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What are some of the most flexible majors?

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Lynn’s Answer

There is no all-purpose-one-size-fits-all college major, although in the not so distant past, a liberal arts degree was pretty close. If you're attending college purely for the love of learning and intellectual challenge, that degree may still work for you! If, however, you have a vocational goal in mind, you'll need to narrow your focus to at least an area of study that will help you get the background needed to either find a related job, or prepare for graduate school. The best major(s) for any student are the ones that create excitement and interest from just reading the course syllabus/description. If you're undecided at the beginning of your academic career, that's OK. Take some survey courses in several areas to help give you more information about those fields, and talk to people who work in them for feedback. There are some career fields where any type of degree "counts" as an entry level minimum, but those tend to be less well-paying than more specific degree areas. Just be sure you find something you enjoy studying!career-choice college-major
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Jennifer’s Answer

As a liberal arts major in undergrad (English), I strongly recommend looking at the liberal arts and a university centered around these principles but that is large enough to also offer schools of engineering, business, education, architecture, etc.

Flexibility comes in many forms but if you're meaning that you would be able to adapt to a variety of different career and interests, then the liberal arts (defined here: http://mycollegeguide.org/articles/liberal-arts-degrees/what-are-liberal-arts) can provide those soft, transferable skills.

Enjoy your exploration, and good luck!


college-choice liberal-arts
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Kevin’s Answer

I think you need to first determine what you mean by "flexible." If you mean a degree that can get you a wide variety of jobs, then I would say "any degree" because some jobs just want a college graduate. However, many jobs require a specific degree (engineering, medical, etc.).


If you want a degree that will offer you the largest number of good paying jobs, I would say take a math-focused type of degree (engineering, accounting, etc). There is a lack of folks in the job market who can do anything beyond basic math (many college grads struggle with percentages and fractions, I have found). Being able to do more advanced mathematics and calculations, to be able to use MS Excel and other spreadsheets, will set you apart and open up a wide range of good paying positions.


Kevin Drevik

Kevin recommends the following next steps:

Talk to individuals who have different jobs, and ask them 3 questions: 1) What do you like about your job? 2) What do you not like about your job? 3) Is there anyone else you would recommend I talk to about this type of job? From the answers to these questions, you can start identifying job fields that you might want to pursue, and then you can see if a certain degree is necessary or not.
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Edward’s Answer

If by flexible, you mean permitting you the most breadth of education, pick a major that has the fewest required courses.

Edward recommends the following next steps:

Ask your counselor or the registrar which majors have the fewest required courses.
Decide whether or not one of those majors is difficult enough to train your brain and interesting enough to be enjoyable
Balance the three factors: least required courses, difficulty and interesting
Thank you comment icon Edward - Thank you for your answer. We need more advice like this, now more than ever! There are more than 800 unanswered questions on CV right now. Hoping you'll answer a few more this week! Jordan Rivera, Admin COACH
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Kurt’s Answer

Mireia, the most versatile majors are sales, marketing, business, math, and science. You can think of these as core business applications in that practically every form of employment in the business world relies on sales, marketing, business savvy, math skills and science. A high degree of proficiency in any one of these majors will allow you to have many more career options than a niche specific field like mechanical engineering. I hope this helps. :)
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