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How to Choose a Major

July 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Choosing a major can be difficult. There are so many to choose from; you want a major that will bring you a profitable career, but you also want something you enjoy.

The first thing you’ll want to consider when choosing a major is what you love to do. Find something you’re truly passionate about and enjoy doing. Many people choose something very practical that they know they can have a career with. This is fine, but many find in the end that they hate their job. You don’t want to dread going in for work every day. Others don’t have a real direction and end up having to get a master’s degree in order to have the education for the career they decide on later. If you can figure out what you want to do that you love, choosing a major is easy.

The next thing you’ll want to do is figure out what education you need to succeed in what you love. Sometimes you might need a master’s degree in your chosen profession and having a complementary bachelor’s degree, rather than a bachelor’s degree in the same field, is preferable. By choosing your path before you begin, you will have a greater focus.

While you’re in college, be sure to find internships that relate to your chosen career as well. They will help you focus on what you really want to do and increase the chances for success. It will look good on your resume when you’re applying for jobs to show that you have real-world experience in that field.

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Reaping the Benefits of Good Study Habits

July 11, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Being in school is a rewarding and stressful time. You know in the end that you will receive a degree in your chosen career field and possibly aspire to generate more income. However, in order to get to that point, there is much to do while you are taking online courses.

Having great study habits will provide many benefits, including the following ones:

  • The ability to complete assignments. Studying can help you to learn the information that you will need to finish your homework or projects.

 

  • A better report card. Believe it or not, some employers will consider your GPA before they hire you. Plus, good grades can help you if you decide to pursue a Master’s Degree or a doctorate degree.

 

  • The freedom to enjoy school. Proper study habits can reduce your stress level, boosting your health. Additionally, good study habits take the pressure off most people when it comes to testing because they avoid the panic associated with last-minute cramming.

 

  • Better organization. Part of developing good study habits is the ability to manage time. This will help you manage everything from your projects to your lectures to your work schedule.

Studying may not seem like an important element of your education, but it can make a difference in the aforementioned areas. If you want to have more time, less stress and better grades than your classmates, develop good study habits. When you land your dream job or get a scholarship to pursue other degrees, you’ll be glad you learned how to study.

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Launching a Career in Public Health

June 6, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Doctor, lawyer, dentist, engineer, teacher … there are just a few of the ideas students have as they head to college. Many think of nursing as well. Many of these fields have sub-fields that are hurting for qualified individuals. Public health is one of these!

Public Health a Viable Option

Nursing is a great field but the field is changing from what it used to be. The typical hospital job for a licensed nurse may consist of more paper work than patient care. It has a high burnout rate. Going into public health allows the nurse to have more variety in his or her job and more predictable hours as well. If you are already in nursing, you can click here to find out more about learning public health online.

Don’t Have to be a Nurse

The nice thing about public health is that you don’t have to be a nurse or medical professional to enter the field. You could be doing things such as research, making public policy, teaching and administration. There are many different things to keep you interested until retirement. Public health is really an under-explored field for college students. There are many opportunities for travel overseas as well, for those interested.

Learning Online

Public health is an educational option that is available online. There are many programs available to you while you are still working at your present job. You can explore the programs you find online and ask people in the field what programs they might recommend. You can also talk to people in the field!

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Multiple Majors

March 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Multiple majors are degree programs where students are going to be obtaining a degree for more than one thing simultaneously. This can be a very difficult task, but many are finding that for the time and money, is the most efficient way to handling their educational goals. One such example of this is with education students. If a student want to be certified for more than one subject, or in more than one area, say mainstream education and special education, then a dual major is the proper way to go. This does increase the unit weight from around 124 credits to about 152 credits, but as you can see there is only a 28 credit difference, and a student will receive two degrees. The way this is made possible is the fact that all the general education is only completed once, yet is sufficing for both degrees. The other factor with this is that because both topics are in line with the same type of field, many of the core, or capstone, classes are also completed once, but count for both. If a student were to do these degrees separately, they would have to complete a 124 unit degree program, then turn around and do it again.

