1. Available Majors

I tend to think that you would benefit greatly if you are willing to keep an open mind when you think about what you may want to select as a major. I ended up majoring in a department that I NEVER thought I would have selected. To be honest, I didn’t even truly get my mind around what I was truly learning until my senior year (What can I say? I’m slow.). I avoided my concentration (minor) as a fresh person because I thought it was too risky. However, I see today that I made the right decision.

I selected my major because it was one of the strongest departments on campus. (In fact, Yale’s American Studies department was ranked #1 in the nation when I was an undergrad.) My course work in American Studies has greatly influenced my knack for marketing by developing my “gut” or sense of potential trends and popular human behavior.

To be honest, the fact that I liked the lecturers and my fellow students in my American Studies classes greatly influenced my decision. This may sound weird or silly; however you spend a lot of time around your classmates in your major, so you may as well like them. You will see later on in life that the people you work with take up a lot of your time and energy, so you may as well respect them. I was fortunate to realize this at age 19 when I had to declare.

My concentration was Film Studies, and I ended up going to USC School of Cinema-Television (now Cinematic Arts) for grad school, along with a lot of other Ivy League grads. Despite my initial fears, I have managed to survive as a “struggling artist,” and now I am a member of the Producer’s Guild.

I share all this with you to let you know that it is important to go with your gut and select a major that you are willing to work hard in, learn, and weather the storms of the careers associated with it.  My best advice is to attend a college or university that has a strong undergraduate program in general, because a school that has a good reputation in general for a number of departments (hopefully all) will give you much more flexibility when choosing your major.