There’s no getting past the fact that preparing for college is an arduous task. There is so much work and studying to do that it can be difficult to really enjoy your senior year. In reality, one of the things that’s hardest about preparing for college is that you have to get serious about predicting your future. This can be especially daunting for a teenager, and although the idea of college is exciting, the pressure to succeed can often be almost crippling. If you’re not sure where to start, here is how to choose a college major that will lead to a rewarding career.
Take an Aptitude Test
A lot of different majors will lead to lucrative careers, but just because one person can make a lot of money in a particular field, doesn’t mean that you will. Even if you do find the career lucrative, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will feel rewarding. If you need some guidance when it comes to your career path, you should take an aptitude test. This test will give you a much better understanding of where your natural talents lie, and from there you can start thinking about which aptitudes you find the most rewarding. If you have really great people skills and tend to understand people’s motives, you might want to go into psychology, or you may want to go into marketing; it all depends on what is most exciting to you.
Talk to Your Counselor
Once you have a better idea of the different types of natural talents you possess you want to start talking to your school counselor about what that might mean for you. They will be able to tell you based on your individual talents and your transcripts exactly what kinds of college programs you should be looking into. Not only will they tell you whether you should apply to Stanford or Ohio University, but they’ll also be able to tell you exactly which programs within those schools might be best suited for you.
Research a Wide Variety of Programs
Once you get a list of schools and programs from your counselor, you want to do some heavy research on each one of them. Not only do you want to research those programs specifically, but you want to find out if there are any similar programs to the ones you like most at any other colleges. The last thing you want to do is find out about a program that is more suited to your interests and your learning style while you’re in the middle of your third year of college.
Follow Your Heart
A lot of people choose majors that they believe will lead to high paying jobs, rather than choosing majors that they are truly passionate about. The truth of the matter is that you can be successful at anything so long as you are truly committed to it. That said, if you decide to study a subject that doesn’t often lead to a high paying job, then you have to be willing to put in a lot more work than anybody else if you expect to make a rewarding career out of that passion.