For many fields today, there are dual requirements, and unless people have the time and money to spend eight years in school, dual majors are the best and most efficient way to go. Another field that has these same type of requirements also includes law. For many lawyers, they dual major, or even triple major, in history, law, and Latin. This will help provide them a well-rounded basis for completing their BAR exam, and to help them with becoming familiar with past events that could later help them in the court room. While this is becoming more of a trend, there is no requirement that dual or multiple majors have to be completed, however, more and more colleges are now accommodating this approach.

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Tips for Choosing a College Major

March 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Many college students struggle with choosing the best suitable major that will capture their interest and lead to a variety of meaningful career choices. There are some useful tips to consider when choosing a college major.

1. Identifying High Interests

The most important aspect of selecting a college major is identifying what a student is passionate about and understanding the areas that promote active engagement. For example, if a student is considering becoming a teacher, but is anticipating the end of their English class to get to biology, then teaching may not be the right choice.

Students should select a major that really captures their interest and promotes excitement in a variety of contexts.

2. Recognizing Strengths

When choosing a major, students should understand what their strengths are such as helping others or receiving praise on artwork. Selecting a major that students have a natural preference for can augment skills and interests and lead to advanced study opportunities such as graduate school, fellowships, and study abroad experiences.

3. Make a Career Choice

Before selecting a major, students must think hard about what career choices the want to pursue. It is important to have an open mind of the wide variety of career options that many majors can lead to. Students should create long-term professional objectives and explore their interests to ensure they choose the right career path. It is an necessary to complete the necessary coursework to become competitive in a specific field.

4. Identify Desirable Skills

It is important for students to identify what skills they want to learn. For example if a student wants to be an accountant he or she not only needs to learn business principles, but also needs to acquire adequate communication skills to interact with clients.  Students should choose a major that not only adheres to their interests, but also provides practical skills that can be applied to potential careers.

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Changing Majors in College

January 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment

So you are twelve to eighteen months into college and the major you choose isn’t what you thought it would be. You are toying with the idea of changing your major and you can’t decided. Hopefully this time you’ve done your homework and came to the conclusion that if you do change, this major will be the one.

Changing from one major to another isn’t all that hard, a visit to your campus counselor and a good review of your new course load should do the trick. You may be pleasantly surprised that some of your courses will remain the same. This is the best case scenario. Having a completely different major in a completely different field of study could prove to be challenging and a separate course load could come into play.

Just remember college is not for the weak at heart and if a couple of more courses or even years for the matter is going to make you a happier graduate, well we are talking about the rest of your life here.

Talk to as many people as possible in the field that you are thinking about changing your major to. Get as many different perspectives as you can and not until then follow through with the changes. Knowledge is power and in this case you can never have enough of either.

At the end of the day the major you choose should make you happy and fit your personality as closely as possible. There aren’t to many introverted people out there that make great salespeople and there aren’t to many extroverts that make great accountants. If your personality calls for a free spirit and you love talking to people all day, being stuck in a cubicle punching a calculator is not going to do you any good.

Choose closely and wisely, remember this is the rest of your life we are talking about.

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College Major Complemented by a Minor

January 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

When a student is prepared to choose a college major he or she should also consider the world of the minor. It falls into the category of will my minor help my major or am i just picking a minor to take up some course load. Studies show that a minor that is in some correlation with the major better prepares you for the workforce and not to mention if the two have something in common the studying aspect becomes much easier.

For example, you want to major in accounting, your minor could be in something in the line of business. not only will this help in studies but the impact it has in the job search will help you as you may find a job or career that is more business related than it is strictly accounting.

Following these principals will ultimately prepare yourself and make you a stronger student. Many times these courses will also intermingle subjects and help where in one class you did not quite grasp the concept your professor was trying to get across.

The flip side to the coin is if you are ultra conservative and you know your major is in something that you will be pursuing as a career such as accounting and then you would like a minor in music because music just happens to be a passion of yours. Just remember there aren’t too many singing accountants in the world so choose wisely when signing up for these classes.

Not to take anything away from courses that will bring you more joy than dollars, once you do enter the workforce it just boils down to where you think you are going and in which direction in life these courses will take you. Unfortunetly I’ve not met too many eighteen year olds that know where they are going in life so don’t be surprised if your major or your minor changes in your college life cycle.

