“What Should I Major In?” 9 Questions to Find the Answer

What should I major in?”

Like many people, this was a question I agonized over during my junior and senior years of college. 

I was torn between getting a psychology degree, which seemed practical but a bit boring, or a writing degree, which was exciting but perhaps not the most logical. 

In case you can’t tell, I chose the latter—hence me writing this article right now. And I’m happy I did, but if I had a time machine, I’d go back and tell myself to slow down.

Choosing your major is an important decision, and it’s not something you should rush into. 

That being said, you don’t want to be overcome by analysis paralysis, unable to decide what to major in until you’ve missed application deadlines. 

If you’re feeling a bit stuck as you think about what to study in college, here are 9 questions you can ask to help you make this important choice.

1. How much money will I need to be happy?

They say money can’t buy happiness, but that’s not exactly right. If you want to live a happy life, you need to have enough money to support yourself and do the things that bring you joy. 

Different people have different financial needs in life. So to figure out how much you need, you’ll need to ask questions like: 

It can be hard to picture a life that feels so far away. But considering these questions should help you determine whether you’ll need a lot of expendable income in the future or if you can go after a degree that may not yield as big of paychecks. 

One of the best ways to get a grip on how much you’ll need in the future is to build a budget. Even if your parents are covering some of your expenses, it’s a good idea to figure out how much you’re likely to spend month to month when you’re on your own and how much you’ll need in income to cover that. 

We have an excellent guide to budgeting for college students and a free budget template you can use to start examining your current and future financial needs:

As you get a better picture of your current financial situation, try forecasting it into the future. You should anticipate that things will be more expensive than you project—that’s a better method than underestimating and coming up short later on. 

Once you have a rough figure of how much you’ll need, research the average salaries for the different majors, and that will help you narrow down your options to those that make sense for your financial goals. 

While we’re on the topic, be sure to check out the rest of the articles that make up our How to Make Money in College Series:

• College Saving Guide
• Working While in College
• Ways To Make Money Online
• Ways To Make Money From Home
• How To Make Passive Income
• Learn How To Pay Off Student Loans

2. How long do I want to be in school?

As a freshman in college, I was so thrilled to be there—I couldn’t wait to go to class, meet new people, and live the campus life. 

Flash-forward to my senior year, and I was happily living off campus, dreaded going in for class, and couldn’t wait to graduate. 

I have other friends, however, who loved school so much that they became career academics. And still, other friends dropped out or graduated early to get it over with faster. 

Where do you fit on this spectrum? It’s impossible to know for sure but consider how long you may want to be in the academic world. 

Do you want it over and done with so you can graduate and get a job? Then go for a major you can finish in two to four years. 

If you enjoy time in the classroom, you may want to choose a path that requires a postgraduate degree. 

If you aren’t sure how long your degree will take, a quick Google search should give you some good metrics. Try something like “Average time it takes to earn a degree in ________.”

3. How comfortable am I paying loans for an extended time?

Here are some harsh numbers from the Education Data Initiative: 

Those numbers may be hard to grasp, especially if you’ve lived debt-free most of your life. Think of it this way. If it wasn’t spent on loans, $31,960 could buy you a new Macbook every year for roughly 30 years. For the average debt from a graduate degree, you could buy two BMWs. 

I took out a significant amount in loans for college—just about midway between those two averages above. 

When I was 37, I made my final loan payment. For nearly two decades, I’d been sending $500 to my loan company. Sometimes, I think about what might have happened if I’d put that money into a high-yield savings account, or the stock market, or cryptocurrency. My life might look very different.

How I wish I could go back in time and stop myself from taking out all those loans. But, alas, I didn’t think it through. So I encourage you to follow these steps before you make a decision: 

An expensive degree that requires you to take out loans doesn’t mean you shouldn’t follow your dream career path. But it may mean you need to work during college, and you’ll need to be ok with making regular payments once you’ve graduated.

