Choosing Your Major Planning Guide

Overview

The following is a planning guide for those who are undecided on a major. This can be used as a tool in order to explore majors in the College of L&S.

You will have many support resources and advising staff helping you along your journey; primarily, you will be engaging with both your L&S College Adviser and Undergraduate Major Adviser. To learn the differences between the two, please take a look at our L&S College Advising vs. Major Advising page.

This is adopted by the "Choosing My Major Project" from the staff and faculty at UC Berkeley's Emeriti Academy.

While planning your academic journey, remember that you are the expert on yourself and what you love…Be patient with and kind to yourself, and have fun exploring...You never know where you’ll serendipitously end up.

Hosea Chen, Cognitive Science major

You need help getting started:

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Reflect

What did you like about your high school courses?
Which out-of-the-classroom activities influenced you the most? Why/how?
Would you consider yourself primarily a numbers person, a word person, a people person?
What are the hopes and dreams of your family? Are these the same as yours?

Explore

Connect with an L&S College Adviser to learn about major exploration and other resources.
Browse major programs in the Undergraduate Catalog.
Get inspired by stories of L&S alumni and current students on the L&S website.
Do a self-assessment with UHS Career Counseling to learn more about yourself and your interests.
Find tips from other students on choosing a major at Berkeley Life.

Engage

Enroll in a first-year program or course, such as L&S First-Year Pathways or L&S 1 First Year Discovery Course.
Sample classes from departments that you find interesting; try a Freshman and Sophomore Seminar or an Arts & Humanities Compass or Gateway course.

Resources

Undergraduate Catalog - official source of undergraduate courses and programs.
L&S Curricular Connections - courses to expose you to faculty across multiple fields of study.
Emeriti Academy - hosts the Choosing My Major Project featuring stories from students, alumni, and faculty.

You are trying to decide on a major:

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Reflect

What majors are you considering?
Why are you interested in these particular majors? Is there a throughline between your majors? Or do they represent different interests?
How do the majors compare in terms of flexibility, requirements, and time to degree?
What career paths are possible with each major option?
If you have multiple interests, would you want to pursue a double major or minor?

Explore

Talk to third- and fourth-year students about their majors and why they chose their program (peer advisers can be a good resource).
Use Major Maps to explore the academic, co-curricular, and career aspects of your potential majors.
Utilize the Degree Planner tool in CalCentral to see how courses you’ve taken can count towards your majors.

Engage

Meet with an L&S College Adviser and Undergraduate Major Adviser to discuss your major options.
Try out research, public service, or student organization opportunities relevant to your majors.
Follow social media accounts (e.g. Instagram) from major departments you are interested in.
Get involved with your major community; attend events hosted by the department and related student organizations.
Join a campus program for your major like the Biology Scholars Program or MPS Scholars.

Resources

L&S Advising (us!) - offers guidance on major exploration to students in the College of Letters & Science.
Major Maps - resource for planning your studies, engaging outside the classroom, and pursuing your career goals.
Discovery Opportunities Database - campus search engine for research, internships, and scholarships in and beyond the classroom.

You are wondering about career options:

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Reflect

What careers are you interested in? What attracted you to those fields?
What careers do your family members have? Do you have similar career aspirations/expectations?
What connections exist between those careers and your potential major?
How important is it that your major be directly related to a career?
Does your intended career require post-graduate study (grad school, law school, medical school, etc.)?

Explore

Find career information from your major department and college (for example, L&S Arts & Humanities).
Visit Berkeley Career Engagement to learn about connecting majors to careers.
Browse resources at the UHS Career Counseling Library for researching majors and careers.
Read about alumni career paths on the L&S website.

Engage

Meet with counselors from UHS Career Counseling and Berkeley Career Engagement to discuss your academic and career interests.
Shadow a UC Berkeley alum to learn how they applied their major to their career.
Enroll in a career exploration course such as L&S 98 Career Exploration & Planning or MPS 101 Careers in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences.
Develop a plan for exploring careers and getting career ready.

Resources

UHS Counseling - counseling services and resources to help you select a major and make career decisions.
Berkeley Career Engagement - resources for exploring career options and getting career ready, including the Cal Job Shadow Program.
MyBerkeley - alumni portal for building connections with professionals who share your UC Berkeley experience.