Choosing a Major

Choosing a major can be both exciting and nerve-racking.  Below are common questions about choosing majors & some resources that can help you decide.

How do I even begin picking a major?

• The Major Exploration Workbook will help you work through the things you'll need to know to in order to choose a major.
• Check out this great link from the Career Development Center: What Can I Do with this Major?

Do majors really matter?

• This article by Selena Welz addresses exactly this question.
• Several myths regarding the value and use of majors are explained in Ten Myths of Choosing a Major.

What kind of majors are there?

• Here is a comprehensive page listing all of the majors at Loyola.

What can I do with a major?

• This list of majors and their related careers and employers can give you insight into what you can do with them and tips to into those fields.
• The Career Development Center has resources such as Career Advisors, workshops and classes that can help you explore different career options and can discuss what you would need to do in order to get in to those fields.
• The Center for Experiential Learning offers service learning experiences and academic internships that can help you bring the knowledge gained from your major into the community to help assist you in deciding on what career path you may want to choose after you graduate.
• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics compiles information on occupatoins in the U.S. and what qualifications you will need in order to partake in a given occupation in its Occupational Outlook Handbook.
• The U.S. Department of Labor also compiles information on the skill sets and day-to-day activities of different occupations as well as what qualifications you need in order to gain employment in those occupations on its O-NET website.