4. How likely am I to get a job in this field after I graduate?

If you’re going to dedicate time and money to studying something, then make sure you’ll get a good return on that investment. 

In other words, you need to be certain that your degree will open up post-grad job opportunities for you. And it’s a hard but simple truth that some degrees will have more career prospects than others. 

You may want to study something for pure pleasure or personal growth rather than future financial gain. That’s fine, but it wouldn’t be wise if you’ll graduate with a big pile of loans and few job prospects. 

Remember, there are ways to pursue your passions that don’t require going to college and racking up debt. Private classes, self-taught courses, and mentorships are all viable options for learning new skills and growing your knowledge without putting yourself into debt.

5. Is this major likely to be relevant for a long time?

It’s impossible to predict the future, but I’m going to ask you to try. Because when answering the question, “What should I major in?” you need to consider how valuable your degree will be in the years to come. 

There was a time when “Library Sciences” was a relatively popular college major. Now, very few schools offer this because we don’t need as many librarians as we did before the internet and smartphones. (Don’t get me wrong, librarians are still vital and wonderful! But the degree isn’t as useful as it once was.) 

Right now, AI is reshaping the job market in ways we’re only beginning to understand. Some fields are seeing massive disruption—basic graphic design, entry-level coding, data entry, and even some aspects of journalism are being automated or augmented by AI tools. 

AI isn’t going to replace every job, and in many cases, it’s actually creating new opportunities. But when pondering the question, “What should I major in?” you should be thinking about what your potential career might look like as AI tools grow more sophisticated.

The smartest approach is to look for majors that build skills AI can’t easily replicate: critical thinking, emotional intelligence, creative problem-solving, and complex communication. A degree in nursing will likely remain valuable because patients need human care and empathy. A degree in computer science focused on AI ethics or systems architecture positions you to work with AI rather than compete against it.

As you’re deciding what to study in college, think about the future of your chosen career path. Is it likely to still be needed as much in ten or 15 years as it is now? Or is there a chance it will be less relevant as technology and trends change? 
You can’t know for sure what will happen in the future, but considering this question could help you rule out some of the less practical degrees from your list.

6. What options will this major give me in the future?

Some college degrees function like train tracks—they take you to one specific destination. Others are more like highways with multiple exits, giving you options to pivot as you learn what you actually want.

A degree in petroleum engineering, for example, leads pretty directly to the oil and gas industry. If that industry contracts or you discover you hate the work environment, your options narrow quickly. Same goes for degrees in specialized fields like veterinary medicine or architecture—you’ve invested years learning very specific knowledge that doesn’t easily translate elsewhere.

Compare that to something like economics. You could end up in finance, consulting, government policy, data analysis, market research, or even pivot into tech or journalism. The skills transfer across industries. English majors work in marketing, law, publishing, teaching, corporate communications, and content creation. Psychology majors become therapists, but also UX researchers, HR managers, market analysts, and nonprofit directors.

This flexibility matters more than most 18-year-olds realize. What feels like your calling at 19 might feel suffocating at 29.

Related: Job-Hopping vs. Staying at a Job Long-Term: What’s Better?

That doesn’t mean you should avoid specialized degrees if you’re passionate about a specific field. If you’ve wanted to be a physical therapist since you were 12 and that hasn’t wavered, go for it. But if you’re choosing a major because it seems practical or impressive rather than because you’re genuinely drawn to it, pick something that gives you room to discover what you actually want while you’re learning.

Look at job postings for careers that interest you. What majors do they list? More importantly, what skills do they list? If multiple careers you find appealing require similar foundational skills—research, analysis, communication, problem-solving—you know you’re looking at a flexible major.

7. Will working in this field allow me to live the life I want?

The first question in this list asked you to consider how much money you’ll need to live the life you want. Now, consider everything else but money. What else do you need out of your future career to live the life you want? 

