Go back to your college days

[cmccuist]

If you're already at a school and are commited to staying at that school, then the best way to pick a major is to read the entire course catalog.

You start at astronomy (ar whatever is first at your university) and read right through to zoology. I mean read about every class that is required for that major. That's how I decided on mechanical engineering. The class descriptions looked interesting to me.

I've been and engineer now for 24 years and love coming to work every day (+/-).

[david c.]

Make certain you are at a good school. If you're not sure, tell us where you are and we'll let you know. You mentioned journalism. Consider how much harder it will be to find a worthwhile position with your undergrad degree in journalism from a marginal state school versus, say, Columbia. If you are at a truly mediocre school, consider working hard this year and applying to transfer. Good schools make a difference, especially early in your career. You can apply for many positions with a business degree from a highly esteemed school and be taken seriously. The same cannot be said for a business degree from some branch campus of Kutztown State or wherever.

I further agree with what Tshabet has said. If there is a truly noteworthy professor at your school, someone with respect in his field and with a list of publications under his academic belt, get to know him. You'll learn more from someone like that, assuming he's also a good "teacher", than you will in dozens of packed survey courses.

Either way, enjoy it. You'll make a lot of contacts for life that will contribute to your ultimate success if you are a sociable and likeable, happy person. Don't eschew the chance to enjoy your time at school because you're worried about long term success and, therefore, are always buried in the stacks in the library. If you do that, you'll miss another important lesson available to you, which is how to balance your life between work and fun.

[Burnin' oil]

College . . .that was a great decade

[}{arlequin]

Originally posted by Burnin' oil
College . . .that was a great decade

LOL, that's classic!

[tc-sacto]

I'll be more pragmatic here. If you go for a business degree, go for Accounting. All the others are fluff. I'm a finance major, but an accounting degree would have been more useful . Then follow up with a CPA designation with a masters in Taxation. You'll go right into a career and start making a decent salary. Various tracts to run on. Marketing majors tend to move to sales reps. (two friends were marketing majors and now are sales reps for beer distributiors) Finance majors tend to move to sales as well. (stockbroker, Financial planning. these field could be learned with out the degree. A lot of stockbrokers are lib. arts majors.)

So for me it would be searching for a prosessinal type degree:
Accounting: Focus on CPA/Taxation
Law: estate planning/real estate
Engineering: Mechanical

These types of professions lead to an ability to work wherever you want to live. Example: It would be hard to establish a sales career as a stock broker and then pick up and move at some future date.

Also, get that summer internship in the field you like to work.