Many students have difficulty deciding on a major for a number of reasons. Sometimes students are looking for a direct match between major and career because they believe that a major sets their life path with little room to change. This is simply not true. Most people have many careers in a lifetime regardless of their college major. The following suggestions can help Elon students decide on a major.

  • Take the full listing of majors that Elon offers and cross off all that you are not interested in pursuing.
  • For the remaining majors, thoroughly explore those school and departmental web pages to understand mission, faculty interests, types of courses, what graduates are now doing, etc.
  • Talk to current majors in the departments of interest.
  • Talk to faculty in those departments of interest.
  • Meet with a professional advisor in Academic Advising, Koenigsberger Learning Center 231, to take and process self-exploration inventories found in a free online tool called My Plan.
  • Take COE 110: Exploring Majors for 1 hour credit to systematically explore your values and interests, majors, and careers.
  • Conduct web searches on careers of interest to see the types of educational preparation that is recommended. Some careers require graduate school.
  • Review “Choosing a Career” resources from Elon’s Student Professional Development Center