Unsure about what college or major or future career pathway to do AT ALL (16F, HS Junior, NJ)

College Majors
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I am a 16F Junior In New Jersey (Not saying which region of Jersey for Privacy) and I have absolutely NO CLUE as to what I want to do in the future. Anytime I try to think about my future, my mind literally draws a blank.

As a result, I have no Idea what I want to major in at all. I do not understand how so many my age can know what they want to do as soon as they are out of the womb! I have never been able to pigeonhole myself into one major or career path as I always mentally change and IDK how I’m going to be in like three years!

I went to a college fair today and I found some schools (Sweet Briar and Emmanuel College (Boston)) interesting, but I checked Niche and they were both ranked C and I don’t think I should go to a C-rank college tbh. I HOPE for an Ivy or at least something like Boston Uni but idk.

I am trying to avoid the South and the Midwest or just anything Landlocked for that matter. I am unsure abt California.

In regards to academics, I get good grades in school (Usually almost all A’s but the lowest I’ve ever gotten was like a few B’s (I am AWFUL at Bio/Chem))

I am skilled at History and English but I’m not majoring in either of those as I’m not PLANNING on doing pre-law and idk of any Non-teaching career paths that would pay well from those majors. I thought about advertising or marketing but many say that those majors aren’t really that good.

My parents are recommending that I major In business as It opens up many paths, but I am very clear about the stigma surrounding that major and how it’s clowned on for being “too Easy” and being the major that everyone who didn’t know what they wanted to do majored in. I am not saying that all Business majors are like this, I am just concerned about the quality and value of the degree considering the stigma and how it is one of the most common majors on the planet. I am not passionate about business tbh.

I do not really know what I am passionate in to be honest. I like to draw sometimes but i’m not great nor do I want to go to art school. I like to read and write but I am not planning on majoring in English or anything of that nature.

I am avoiding Engineering as I hear that it is INSANELY hard and I couldn’t handle that. Same thing goes with Comp Sci. I’m not into comp sci tbh.

My main goal is a major that will pay well but I have no clue what I am passionate about at all. I don’t really feel a deep true passion or stuff and I am not usually the type to be an active talker in a friend group usually. I am not really good with making friends so nothing that REQUIRES intensive group work.

I have no clue what to do at all! Do any of you have any Ideas because I am at a loss here!

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You are 16 years old. You really don’t need to know your college major or future career now…at all. At some colleges you don’t even declare a major until junior year. Many many college students switch majors and sometimes multiple times while undergrads. Some pursue completely different grad or professional schools than might be indicated by their undergrad major. And your college major doesn’t necessarily translate to your career.

Add to that…there are jobs that will exist when you graduate from college that aren’t even a glimmer in anyone’s eye now…and jobs now that seem terrific that won’t.

You might be wise to look at colleges with a core course requirement which is across many disciplines. Often these core courses are taken in your first two years of college. During that time, something might pique your interest.

Or really…you may find that you discover something very interesting to you in your final years of high school.

Please done panic about this now!

Add to that…there are

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Adding…IMHO, your goal should be a major you enjoy. Do what you love and love what you do. Doing a job simply because it pays well is not a recipe for happiness or success…unless you also love what you are doing.

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I hear a distant ring of Holden Caulfield. Possibly the best post I’ve read here!

Before we middle-aged regulars pour forth with variously predictable advice – including myself – I’d like to hear more from you. You mentioned many things you’re decently good at. Or skilled at. But regardless of grades, what topics have enjoyed studying? What types of things outside of school do you like to do? (In general terms, to protect your privacy). What are the things that your mind is pulled to?

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You should shadow a relative or a family friend in various jobs and see what each of them feel like. That’s a start. Without preconceptions.

I think it is a useful service CC can provide — crowdsource what a day in the life looks like for various adults who visit this site.

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Perhaps passionate is too strong a descriptor. For your college major and career, it is best for them to be something you like and are good at.

In terms of “pay well”, different people have different definitions of that. That is more of a description of job types, but economic conditions can change, making some job types pay better or worse in the future, and some job types in the future may not exist now. Pay levels associated with college majors are mostly an effect of how job types are associated with majors. Some job types are associated strongly with majors, while others much less so.

