested in, many colleges are lenient about switching majors throughout your college career– so don’t feel as though you are bonded to the major that you select.

Overall, selecting a major is an important decision in your college application process, and allows us to truly consider what we might want to pursue in the future. Although this decision does weigh heavily on your course availability and requirements, there are many alternative options that may allow you to explore multiple options, or even wait until after enrollment to decide. So, if you are currently applying for colleges and don’t know what to major in, ask yourself: What can I see myself doing in the future? What am I truly passionate about? After all, college is meant to fully prepare you before entering a career, and you have the ability to forge your own path starting with your major.