How Many Potential College Majors Should I Have?

College Majors
1

So right now my current dilemma is how many majors I should have, as of now I have ten that I’m interested in:

Accounting
Architectural Engineering
Supply Chain Management
Business Administration/Management
Computer Science
Electrical Engineering
Information Technology
Management Information Systems
Urban Planning
Environmental Science

So I guess I’m wondering, how do I narrow them down?

2

One. Maybe two, if you have a compelling reason for wanting to major in both of them and idea for how you want to combine them (e.g., urban planning and environmental science, for designing sustainable, green cities).

The way to narrow them down:

-Hard to do, but try to envision yourself in the future in your job. What kind of career do you want? What kind of work do you think you want to do? Someone who wants to work outside or work one-on-one with people might not want to pick CS as a major; in contrast, someone who hates the great outdoors wouldn’t want to major in environmental science or forestry or something. Relatedly, think about whether some of the majors you are considering are only in the running because of the perception of lucrative work in that field (rather than actual interest). You want to make good money but you also don’t want to be miserable.

-Talk to some people who majored in that and are now working. Do they think it’s a good major? What are career prospects like in the major?

-Once you’ve got a list of like 3-5, take some classes in your first year of college in each field and see which one you like.

3

Another more short-term way to narrow them down: Look at course requirements for all of them at any schools you’re interested in, or your current school if you’re already in college. It’s normal to have a couple courses that you’re less than enthusiastic about taking within your major, but if you look at the required courses and most of them either don’t sound particularly interesting or sound downright boring/not your cup of tea in general, that’s probably not a major for you.

4

Look at the clusters:
Business Cluster: Accounting, Supply Chain Management, MIS, Business Administration/Management
Engineering Cluster: Architectural Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Urban Planning, Environmental Science (Urban Planning and Environmental Science have some features in common with civil engineering)
Design Cluster: Architectural Engineering, Urban Planning
Information Technology Cluster: Computer Science, MIS

What are the features that appeal to you in each cluster?
Choose a cluster first, then narrow it down within the cluster.
Alternatively, you could sequence clusters—e.g., become an engineer first, then go to grad school in business.

5

^I like the way of thinking above because it forces you to think about WHY you chose those majors. One thread I noticed is that most of the majors in the business cluster are related to technology or engineering (or math) in some way; that’s also true of the majors in the design cluster. Conversely, most of the majors in the engineering cluster are related to some kind of marketable business-related thing.

I actually would suggest two more majors - but not to give you more majors, but because I think some of your interests can be boiled down.

  1. Industrial engineering. Industrial engineers optimize complex systems and processes; they're interested in improving systems of all kinds of things - people, money, technology, knowledge, etc. Industrial engineering would combine elements of lots of things you're interested in - supply chain management, accounting, information systems, business administration, computer science, perhaps even urban planning depending on what kind of industrial engineering you become. It sounds like a really good fit to consolidate all the things you're interested in. You could, for example, major in industrial engineering with a minor or concentration in environmental science or urban planning, and end up doing logistics/industrial engineering for companies that handle architecture, urban planning, or sustainability.
  2. The very closely related field of operations research. Operations researchers use math/statistics and computer science to figure out how to make management and organizational processes more smooth and functional. Operations research can involvement information systems, computer science, supply chain management, business administration and management, and some engineering properties too (primarily in optimization).

I think these are two majors/career fields that combine all of your interests - industrial engineering probably moreso than operations research, but both of them could work.