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I think often you learn to love what you do. Nobody starts out saying I love collecting garbage, but I bet there are garbage men (and women) who love what they do.

I have a friend who is a gastroenterologist. He spends a lot of time poking people in the butt. I don’t think he started college thinking he wants to be that kind of a doctor, or a doctor at all, but he loves what he does now.

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Well, you do have a clue about what areas of study you are definitely not interested in: biological or physical sciences, computer science, engineering, likely not mathematics either. Students tend to be preoccupied with preparation for a career - entering the world of work after four years of college. That’s six years away for you - age 22. It’s perfectly okay to be undecided about a major or even what college to go to. You don’t really have a target list of colleges yet! And it’s also perfectly okay to be undecided once you start college & also okay to switch majors between freshman & sophomore or sophomore & junior year, if allowed by the college. Most people don’t graduate in the same major as their intended major from day one of freshman year or even from the same college.

Rutgers University in NJ and Syracuse University in NY are two universities that both house schools of Arts & Sciences & each offering over 150-200 different types of majors. Again, this is just a starting point. You may end up not wanting or even applying to either school. You should also consider the two-year community college option to complete an A.A. or A.S. degree, and then transferring to a four-year institution to complete a bachelor’s degree.

You should refer to some type of college majors reference text like the one below:

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Personally, I don’t want to do Community College tbh

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Community college could be a better place to start if you are still clueless by the end of senior year - a potentially less costly option. I wouldn’t dismiss the idea until next year, when you finalize your target list of colleges you plan to apply to. Right now, you can focus on NY, NJ, & CT - the tri-state area. By next summer, you could end up with target list of schools all over the U.S. or even elsewhere. Do keep an open mind for now.

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Some majors are difficult to switch into later because they have prerequisites that must be started as soon as you enter college. However, these are mostly those which are listed as being (currently) less interested in, such as biology, chemistry, engineering, and computer science.

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Indeed. And switching majors too late can be quite costly, requiring more time (more than 8 semesters) & money to eventually complete the degree.

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No one expects you to know what you want to do right now! And so you shouldn’t expect that of yourself. Right now, you should be pursuing activities you love in high school and doing as well as you can in your classes. You can also start investigating colleges to see what kind of school might be a good match for you. It sounds to me like you might want to visit different kinds of campuses: big flagships, regional universities, liberal arts colleges, private universities, etc., to see what kind of environment clicks best with your personality. You can visit schools near you, just to get a sense of what each category is like, even if you don’t plan to apply.

Other than pre-professional majors like engineering or accounting, you can pivot in many directions from just about any of the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. You don’t have to teach in the discipline, and you don’t have to (for example) go to law school if you majored in History. Look up resources on “What can I do with an X degree” and see aht the possibilities are – but majors that teach you how to read and write critically, do research, organize projects, etc., are likely to help you in the future, because these skills are more AI-proof.

Right now, you don’t know what you don’t know. So look at lists of majors at various colleges, browse course offerings, look at internship and job placements at different schools (and in different departments, if available). Those opportunities could be every bit as important in helping you land your first job (or grad school admissions) as the actual major. But most importantly – you really don’t have to have this figured out yet! Just explore so you can figure out which questions to ask.

Most importantly, your choice of college of major doesn’t have to be job training, especially when you don’t know what you want your eventual career to look like. So use college as your chance to figure that out.

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When my younger daughter was half way through high school (so perhaps pretty close to where you were maybe one month ago) she came to me concerned that she had no idea what she wanted to do with her life, whereas her friends did know what they wanted to do. I pointed out that yes her friends did know what they wanted to do with their lives, but in six months they will have changed their mind, and then they will probably change their minds a couple more times before they figure it out. This is very normal and very common. Most of us do try a bit of this and a bit of that and eventually figure it out.

She got into university and got the opportunity to try a variety of things, and did find one thing that she liked. This works out for most of us.

One thing to think about now is: What are you good at? Just as one example, there are a variety of things that depend upon math. If you are good at math, then you can just major in math and figure out what to do with it over time, or you can pick one of the majors that depends quite a bit upon math (there are several).

