5 Signs it May Be Time to Change College Majors

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) is a professional organization made up of college career centers and employers who recruit college graduates for career positions. NACE is one of the major professional associations that conduct research on trends in college student practices as they relate to choosing college majors and choosing careers.

In a recent survey, almost 1300 college students were asked about the factors that influenced their choosing a college major. Here are some of the survey results:

- 66% of college students said they'd chose a major based on their career interests
- 12% of college students said they just sort of drifted into their major
- 9% of college students cited other reasons, including inspiration from their teachers
- 7% of college students chose their major based on its perceived earning potential
- 6% of college students picked their major following the advice of friends and family

Regardless of the reason a college student chooses a college major, it is quite commonplace for them to contemplate changing their college major. In fact many college students change majors several times during the college experience.
How do you know when to go ahead and actually change your major?

For college students going back to school this fall and pondering a change in college major, these are 5 signs to consider.

1. Are you are struggling in your current major core courses? If a college student's major GPA is lower than their overall GPA, employers will assume that they do not understand the core material needed to succeed on the job.

2. Do you find your core courses boring and uninteresting? Loving a career or job requires that the material your will learn for your profession excites you. If you find you have no interest keeping up with trends in your major, maybe you should be looking at an alternative.

3. Did you choose your major for the wrong reason? eg. because your girlfriend or boyfriend had chosen that college major? This is often times at the core of the college students' disinterest in their college major. They may have selected the college major for all the wrong, short term reasons.

4. You want to explore other classes? Exploring other courses is a good thing. In today's world of work, there are many ways to complement a college major and still specialize. However, if there is no connection between the classes you want to explore and the career you want to pursue, you might consider changing your major.

5. Does your chosen major present employment challenges? College students in finance, accounting or other majors who were planning careers in the financial services sector, may want to think again about options. It might be time to pick up a minor in a complimentary area, without discarding the original major.

Before you make the decision to change your college major, connect with your academic department or your college career center. There are many advisors and resources, such as career assessments, available on college campuses to help college students explore alternatives, discuss education plan and overall help students manage the paperwork required to make the transition. Many times there are academic ramifications, including delay in graduation date, additional costs, transferable credits, that students don't know about.