Think beyond vague aspirations and get specific about your actual daily life. Do you value having your evenings and weekends free, or are you willing to work irregular hours for a career you love? Teaching and nursing both offer decent job security, but teachers typically have summers off while nurses often work nights, weekends, and holidays. Investment banking pays well but regularly demands 80-hour weeks. Social work offers meaningful impact but can come with emotional exhaustion that bleeds into your personal time.

Location matters more than people realize when they’re choosing a major. If you want to work in film production, you’ll likely need to live in Los Angeles or New York. Marine biology careers cluster around coastal research centers. Tech jobs concentrate in specific cities with high costs of living. Meanwhile, accounting, teaching, and healthcare jobs exist pretty much everywhere, giving you the freedom to live where you want.

Consider your energy levels and how you recharge. Some people thrive on constant social interaction—sales, event planning, or hospitality might energize them. Others need significant alone time to function well, making research, writing, or technical work a better fit. A degree in early childhood education means constant noise and activity. A degree in data science might mean long stretches of solo problem-solving.

Think about what “success” actually looks like to you beyond a job title. Do you need creative expression in your work, or are you fine keeping that for hobbies? Do you want to see immediate results from your efforts, or are you comfortable working toward long-term goals? Are you someone who needs variety and new challenges constantly, or do you prefer mastering a specific craft over time?

If your ideal life means spending a lot of time outside in nature, a career that requires you to live in a bustling city may not be the best choice. 

If you want a life that involves lots of travel and exploration, a career that means you’ll be stuck at a desk with minimal vacation time is probably not the best fit.

Take money out of the picture, and think about how different majors will impact your quality of life. This can help you choose a college major that will bring you happiness in the long term.

8. What do the wise people in my life have to say about it?

If you’ve made it this far in this article and still aren’t sure what to major in, then it’s time to seek counsel from other people in your life. 

First, consider whether you know anyone who has pursued a similar career path or major. If not, you may be able to find someone who has experience by speaking with the alumni association of the schools you’re considering. Or, you can look online for articles or social posts from people who have the same degree you’re interested in. 

You can also ask your friends, family, and mentors for their input on your options. You may find they bring unique perspectives you haven’t considered. 

But remember that this choice is ultimately yours alone to make. You can consider others’ thoughts and opinions, but you’ll still want to go with your gut on this decision (after doing all your research, of course).

9. What alternatives do I have if this doesn’t work out?

I hope the questions above have helped you get a bit closer to deciding what major to choose. But even if you’ve landed on the best option for you based on your research, it’s always a good idea to have a backup plan in case things don’t go as expected. 

College dropouts aren’t failures—they’re often people who realized halfway through that their path wasn’t working and had the courage to pivot. Some of the most successful people I know changed their majors twice, transferred schools, or left college entirely to pursue something else. The key difference between people who successfully pivot and those who flounder is that the successful ones had thought through their options before they needed them.

Maybe you’ll get two years into your biology degree and realize you hate lab work. Maybe you’ll go for a field that seems AI-proof, but something else changes the industry by the time you graduate. Maybe you’ll finish your business degree and discover you’d rather work with your hands. None of these scenarios means you failed—they mean you learned something important about yourself.

Think about adjacent fields to your chosen major. If you’re studying computer science but discover you hate coding, could you move into tech project management or UX design? If you’re in pre-med but realize you can’t handle the stress, could nursing or physical therapy be a better fit? Having a mental map of related paths makes pivoting less scary.

Consider what skills you’re building that transfer beyond your specific major. Communication, critical thinking, research, and problem-solving are valuable everywhere. If you choose a major that develops these broader competencies alongside specialized knowledge, you’re giving yourself more options.

Related: The most important soft skills to master

There are also plenty of paths that don’t require finishing a four-year degree or that let you build skills while you figure things out. We’ve written an entire guide covering alternatives to college that explores options like apprenticeships, trade schools, and self-directed learning paths. 

The choice is yours. And while that may feel overwhelming, you’re doing the right thing by asking questions before you make your final decision. Just remember: choosing a major is important, but it’s not irreversible. Whatever you decide now, you’ll have options later.