During your first year in college it is perfectly acceptable to be a deciding student, one who is in the process of choosing a major. This allows you to be open to all possibilities and to explore options. After all, that is what a liberal arts education is all about!

As a deciding student, you are not alone. Up to 50% of incoming college freshmen don't know what they are going to major in and many more will change their minds as underclass students. Although you are invited to consider all of your options, we recognize that choice of major remains a source of concern for students and that it actually ranks in the top three concerns verbalized by college freshmen. So, what can the Office of Career Services do to help?

Career Counseling: Make an appointment with a career counselor to discuss your options.

Career Assessments: You may take the FOCUS (Career Guidance System) and/or the COPS by making an appointment with a Career Counselor. These particular inventories provide information about your interests and personality type and are usually very helpful when it comes to choosing a major. You will receive copies of all results.

Career Library: The Career Library contains many resources that can provide you with information about college majors and career fields linked to those majors.

Shadow Program: This program allows students the opportunity to spend a day with an individual (usually an alumnus) who works in a career field that they find interesting. This kind of activity provides the perfect opportunity to "try on" a career to determine whether or not it "fits." Shadowing opportunities can be scheduled through the Director of Career Services.

Career Link: When exploring occupations, it is often very helpful to contact Columbia College alumni for information and networking purposes. The office maintains an alumni network, called Career Link, that represents a group of alumni who have volunteered to act as a point of contact for students exploring careers.

Tips on Choosing a Major

1. Talk to people with majors that interest you.
2. Take courses in possible areas of interest. How do you feel in those classes (comfortable or like an alien)? Do you have anything in common with your classmates in the class?
3. Visit departments of interest and make appointments with the chairs. Are the professors student-oriented? Ask fellow students how they feel about the professors.
4. Come to the Career Services office to see how alumni have implemented their majors in the world-of-work.
5. Review the catalog. Do the courses in majors you are considering look like the kind of classes that you would enjoy?
6. Explore/investigate different careers/fields through informational interviewing, Career Services activities and career library resources.
7. Get to know yourself better through Career Services activities, like vocational inventories.
8. Ask yourself these questions:
   • What do you want to read and learn about for the next four years?
   • What was your favorite subject in high school?
   • What kinds of classes came naturally for you?
   • Have teachers, friends or family members encouraged you to look at certain majors because of something they know about you?
   • What homework assignments do you complete first?
   • What kind of assignments do you prefer to do -- papers, presentations, labs, etc.?
   • How do you learn best -- through lectures, small group work, discussions or hands-on application?
9. You can always change your mind! In fact, most underclass students change their mind at least once (and sometimes twice).
10. Your major often does not dictate your career choices. You have four years to prepare yourself for a career choice by supplementing your major with career-related internships and supporting coursework.

Please send any comments or questions to Career Services Center.