Help! How did you choose which major was right for you?

[w8w8holdon]

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@ExieMITAlum

Please don’t base your decision on “money.” It makes no sense to pursue a degree in something so you can make money only to find out that you hate your existence, or worse - can’t find steady employment because you aren’t good at what you do. Those fields are competitive and weed out weak players pretty fast.</p>

<p>I’m an engineer working in an artistic field by choice and by passion. My hubby is a medical professional. We ended up with two art kids. Not sure how that happened. But our philosophy is “happy, healthy, and fulfilled” and we’re showing them both how to take their skills and apply it in a way that will allow them a decent income stream that doesn’t include working at a fast food restaurant.</p>

<p>The hardest part of your journey is that the latter (computers and gaming) are specialized and it will be hard to find a school that allows you to explore both at the same time. So look for colleges where all freshman take core courses to explore and then branch out if you’re not sure. For instance, MIT, which I know best - admits students to the entire Institute and they can figure out what their degree program will be once there. Others require you to apply to the “School of Engineering, or the School of …” and switching isn’t as easy.</p>

<p>And remember, not every person in the industry went through a specialized program. So my daughter is applying to several liberal arts colleges where she won’t immerse into her field until late sophomore or early junior year. And several where she’s applying to the department which will start her off on day one in her field.</p>

<p>And if you change your mind - most people specialize in grad school. So give yourself maximum options until one choice emerges as the primary one!

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<p>Actually I wont be studying in the US because I can’t afford it, since I’m an international student but thanks so much for the suggestion and for the whole reply :D.</p>

<p>Here in my country we have no such specialized degrees (gaming etc. etc.), just the basic ones such as electrical engineering, etc. and thus many of these degrees are overlooked. I am hoping it wont sound strange to me when I tell myself that I’m following such courses, based on what my experiences here are.
Anyways as I said I know what my passion is but I have completely NO idea what courses I should choose, but I think I will go for computer science? I don’t think it has a lot to do with game designing but most people were suggesting it and what put me down the most is that many say that you can’t choose this as a career, but as a hobby/part time job only instead :(…</p>

<p>Thanks for your reply again, it’s great to see there are parents like you, many teens struggle with such cases today and their parents’ support is very important.</p>