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The Pros of Having a Double Major

January 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment

More and more college students today are graduating with not just one major but rather multiple majors.  In today’s challenging economy where the job market is so very competitive, having a double major certainly can not hurt anything.  The more well rounded you are, the more marketable you will be when it comes time for job hunting.  While you may choose a double major in related fields, you may also choose majors in opposite fields.  However, some studies do show that employers tend to prefer majors in related fields.  The reasoning being so that they aren’t left wondering which area is your true passion.    As long as you have the ability and drive to successfully (not just getting by) complete all necessary courses, by all means go for a double major.  Not only will it show how well rounded you are, it will also open up additional doors in a challenging job market upon your graduation.  When an employer is reviewing resumes and sees you have majored in more than one area it will only show your commitment and desire to be successful.  Nothing will secure or guarantee a job post graduation, however it is certainly a good idea to do everything possible to set yourself up for success.  Give yourself the edge above other applicants by bringing more to the table with your dual major.  As you embark on your college journey and choose the path you will take, determining your major. take into the consideration the option of multiple majors.  It’s a trend we have seen increase in recent years and for very good reason.  Student choose higher education typically to help themselves secure a better job upon gradation; a dual major is just an additional step to assuring that better job.  Why not make the most of your college years and go for the dual major!  It certainly can not have a negative impact on your resume.

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Highest Paid College Majors

January 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment

So you are getting ready to graduate from high school and wondering what should I major in once I get to college.  Some people say go for the passion, some people say go for the money.  Some people will say the money is the passion.

In any instance, research tells us the top paying majors are in Engineering.  Aerospace Engineering being the highest paid.  This is nice, next time someone asks you “what are you, a rocket scientist?”  You can actually say yes, yes I am.  All joking aside, research shows that after Aerospace, Chemical,  Electrical, Computer  and Mechanical are the highest paying engineering majors.

Next in line would be economics. Some people will say all that is, is people studying numbers. This could not be further from the truth.  I had an economics professor once tell me, “I can’t tell you what to do with your money.  I’m simply  qualified to tell you what happened to your money.”  Some economists study the social science and psychology and some stay true to their profession and stick with statistics and math.

The third highest paying major would be physics.  This can propel you into several different fields and depending on which one it will determine how much or little you make.  Careers in physics range from science, engineering, and education.

Rounding out the final 7 top paying majors is computer science, statistics, biochemistry, mathematics,               construction management, information systems, and geology.

No matter which major you choose success is sure to come, and if you choose wisely I’m sure there can also be plenty of money to be made. If you are ever so lucky to get up in the morning go to work and do something you love, some people say it won’t be work at all. I guess that’s where the passion comes into play.

So choose wisely my friend, and the passion and money will follow!

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Six Figure College Majors

January 19, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Earning more than ten thousands dollars a month right out of college does not happen for everyone immediateltly.Some students are very disappointed when they really start to work their way through their local job markets. Understanding the value of the degree in the local marketplace can help you to select the right major and more importantly know how you can have a better chance of landing a lucrative position.

Starting salaries should be researched. The salary for the same position may vary based on where it is geographically. A nurse in San Antonio, Texas may earn more than someone doing the exact same job in El Paso, Texas. When you start to search job listings that encompass the entire state or the country you will start to see a pattern.

This pattern may uncover which section of a major is the most lucrative. For example, payscale.com published a report that states the average petroleum engineers have an average starting  salary of $93,000. In comparison a chemical engineer has a starting salary of $ 64,800. Knowing which sections of engineering are the most lucrative can help you decide what to major in.

Each year there are companies that research the earning power of different degrees. If your major is not in a lucrative area, but it is your passion do not despair. Minoring in a major that is more lucrative can help boost your earning potential in the global marketplace. Minoring in business or marketing can help you stand out when applying for positions that require additional skills.

Seek out online learning resources to learn more about any lucrative major or minor subject. Exploring the topic through online discussions and eBooks can help you see if that topic can be part of your degree plan. Use these tips when trying to select a lucrative college major.

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