Many freshmen students start out college undeclared; they aren’t sure what they want to major in and hope to use their first year to find something they want to study. Unfortunately, many students take up to 2 years to decide on a major, and they may even switch majors several times up into their junior year. This wastes a lot of time and money, and can significantly delay graduation.
If you have no idea what you want to major in, one option you might consider is taking time off from college. If taking a break isn’t an option for you, doing your research and finding a major you can be passionate about should be your number one priority. The sooner you declare a major that you want to stick with, the more you can focus on taking the classes you need to graduate, allowing you to stay on track to graduate on time.
This public health feature is one in a continuing series of “Undeclared” posts. Other majors that have been explored include social work, healthcare administration, business management, cybersecurity, education, linguistics, data sciences, communications, and accounting.
A Degree in Counseling
If you choose to pursue a degree in counseling, it probably means that you really want to build your career around helping people. It also probably means that you like school — at least that you don’t mind it. This is important because, unlike a degree in related fields, such as social work, if you choose to pursue a career in counseling, you’re going to be in school for a while.
Although the career options for counselors are quite diverse, most jobs require at least a master’s degree and in many fields, you will be expected to continue on to earn your doctorate. You’ll also likely need to pursue licensure in whatever area of specialization you choose.
All told, that can mean anywhere from two to five years of additional study beyond the bachelor’s degree. Don’t let that prospect intimidate you, though. Studies show that the majority of Ph.D. holders are glad they completed their doctorates, despite the challenges they faced in doing so.
The simple fact is that graduate degree holders on average enjoy not only higher salaries and increase job satisfaction, but also cite the cultivation of personal skills, such as perseverance and self-motivation. These have benefited them in both their personal and professional lives beyond graduate school. So, if you are considering a career in counseling, you might well consider the graduate degree requirement an exciting, if challenging, bonus.
School Counselor
If you want to pursue a career in counseling but you also dream of working with children, then why not have the best of both worlds and become a school counselor? Whether you envision working with young children just starting out on their academic journey, or teenagers preparing to enter adulthood, a career in school counseling can enable you to devote your career to helping and supporting our most precious resource: our children.
Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Counselor
Perhaps someone you love has struggled with substance abuse. You are likely quite familiar with the important, life-saving work that drug and rehabilitation counselors do every single day. As a chemical dependency counselor, you will be helping your clients through what may be the toughest battle of their lives. The work may not be easy, but the rewards are immeasurable.
Career and Vocational Counselor
If your dream career means helping people find theirs, then a job in vocational counseling may be right for you. As a career counselor, you get to spend your day working with teens and adults seeking to launch their careers or to transition into new ones. This means that you may often work with older adults, persons with disabilities, or those who have experienced a recent job loss and need some help getting started in a rewarding new career.
This also means helping clients discover their particular strengths, unique talents, and personal interests. Your job as a vocational counselor will be to help your clients build that bridge from where they are to where they want to be in their future lives and work. A career in vocational counseling is truly about helping people live their best life.
Life Coach
If career counseling sounds interesting, but you would also love to help your clients in other areas of their life, you might consider a job as a life coach. Life coaches are often hired to help clients who are feeling stuck or dissatisfied in their lives, or who have a difficult goal that they cannot achieve on their own. As a life coach, you will use your counseling expertise to help your clients figure out what they want and need and what the best strategy is for getting there. You will help them set small goals and support them in achieving them until your clients find themselves living the lives they dream of.
Mental Health Counselor
Perhaps you pride yourself on the listening skills you have cultivated during your training. Maybe you are the one your friends and family turn to when they are feeling anxious and depressed. You may be the one in your circle who is always ready to lend a sympathetic ear or a few words of advice to help your loved one manage life’s complexity. If so, then a career as a mental health counselor may be right for you.
Mental health counselors work in an array of fields, from marital and family counseling to grief counseling. Indeed, a mental health counselor with the experience of coping with stress or anxiety may find herself working in the arena of holistic or even plant-based mental healthcare. With the advent of telemedicine, you might even find yourself counseling patients worldwide, all from the comfort of your own home!
Non-Counseling Work
If you’re interested in counseling, but clinical work isn’t really your thing, there is still plenty that you can do. You can use your counseling degree to become a writer, blogger, or columnist on topics related to your particular area of specialization, or you might choose to go into tutoring or teaching. You may even find yourself working as a researcher, a community organizer, or a public policy consultant. The options are virtually limitless!
