Summary
In the 21st century, your undergraduate major can play a significant role in preparing you with the tools, mindset, and skills you’ll need to succeed in a rapidly evolving career landscape
In 2023, the most popular majors that Indian students applied for were: Computer Science/Data Science, Engineering, Economics/Business, and Psychology
In the 21st century, your undergraduate major can play a significant role in preparing you with the tools, mindset, and skills you’ll need to succeed in a rapidly evolving career landscape. As technology innovations develop at exponential rates, students need to be ready for an explosion of new jobs that will be created, perhaps ones that don’t exist yet.
In college, there are hundreds and sometimes even thousands of different classes to choose from. So with such a long list of possibilities, colleges build in some structure to help us wade through and create our own unique journeys. For instance, most colleges require students to pick a major, which is a student’s intended area of study. When we choose a major, we take a set of classes that help us specialise our knowledge in a particular discipline, field, career, or skill set. Our major becomes a guide for which classes we take and where and how we spend our time. In fact, a major is what we get a degree in.
A major, sometimes known as a “concentration” or “program,” is your primary area of study, for which your degree is conferred. “Major” is more commonly used in the States, while “programme” or “course” is more commonly used in the UK. To obtain a degree for their major, you must typically complete a given number of course credits and pass a final exam or paper. The same may be required of a minor, but with fewer course credits and likely no separate assignment. In the States and Canada, students may often pursue a dual major (often known as a dual-degree program) and/or any number of minors; in the UK, such options are more space.
Overall, the American higher education model embraces liberal arts exploration, while the UK generally leans toward a more traditional specialisation-oriented (even vocational, to a certain degree) model. Hence, the former doesn’t expect a clear, long-term professional plan from candidates, but it does expect candidates to possess considerable maturity regarding what kinds of goals they seek to achieve through attending college.
Undergraduate academic majors can largely be categorised by type. STEM majors include: Math, Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Biology, and Chemistry. Social Science majors include: Economics, Politics, Psychology, Sociology, and the Humanities majors are: English, Literature, History, and Philosophy.
In 2023, the most popular majors that Indian students applied for were: Computer Science/Data Science, Engineering, Economics/Business, and Psychology. This is likely due to the burgeoning career opportunities in these fields, as well as rapid developments which are unfolding, opening myriad opportunities for students to participate in cutting edge research with the best professors in the world. In addition to this, salaries for graduates of these majors have grown significantly, which also represents an important factor in students’ major choice.
In foreign universities, however, these majors or courses of study do not just instil abstract, theoretical knowledge of the fields; they also train students’ minds in how to think critically, analyse the world, and solve problems using diverse quantitative and qualitative frameworks, which can serve them across all domains. These majors are focused on equipping students for a successful and fulfilling future. If we reframe our perspective, we can begin seeing not just the information the student is gaining, but what transferable skills they will gain that will serve me in the career of my dreams.
For example, in class, finance majors learn to analyse budgets, manage cash flow statements, and investment strategies. But in addition to these technical concepts, they are also learning statistical analysis skills, communication, business ethics, and an aptitude for numbers. Students in this field may often end up in investment banking, venture capital, corporate finance, and wealth management.
Computer science majors learn to code software, but what they’re really learning is creative problem-solving, resilience, and how to develop softwares that solves problems. They can enter any number of industries, from becoming a UX designer, software engineer, information security analyst, AI engineer, video game designer, and even a product manager.
If studying psychology, students are sure to learn about the fundamentals of the brain, from cognition and development to Freud and Maslow. But along the way, students pick up a keen understanding of how humans think and why they behave the way they do. This is a competency that is universally applicable across industries and domains.
To start this search for the perfect major, students can begin by looking up their dream job and identifying the specific qualifications required, as well as what majors people employed there get. They can also explore the majors their role models took up—for example, some of the most successful CEOs and founders began their academic careers as liberal arts majors. This may be because the way in which liberal arts degrees teach you to think lends to effective leadership and powerful decision-making.
About the author: Dikshita Goel is the Co-Director of the Academic Team at Athena Education, currently leading its operations in Delhi and Mumbai. She studied History and Journalism at Lady Shri Ram College and has been at Athena for more than 3 application seasons now. With her commitment to excellence and passion for personalised mentorship, Dikshita Goel has delivered several successful results including MIT, Caltech, Princeton and other top universities in US and UK. She has engaged with students from all academic backgrounds, including computer science, finance, business, humanities, and even culinary studies.
Last updated on 15 Jul 2023
