According to Liz Freedman, about a 20 to 50 percent of students enter college as “undecided” and a 75 percent end up changing their major at least once before they graduate. Students, specifically juniors and seniors,  are constantly being asked what they would like to study. During this last school years they begin to feel the rush of choosing a major and many end up unhappy with their decision.

Choosing a major is one of the most important decisions to take since it is what will define a great part of your future. It is crucial for students to take a wise decision and not to choose what will give them more money or what their parents studied just to get that decision out of the way. There are many methods students can use to help them decide and recognize if what they are thinking is actually the best option.

According to Dawn Rosenberg Mckay, before choosing the right career it is important to consider learning more about about oneself. Recognizing their values, weaknesses, personality and aptitude students can have a better idea of what career might match with them. In order to do this there are some online tests or university web pages that give a description of the characteristics that a person studying these career tends to have. In this manner students can then start researching about these careers and see which ones fit more with what they are looking for.

“When you go to the web pages of the universities they tell you what is the profile of the student that wants to study that career; what characteristics they show,” Maria Teresa, High School college counselor said.  

Many students have a clear option of what they would like to choose as a major but are not completely sure if they would truly like it. To solve this issue many opt to attend to a summer camp treating about their topic. These camps provide many university type classes that allow students define if this is the major they were searching for.

“I attended a summer camp in Cambridge on psychology because that is what the college counselor told me I would probably like. I had classes and looked at the topics in order to know if I would like them. After this I decided that this was what I wanted to major on,” Camila Medina, 11th grader said.

Another useful way to know if what you have on mind will be the right choice is to attend to lessons given about this topic outside of school. Universities like EAFIT offer juniors and seniors to join internships to help them decide what career to undertake. Additionally, if the student wants to keep on with the career they do not need to take this class as freshman.

“Even if you get bored halfway through the internship it is easy for you to drop out. This is just made for you to eliminate possibilities and that is the biggest aspect of it, to narrow down your  choices and then making the final decision with a clear mind,” Martin Velasquez, 12th grader said.

Many of the students end up studying the same career as their parents because they see they were successful in life and others might study what will give them more money. Students should get rid of these ideas. Not studying what they truly like can be an awful error to make because if there is no passion it will be difficult for them to success in their job.

“It is really important to look more at what you like than what you are good at. If you are passionate about something you will eventually become successful at it, instead if you are good at it but you do not like it you will get tired of it so it will not be as good for you,” Medina said.