What Can I Do With My Major?

Your major does not determine your career; there may be some "typical" jobs students from the same major pursue, but you should never feel restricted to those choices. This guide was developed as a starting point, to get you thinking about the diversity of options available and how to begin researching them. Each major profile includes: occupations that Princeton alumni from that major have pursued, links to web sites and professional associations offering career information, and sample resources in the Career Services Library to help you learn more.

Find a major of interest from the alphabetical listing below:

Regardless of your field of study, liberal arts and engineering students develop a variety of skills that are highly desirable to many different types of employers. The ability to think creatively, communicate effectively, solve problems, organize ideas and resources, contribute to team efforts, conduct and explain research, and make decisions are all skills and abilities highly sought after by employers - and these skills are all cornerstones of a Princeton education.

Choosing a major should be based on your perceptions of what you would enjoy learning more about. Some students come to college with a particular major in mind. Others arrive open to any and all possibilities. Attending a lecture or involvement in a volunteer experience can be a motivating factor in the selection of a major. There are also times when the decision is based upon previous success in related classes (e.g., strong performance in a particular subject area then equals the "right" major).

Changing majors once or twice during one's academic career is a common occurrence. In some cases, it may be necessary to change a major because you are not doing well academically in several courses but it may also occur because you simply do not enjoy the content of the discipline. You must understand that many people select jobs and have very prominent and useful careers in areas that have no relation to their undergraduate major.

A liberal arts education is designed to provide you with exposure to a broad range of topics. The choice of an area of study should be based upon your interest. Advice from parents, family friends, recent graduates or the latest "hot jobs" lists can be helpful, but the final decision should based upon what makes the most sense to you. It is also important that you take courses and become involved in projects that enhance research and writing skills, develop critical thinking, and offer some exposure to quantitative analysis.

Princeton Majors:

A

C

E

F

G

H

M

N

O

P

R

S

Slavic Languages and Literatures
Sociology
Spanish & Portuguese

W

Woodrow Wilson School