Key takeaways:
- A major is an undergraduate student’s specific and main area of study, while a minor is a supplemental selection of courses based on goals or interests.
- Students typically have to declare a major to graduate with a bachelor’s, but a minor is rarely necessary.
- Choosing the right major (and potential minor) can impact your career and education options after graduation.
If you’re pursuing a bachelor’s degree, you’re likely going to have to pick a major, your focused area of study. You might also want to pick a minor, a selection of courses that can supplement your major or allow you to explore unique passions and skills. While both majors and minors usually follow prescribed lists of courses set by schools, they serve slightly different purposes – and understanding the difference between a major and a minor in college can help you select the best courses for your education and career goals.
Major vs. minor
In college, a major is the main subject you’re focusing on for your bachelor’s degree. It’s almost always required for graduation. A minor is an optional, secondary set of courses that can complement your major, help you hone your skills, or allow you to pursue individual interests and passions.
What is a major?
A major in college is your chosen area of study for bachelor’s degrees and some associate’s degrees. Some examples include Chemistry, English, History, Engineering, Theatre, and Art, but they can include everything from Organic Chemistry to Painting.
For bachelor’s degrees, majors usually make up between 30 and 36 credits out of the total 120-credit requirement. In most cases, you’ll take specific courses as decided by the school with room for relevant electives. However, some colleges allow students to design their own majors or mix and match areas of study (interdisciplinary) that better support their career goals.
Depending on your major, you might also have to choose a concentration or track. For example, English majors may be able to select from Creative Writing, Screenwriting, and Literature. The major’s core class requirements remain the same but it also includes courses specific to the concentration.
How important is your major?
In most cases, you cannot graduate with a bachelor’s degree without choosing a major
Your major essentially dictates what you’ll spend a majority of the four years of college studying. It impacts your career and education options after graduation. While you could land a job as a journalist even though you studied Engineering, you’re much more likely to get hired if you studied English or Journalism.
In addition, if you decide to pursue a graduate degree after your bachelor’s, you might need an undergraduate degree and major in a related field.
What should you major in?
Choosing a major is entirely a personal decision. In most cases, students choose majors based on their career and education goals, but others pick them based solely on passions.
Here are some questions to ask yourself to help you narrow down your options and select a major:
- What classes and subjects did I enjoy the most during high school?
- Do I have any dream careers? If so, what majors are necessary for those careers?
- Can I see myself working in that field for decades?
- What are my strengths?
- What are my passions?
- What are my weaknesses?
- What majors will give me the best opportunities and the most options?
- What are my other career and education goals, such as return on investment, salary, work-life balance, etc.?
- Will my dream career and major require other degrees or certifications beyond a bachelor’s degree? If so, am I okay with attending school for more than 4 years?
- Would a broad or niche major work better for me?
If you’re still not sold on any one area of study, try these additional tips:
- Take electives in subjects that interest you. Many students find their majors by simply exploring new topics.
- Sign up for job shadowing. Work with an employer or your school’s career center to shadow an employee for a day. You can get a true feel of the job’s day-to-day.
- Meet with your college advisor. Your college advisor can help you brainstorm options and advise on the best courses for your interests and goals.
- Visit the college career center. Campus career centers have resources for all of their students, from job exploration to mock interviews. You can learn about majors and careers you’ve never even heard of.
- Compare your options. Create a list of potential areas of study, listing the pros and cons of each. You can also use our Major Search tool to explore subjects, top jobs, and more.
Some schools don’t have majors in the traditional sense. Instead, they offer one area of study, such as Liberal Arts or Business Administration and Management, and all students take the same courses.
When do you have to declare your major?
You typically don’t have to choose a major until the end of your sophomore year or start of the junior year.
However, some competitive areas of study, such as Film and Engineering, have limited spots. They require you to declare your major during the initial application process, often with separate, additional applications. As a result, they have much lower acceptance rates compared to the school’s overall average.
While you may have time to decide on a major, you should try to avoid making a last-minute decision. Delaying your choice means getting a later start on your required courses. Prerequisites for more advanced courses may fill up or be offered only once a year. If you miss these classes, you could graduate late.
Keep in mind – you can change your major at any point, even if you’ve already declared it or taken most of the required courses. However, not all schools allow students to enter competitive areas of study late. If you want to change from English to Engineering, you might have to transfer colleges instead. You’ll also need to transfer if you want to change to a major your current school doesn’t offer.
Before even submitting your application to a college, research their major options and guidelines for declaring one. You don’t want to be locked out of your desired program before you even receive your acceptance letter!
What is a minor?
A college minor is a secondary specialization that only consists of 10 to 30 credits of the 120-credit total for a bachelor’s degree. Depending on the school and subject, you have a prescribed list of classes to take or you can design your own. Minors range from core subjects to extremely niche topics.
How important is your minor?
A minor is not important in the same way as your major. A major is almost always required for a bachelor’s degree, but you rarely need to declare a minor.
However, these additional concentrations can help you develop skills and knowledge central to your career goals or passions.
What should you minor in?
While you likely won’t need to choose a minor, it might be important to your goals. It gives you the opportunity to supplement your major with a relevant area of study and skills. For instance, you might choose to minor in a foreign language to support a Business degree if you want to work with a global company.
In other cases, you can absolutely choose a minor based solely on your interests. While a Pottery minor likely won’t help much with a Biology major, you can pursue hobbies and have fun with your classes.
If you opt not to select a minor, you can use those 10-30 credits to take any manner of electives that interest you.
When should you declare your minor?
Minor declaration deadlines depend on the school. Some allow you to select a minor at any point while others require you to announce your decision by the end of junior year.
If you choose a minor, let your school know as soon as possible. Declaring it can help you get into classes with limited seats and it’ll appear on your official transcripts.
While you likely have time to decide on a major and potential minor, you don’t want to put off the decision too long. After all, you want to apply to colleges and universities that have strong programs for your chosen area of study. If you can’t decide on one major, create a list of options to help you narrow down schools.
Want to learn more about areas of study that fit your goals and interests? Our College Major search tool lets you explore various programs, the best colleges and universities for those majors, popular career fields, and more. Use it for free here!