There are a LOT of very good colleges and universities in the USA, hundreds of them. It is entirely normal for someone who graduated from Harvard or Princeton and someone who graduated from Rutgers or Seton Hall to be working alongside each other, or studying together in a very good graduate program, and no one will care where any of you got your bachelor’s degree. Very strong students get their bachelor’s degree from a very wide range of universities for a very wide range of reasons. Budget is one reason that influences a lot of students. Just where a student feels comfortable is another thing that influences a lot of students, and can vary enormously from one student to the next.

Engineering and computer science are two of the many majors that depend upon math. They are probably not easy for anyone, but are not all that horribly difficult for some students who take to it. Economics is another major that can use quite a bit of mathematics. I was a math major in university, and one friend who was also a math major ended up with a master’s degree and a career in acoustics. I had not even thought about this as a possibility until I ran into him years after graduating university. He showed me what he did on a day to day basis and apparently making a car run quietly or predicting and improving the sound quality in a concert hall can use a lot of math.

Something like psychology is also potentially useful in a few different areas. This was not my strength however so I never checked into any of them.

And I have seen exactly this happen as well.

I have seen a few people go into a field that they do not like simply because it paid well, and discover that they weren’t very good at it, and it was hard.

If you do what you like and what you are good at, then at least you are likely to do it well. If someone gets a good job in the field, it might be you.

Which causes me to ask: Of all of the classes that you have taken up to now, what do you like best and what are you good at?

One thing to think about: In many cases whatever financial aid you get lasts for four years if you maintain certain requirements (such as progress towards graduating and some required GPA). However, in many or most cases the aid ends after four years. However, if you go to an in-state public university, then if you need a fifth year you will still be an in-state student. Also, you have a few very good in-state universities in NJ. I in particular happen to have know quite a few Rutgers graduates, all of whom have made the university look very good.

However, what university to attend is an issue to think about some time in the future. Right now just thinking about what you like and what you are good at is plenty (along with just being a good high school student and having some fun).

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So, it you don’t know what you want to do, why go to college at all?

If you were not going to college and we’re going to work after high school instead, what kind of job would you look for?

College is not for everyone, and there’s no reason why you have to go to college after high school.

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The first rule of college is finding something you can afford.

That you don’t know what you want to major in (hence many have undecided and others don’t let you choose one til after two years ) - does not mean college isn’t for you.

That you don’t know what you want to do - well I did and I don’t do it - is no big deal. Jobs you will be in may not exist today.

I don’t know what stigma with business you have and you don’t need to go to law school just because you major in history.

Maybe college isn’t right for you. Maybe it is - but you don’t need answers and Niche grades are irrelevant. And let’s say those two are less selective. So what. My daughter got into 17 and attended, by choice, the #16 ranked of 17 by US News - because it was the right fit. And yet she has the same job as some Ivy kids - and other high ranked schools. The rank doesn’t necessarily foreshadow success - but your passion, strength, and know how do - and that will develop over time - if you are at a place that’s the right fit.

What a magazine says doesn’t matter.

You have to go where you can excel - and it has to be somewhere your family can afford.

But you can work, volunteer and do other things too - or a combo of them.

But having your life set at 16 is not only something you don’t need to do - but you also shouldn’t do.

Good luck.

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I need to go to college because if I don’t, I will probably end up working at like, a Walmart for the next 60 years…

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Why? Anyone can start a business, the children of immigrants do it all the time. And running a successful business is the surest way to build wealth if that’s your goal. Going to college by itself doesn’t guarantee earning power.

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I just feel like ANYONE can start a business nowadays. I feel like it is sort of like the Comp Sci degree in the sense where people saw that it was making money and then everyone started doing it and now there’s not much value in it. It’s very risky and i wouldn’t do it

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Plenty of people will make great careers and big money at Wal-Mart, gas stations, other retail stores and more.

Please don’t denigrate roles. There are many in society - and some of the least glorious on paper pay big $$.

Car sales, Service Advisors, diesel mechanic, etc.

Go with an open mind but more important than anyting is a positive attitude - and no matter what you do, it’s all trial and error - meaning learn from everything you do - and you’ll learn more than you think in any job - teamwork, responsibility and more - plus whatever skill you are obtaining - compassion and more.

Nothing is beneath anyone. And many at Wal Mart, a Fortune 20 or so company, will make more money in 10 years than I will in a life time of 6 figure salaries.