Engulfed by the astounding number of suggestions, one contradicting the other he found himself in a paradox of advice given to him by the seniors preceding him. It was after all his major decision. No one had any direct affiliation with it and no one will. It was for his life and for him to decide. Though everyone tried to be positive in sharing their views but now he felt helpless the most. No idea what to choose for a major upon entering the undergraduate program. He wanted to study psychology but the huge criticism of the elders, “chakri kora lagbe na? Family ke ki khawoabi?” (don’t you need a job to run the family?) has led him to believe that this is not a god subject and has no future. Now this guy is stuck at a BBA course learning to be a businessman just because he was forced to believe that psych wasn’t a fair enough course. On the contrary, now when he sees the immense opportunities that a psych background can provide, he regrets every moment of his selecting BBA for a subject.
The above is the situation faced by most of the students in our country when selecting majors at an undergraduate level. The innumerable personal advise from the elders and the peer pressure of the family has led to very creative of the minds studying materialistic subjects who otherwise could have contributed to something very great.
This article is not about which subject to choose rather it is about how to ensure a proper selection of subject for your undergraduate level. The selection of major varies from university to university and also varies hugely from our local universities and the foreign ones. The schools abroad provide quite a lot o freedom when it comes to mix and matching your subjects. And in Bangladesh though the private universities provide some extent of freedom in this regard however the public universities are pretty rigid and probably to them mixing up subjects are a grave sin. Thus it is even more important to make the right decision if you are one of the lucky persons to get a chance in Dhaka University or such. Below are some commonly accepted methods in order to select your majors.
The most common suggestion in selecting majors is that you stick to your subject of preference and the subject that you have studied for your high school level. It will give the best yard stick in measuring what a subject is about and what it has to offer. Therefore it is recommended that one sticks with the subject that he/she has already studied. But if you want to change your course of study then you obviously can. This would require you to do a bit of research on the subject and will help if you look at the courses taught and the difficulty of them according to you.
Secondly, one should assess oneself. Here the person should see what type of things excite you. Is it to find new and advanced ways of technology and answering the ever curious questions? Or is it the clever ways of manipulating the consumers to your advantage? Or is it to think yourself intellectual and comment on the policies of the government? Whatever it may be, it is always better to study something in which you take interest and it excites you. And if nothing excites you for may be except music or video games, then select something like contemporary metal or graphics designing. But I can ensure you there is a subject of interest for you.
Next you should move on to your strengths and your abilities. This will ensure that your interest is also backed up by skills and abilities and that you are not stranded once after selecting your major. This is the part where you answer the questions like, what am I good at and the sort of things that seems easy to me? For example if you have good communication skills then business or law should be great for you. However if this is not your cup of tea then a subject that is more research based and doesn’t require much persuasion is best suited for you. So assess your abilities truthfully as a cheating here will only be cheating yourself and may come to hunt you in the future. This is also a place where you can consider the extracurricular activities you did and see which subject gives you an edge for the because of the ECA. Like Debating might help in the profession of law and such.
Once you have found an optimal subject it is time for you to check the career opportunities of the subject. The main thing you need to remember is this all the subjects that are taught has some kind of a career available, otherwise there wouldn’t be the subject in the first place. However it is also important to note that not all careers are available in our country and hence a stereotype culture is created. But if you can be sure that there is great demand for any subject abroad and if you are good at it you will also get a lot of scholarships as well. This is also the time where you would want to have a certain type of career in mind. Whether you want to have a safe and leisurely life of a professor or you want to play it rough like an entrepreneur or a journalist. Some jobs may have a great return like being a chartered accountant however people consider it to be very hard and boring. But if you are good with numbers and want to play it safe CA is probably the best fit for you. Also if you like to travel a job in and international organization is rewarding and travel friendly at the same time, so you might want to study economics or development studies.
The above steps are proven to provide best results when faced with the question of selecting majors. Asking for advice if always appreciated but remember to not to take anything for granted. Ask a lot of people for advice and analyze their comments in making an informed decision. Also you have to keep in mind that majors alone won’t get you hired. You need to have some extra materials in your CV that gives you an edge over the others. Don’t be too scared as you can change your major anytime, but this would be a great sacrifice of time as years may be lost. And do not take any prompt decisions. Keep calm and happy hunting on your major selection.
Resources based on : http://www.collegeview.com and various university websites.