Page 288 - Keys to College Success

Your work this term on self-exploration and goal setting has set the stage for you
to explore majors. This chapter goes into more detail about the process of focusing
your academic work on one or more majors.

Majors and Concentrations
At some point during the first two years of college, nearly all students are required to
declare a major—an intention to focus your studies in a particular academic subject
area, requiring a specific course of study. You may or may not need to declare a concen-
tration (a subset of your major) or a specialization (an even more specific area of appli-
cation). See Key 10.1 for some examples that illustrate how majors, concentrations,
and specializations relate to one another.
Declaring a major largely determines the courses you take, what you learn, and Plan for Career Success
with whom you spend your school time. Your major may also have a significant influ-
ence on your future career, especially now, as the country struggles economically and
the employment rate wavers. Money expert and Washington Post columnist Michelle
Singletary strongly recommends that students think about how their majors will trans-
late into income post-graduation, and that they plan ahead by weighing potential earn-
ings against the debt they will incur through their college years. Although she doesn’t
1
discourage students from following their passions, she feels that productive risks should
be made with future rewards in mind:

A college education is not an investment in your future if you are taking out
loans just for the college experience. It’s not an investment if you’re not cou-
pling your education with training. It’s not an investment if you aren’t research-
ing which f elds are creating good-paying jobs now and 30 years from now. 2

KEY 10.1 You may need a concentration or specialization within your major.

MAJORS CONCENTRATIONS SPECIALIZATIONS

Business Track
Applications of Math
Industrial Mathematics Track

Mathematics

Education Teacher Licensure

Geographic Techniques
Geography
Geography for Teachers
Geoscience

Geology Earth Science

Source: Examples from Middle Tennessee State University, http://www.mtsu.edu/admissn/pdf/MTSUMajorsAndConcentrations.pdf

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