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To what extent does the major and minors I pick in college affect the career I may have in the future? #Spring25
I plan on majoring in psychology but am looking for a career in forensic psychology
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Alex’s Answer
Similar to Paige, I went to school thinking that business was boring, and tried on every class except business my first semester. When nothing appealed, I finally took an Intro to Business Class and loved it. I've done brand management, finance transformation, learning and development, and now workforce strategy / planning. So even if you start with one major in college, your career is really a winding path,, and your evolving skillset often dictates what direction you take. What helped me was determining my guiding principles for my career / current job and ensuring I stuck to those. There are two: I don't want to be bored (every day should be different), and I have to work with people I like, respect and from whom I can learn.
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Paige’s Answer
The short answer is for some careers, it makes a huge impact but for most it makes not much difference at all. I think your plan of majoring in psychology for a possible future career in forensic psychology sounds great! Just don't stress yourself if something changes. I went to college planning on majoring in accounting because I loved those classes in high school. But once in college really wasn't enjoying it as much so ended up changing majors and found a different career I love. I also see lots of people in my current career with wildly different college majors, everything from business administration to philosophy to art history.
Ditto to what Paige said. I work with so many people who have majors that have nothing to do with what they do in their job. If you need a specific major for a specific job (doctors, lawyers, dentists, etc.) then it matters. Beyond that, most of the time if you can get into a job you can learn any additional skills you need on the job or through other learning resources.
Heather MacDonald