Chapter 3
Explore Majors and Specializations

• Explore Majors and Specializations
  What Is a College Major?	A field of concentration. A series of courses that provide a foundation of learning in an academic discipline. They vary in the number of required courses. More than 2/3 of first year college students change their intended majors in the first year. Many first-year students take several general education courses before choosing a major.
  How Do You Know Whether a Major Is Right For You?	Make a realistic assessment of your interests and abilities. Seek out students who are more advanced in a field that you are considering and ask them what it’s like and information about courses and instructors. What really interests you? You should be enthusiastic about your major and motivated to learn more about the field.
  Get the Right Courses	List your constraints Know your skills and abilities Examine your interests Study your options Register for a reasonable course load Take the right mix of courses Ask the pros
  Two-Year Colleges	The Associate of Arts (AA) degree includes general academic courses that allow students to transfer to a four-year institution. If you plan to transfer, select your college and study its degree requirements as soon as possible. Students should consult regularly with advisors at their community college and the four-year institution to ensure that they are taking appropriate classes. Community colleges also offer certificate programs designed for re-entry into the job market or to upgrade skills. Certificate programs do not include general education requirements.
  Four-Year Colleges	Majors vary in the number of courses required Many first-year students take a number of general education courses before they take courses specific to their major. If you aren’t sure about a major after two years of college, you will find yourself taking extra courses that you may not need when you graduate. Some students don’t want to major in a specific area, and many four-year colleges have programs that allow them to pursue a broad range of courses.
  Create a Four or Five Year Plan	Even if you don’t declare a major immediately, it is still a good idea to map out a plan listing each of your courses every term until graduation. To do this, study your college catalog and become familiar with requirements of the majors that interest you. You can do a different plan for each different major you are considering. Planning ahead will enable you to take control of your academic plan and give you maximum flexibility toward the end of your time in college. The risk of not doing a long-term plan is that you will end up in your junior or senior year with too many courses in one area and not enough in another, which will extend the time needed to get your degree.
  What You Need to Know to Transfer	You need to know whether the credits you have earned so far will transfer to the new college. You should obtain a catalog for the new college which will describe transfer requirements, as well as specific course requirements for each major. Talk with an admissions advisor about admission criteria, minimum GPA, applications, deadlines, and other important information. Peterson’s National College Data Bank and Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges are good general guides to colleges, listing programs of study and other relevant information.

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