7. Honest

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It’s also important to apply honesty when looking at majors.  Upon occasion, I have heard of parents pressuring their eldest child to major in a particular subject viewed as having strong employment outcomes, like engineering.  Students tend to not perform well in majors they dislike.  Consequently,  a parent might pressure the oldest child into a disliked major in which the child performs poorly.  Those parents most always decide to not pressure their younger children into a major to avoid repeating the mistake.  I encourage people to keep in mind that the top quarter of English majors earn more money than people in the bottom quarter of chemical engineering majors. 

 

It’s also important to recognize that some students are simply undecided.  There are large numbers of colleges that are well-suited to handle students who have not decided on a major.  Those schools will focus on educating students rather than training them.