How did you decide what to major in???

Question

I’m in high school and I’m looking at colleges, but I’m freaking out. I don’t know (exactly) what I want to do, I don’t know what I want to major in because I have such varied interests, and I’m stressing about my future finances. 
Only a few colleges have some of the majors I’m thinking about, which makes it harder to decide, cuz I don’t even know if I want those majors, but I don’t want to rule them out either.
 
How in the world did you decide what to Major in and what career to pursue? Did you get your “dream job”? What is/was your dream job? What’s your job now and what degree/Major did you get? 
Please help a very confused and stressed teenager.
Information About Me:
Straight A’s, including lots of APs. Love science and music. I live in a tiny, isolated community, meaning I don’t have very many or any opportunities for jobs (other than babysitting), outside of school volunteering, or exploration of interests. My school itself has limited course offerings.

Answer

Your first year in college is all Gen Ed’s (for bachelors). Otherwise get an associates degree to see what classes stand out to you

Answer

When I was in high school I would take quizzes to see what careers best fit me😂 you can always change your major. I went from Criminal Justice to Business.

Answer

Make sure whatever you pick has job opportunities when you graduate. Know many people who had cool majors but couldn’t find a life sustaining job after they graduated!

Answer

If you’re in the US: I found it helpful to apply to a school with an open curriculum. That way I could take whatever classes interested me in the first year. I kept moving forward with classes that I liked better than others and then decided on my major second year. I majored in math and almost completed a neuro minor, but the last class clashed with a required class of mine. I kind of always liked math, but I also liked a lot of other subjects as well.

Answer

I just thought about what I liked in high school and career prospects. I loved chemistry and math so at 21 I decided to go back to school and get a degree in chemical engineering

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So I’m 22, in college and been exactly where you are. Let me first start by saying: guidance counselors are useless at the high school level AND the college level lmao. Anyway, most kids don’t know what they want to go for until like sophomore/junior year, you usually have to take a series of “core curriculum classes” or in college terms: The Humanities. English, math, a couple sciences and probably a history or two. I’d start by focusing on those! You DONT need your major or minor yet I would barely think  about it! I only declared last semester I’m a fourth year junior 😂 focus on trying classes and thinking about what you like to do, don’t get stuck on a education path that will lead you to something you don’t love. (Like when people are accounting majors??? Who even likes accounting???) you said you like music and science whichhh sounds like a good candidate for art/music therapist? Maybe? 🤔🤷🏽‍♀️ 
Best of luck in college and remember, don’t be super hard on yourself and have fun!

Answer

I started cello in 5th grade and that was my favorite class through high school and I was good, so that's what I majored in. I'm halfway through my doctoral degree for cello performance now and plan on teaching at a college one day.

Answer

I started out taking music - Ended up with a bachelor degree in Optometry. 
I know the school system here differs from the American one but I started taking music classes +++ but also took the basics so I could get into pretty much whatever college/university I wanted. But when it was time to apply for college/University I realized even how much I love music and everything around it, I was always second or third best so getting an orchestra job would never happen. And I didn't want to live of having to travel like crazy playing at weddings. So before I wasted too much time with it I started thinking of other safe jobs that I would always be needed in, that paid well. So I put on optometry, radiology, nursing, teaching, and some other random things that was somewhat interesting. 
I love the combination of science, health and sales aspect of optometry so for me it was perfect.

Answer

I was an all around good student and enjoyed most classes and really like my accounting classes, so I planned to be an accountant. Then I had class with the junior English teacher. She was old and old school and I loved her. She had such poise and such passion for literature and grammar. English was always my strongest subject, and I knew I would miss the day to day life of school, so I decided to become an English teacher. 
My undergrad is English Education with a minor in Speech Education (like public speaking not speech therapy). I swore I would teach high school literature and my first year I did. But then I left that job to be closer to family (I had moved across the state for it). I took a job teaching middle school language arts planning to get back to a high school as soon as possible. That was 8 years ago. I still teach LA to quirky tweens and I love it. A couple years ago I earned my Master of Education degree and I may pursue a second Masters in order to some day move into a Director of Teaching and Learning position, but I’m still debating that.

How did you decide what to major in???

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