Important: Choosing the Right College Major Is More Important Than Ever (Life Strategy in this Economy)
What College Major You Choose Will Have a Tremendous Impact On Where You go in the future
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This email is written by Larry, Tigerway’s Founder.
Tigerway Parents and Students,
We hope everyone had a great week and is having a good Friday.
We look forward to having our students perform well on the SAT coming up on March 11th.
In this email note, we wanted to quickly touch on the topic of choosing the right college major and why considerable thought should be placed into this process.
Choosing the right college major has two impacts on a person’s future:
It shapes the College Application Profile as students get ready for admissions season in their Senior year
It sets the trajectory for a student’s coursework in College and starts paving the road to build expertise and knowledge in a specific domain. This will later influence career outcomes.
I want to offer my thoughts on this area and provide you some context. I will do my best to make this as easy as possible to understand (designed for beginners).
The way to think about choosing a College Major is to think about the Economic Cycle.
The Economy goes through boom and bust cycles, and along the way, different industries either grow or shrink. Generally speaking, here’s what you want to know.
In a broad Boom Cycle (upswing)
Computer Science, Finance, Engineering, and majors related to Tech are likely to more easily find employment
The majors listed above tend to be “cyclical” and therefore offer higher compensation compared to other majors
The pace of work during a boom cycle will feel “growth-oriented” as many responsibilities on the job are geared towards a company’s positive outlook
In a broad Bust Cycle (downswing)
Healthcare, Energy, and Utility (environmental/ESG) companies tend offer greater stronger job security. These services tend to be essential to any economic environment and therefore is less prone to swings in the economic growth outlook
Computer Science, Finance, and Engineering majors will potentially face stiffer competition for the same roles, and will have their growth trajectory slowed down. The number of jobs in these cyclical areas will still exist, but it will be more difficult to secure given the Demand of such jobs is decreasing while the Supply of candidates continues to increase
It is my personal belief that talented individuals do not need to care much about economic boom and bust cycles as they will always land desirable jobs in any environment.
My concern is for the “average” individuals who flock to majors just because they’re popular. These individuals will have a bit more challenging of a time, and will most likely have to find post graduation employment outside of their majors.
As a result, I would strongly encourage students to choose areas that they are genuinely interested in and have a natural tendency towards.
Choosing a major because of the allure of compensation is a tragic mistake, as you will be forced to compete with the endless supply of students also studying that area.
In boom times, this may play out Okay.
In softer periods of the cycle, following the herd will backfire.
Put serious thought into this process of choosing a college major. Don’t do something just because your friends are doing it or the media makes it appear attractive.
What I wish to share now perhaps will be some of the most valuable advice a student’s strategy going forward.
There are some frameworks to being successful (in college and beyond) in my opinion - here they are:
One of the best things that a person can do for himself/herself is to make sure they are doing “what they are good at.”
The world is a big place and there are many niches within industries. If you have a special talent in certain areas, you will be discovered (trust me on this). But like I mentioned, you must be good at the topic that you’re interested in. Being average is not enough. Be honest with yourself in terms of what you’re good at.
In my view, being good at what you do just as important as being passionate about the subject. If you are passionate about the subject, but objectively and candidly realize that you don’t have a talent for it, I would encourage you to focus on your strengths
The people who are successful at pursuing a passion are the same people are talented in this area. Focusing on your strengths skews the odds of standing out in your favor.
On top of this, I want to dispel some myths that I commonly sense among parents and students.
Liberal Arts coursework is often discarded as non-important/secondary compared to the STEM classes.
My opinion: This couldn’t be further from the truth. The real strategy in college is to develop world-class critical thinking. You cannot formulate world views without having read ample amounts of History and Literature. People who only know their domain in STEM may perhaps have a very narrow view of how the world works. Don’t limit yourself.
Chasing only Big Name Brand Companies for internships and jobs.
My opinion: The truth is that for most of a young person’s career as they finish college, WHO they work for is more important than WHERE they work. If you find yourself with a manager who is willing to mentor you and show you the way, understand that is far more valuable than working at a big company where you gain little practical experience.
There are more perspectives that I will share with you in the future.
I hope you enjoyed this email, and we’ll be back with more commentary periodically on how to become more successful in college and beyond.
Trust me - I know what it takes to be successful, and I’ve demonstrated this time and time again in one industry after another.
Remember to follow your strengths, prioritize having an open mind, and you will find that you can take your talents with you in any industry.
The world is moving at a very fast pace.
Make your life selections carefully, and do not be a Sheep.
Most of the time, most people are not necessarily making the most optimal decisions.
Don’t be like most people. Think Different.
At Tigerway, we hope to not only help you secure dramatically higher grades, scores and admission letters but also help you to live the life you’ve always wanted in the next stage of your journey.
See you in our next email,
Larry
Tigerway is a proud Founding Member of the National Test Prep Association (NTPA) where the NTPA consistently communicates with the College Board’s SAT Exam Team and ACT Exam to understand the future of academics and standardized testing.
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