Advising & Counseling and High School Programs

Choosing a Major

Many students are undecided about their majors when they enter college--and many who are decided change their minds more than once before they graduate. On the average, people change majors three times and careers seven times. There are many factors for students to think about when considering potential majors. Students should take their time to explore their interests, abilities and options.

Want to know what you can do with different majors?  Try  "What Can I do With This Major/Degree?"

What is a Major?

To graduate from most universities, students must complete a concentration in one department, called a major. All majors require at least 50 credits of the approximatley 180 credits total  required to graduate. In addition to a major, at some schools, students may complete one or more minors, typically 25-35 credits each.

Until students have made a decision on a particular major, they can take a variety of courses to satisfy general university requirements. Shoreline’s AAS Associate in Arts & Sciences degree offers a generalized program of study designed to help students explore a number of different majors. Many students, early on, can identify major distribution areas-- Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences-- in which they have an interest. Students interested in Natural Science, for example, will share much of the same math and laboratory science courses in their first year. Although all students   have to complete general university requirements, it is not a good idea to postpone thinking about a major, since many majors require sequential coursework and pre-requisite preparation before acceptance into the major. (This is especially true for Math, Science, Health Science, Business and Music Majors.) If students put off their decision too long, they may have to attend more than four years to complete a degree.

How can advisors help?

While faculty advisors help students make decisions on quarterly schedules, understand complex degree requirements and develop plans for an academic major, they also provide students with expert insight into specific majors and careers. Faculty understand the demands of a particular occupation, i.e., the educational qualifications, working conditions, and personality characteris-tics required for success. Faculty have the opportunity to help students integrate their educational experiences and career plans to develop a sense of purpose in their undergraduate education.

What if a student is undecided?

Counseling faculty are trained and available to work with students who are undecided about their educational or career goals. Through individual career counseling, counselors help students identify interests and abilities, explore career options, choose educational programs and set attainable goals. When appropriate, counselors will recommend interest inventories to gather additional information to share with students. Students can call 546-4559 or stop by FOSS 5229 to make an appointment.

Students may also be interested in taking the Human Development 105 - Career Exploration and Life Planning class for 2 credits. This class helps students increase self-awareness as related to the world of work through interest and personality testing, career goal setting and learning to research specific occupations.

The Career Center, located in the Advising & Counseling Center FOSS 5229, is open to students, without appointment, during regularly scheduled hours. The library has a collection of occupational information describing professional fields and specializations, projected employment needs, job qualifications and training/educational programs in Washington and other States. Students can take advantage of a computerized career information system with the Washington Occupational Information Service (WOIS) and a new computer guidance program entitled "Choices".