By Dan Montello, Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Professor of Geography
Perhaps the most important decision you have to make as a college student is deciding to get out of bed. After getting out of bed, you have to decide what to do with your day. If you intend to stay at UCSB for more than a quarter or two, not to mention if you intend to make something worthwhile of your college experience, you will have to decide to go to class. That naturally requires you to decide which classes to take at the university—how else would you know what time to leave for class and which room to head for? Well, all students in the College of Letters & Science (L&S) have to take General Education classes, distributed across the academic spectrum from humanities to natural sciences and arts to social sciences. But GE requirements alone won’t take you very far in your quest for classes. You will need to decide what you want, or need, to study at UCSB. You will need a major.
We all know that graduating from UCSB—that event that signals that your undergraduate career has ended on a positive note—means earning a bachelor’s degree of some type. Earning a bachelor’s degree requires that you choose a major (some students choose two majors or a major and a minor, but one major is all that’s required, and in most cases, it provides suitable preparation for your future). In fact, rules at the College of L&S dictate that you officially declare a major by the time you become a junior (considered to be 90 units completed), but it is a good idea not to wait that long. Choosing a major is an important decision, and not only because it determines what so many of your classes will be. Your major is very likely to influence, if not determine, what career you can pursue after graduation. That in turn will help determine what you will do for the rest of your life. Kind of a biggie. So how should you make this important decision?
I might be a bit of an idealist, but I have believed for a long time that life is hard enough without having to spend all day doing stuff you don’t find intrinsically interesting or rewarding. I think life satisfaction comes from doing what you are good at and what you enjoy doing. In fact, I have come to suspect that accomplished people got that way mostly because they chose to do what they found satisfying and enjoyable. That’s right, you can get good at something if you do it a lot, and you can do something a lot if you feel like doing it a lot.
Many people focus on the practical aspects of a university education. Shouldn’t you choose a major based on what fields offer the most job opportunities at the highest salaries? Maybe, if making money is your sole interest. If so, the university might not even be the best place for you. But research makes it clear that money is way down on the list of factors that bring job and life satisfaction to most people. Personal fulfillment and a sense of achievement at work are much higher on the list. Still, I don’t advocate that you completely ignore practical realities (and your parents probably don’t either). Instead, explore the diverse career opportunities that are available across all majors at the university; there are good, practical jobs available in the arts as there are in the sciences. A piece of advice I give my own students is to make sure to take some classes at the university that will provide them with readily employable skills, even while they pursue their passion. Such practical skills might include writing and editing, data analysis, or management—whether of people or finances.
You probably already have some ideas about what you like and don’t like. You can get more ideas by reading and talking to people. Try out different classes in different departments, at least for a couple of quarters, to find out more about what you like and are good at. You can get good advice from your friends and family; of course, your parents probably have something to say about your college major. They deserve to be involved in this decision, but remember that it is ultimately your life. Hopefully you can discuss it rationally with them and come to a decision that satisfies everyone.
There are several people at the university that can give you lots of good advice about majors and careers. You can get especially well informed advice from departmental undergraduate advisors—every department has at least one. Professors know a few things too, and they are often the most knowledgeable about careers in particular disciplines (they are certainly the experts on how to become professors!). I’ve also become kind of partial to the talented and friendly advisors in the Office of Undergraduate Education and Advising of the College of L&S. Some of the advisors in the College are full-time staff professionals and some of them are fellow undergraduates at UCSB, known as peer advisors. You can find them all in Room 1117, Cheadle Hall. Good luck and have a good day—the alarm bell is ringing.
Dan Montello is a Professor of Geography and an Assistant Dean in the College of Letters and Science. The original text of this article is
here. For more about choosing a major, see the UCSB L&S “Undergraduate Education” web site.
