The College Solutions Blog

Valuable insights from Lynn O’Shaughnessy
a nationally recognized college expert.

College major
Featured image for “Changing College Majors: It’s Really Common”
December 12, 2017

Changing College Majors: It’s Really Common

Are you worried that your teenager doesn’t know what college major he or she wants? In my experience, it’s a common worry that parents of high school students experience. Some of these parents have even told me that they want their children to start at community colleges if they can’t pick out a college major in advance. My response is...
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Featured image for “Picking a College Major for the Money”
February 4, 2014

Picking a College Major for the Money

Is your child interested in picking a college major based on those ubiquitous lists of the country’s highest-paying college degrees? Plenty of students are pursuing degrees that they perceive will generate the biggest salaries. I assume that’s why business is the most popular major – more than one out of every five students select it. I can’t resist mentioning that...
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Featured image for “Chasing After the Money in College”
December 11, 2012

Chasing After the Money in College

Is your child interested in picking a college major based on lists of the country’s highest-paying college degrees? Plenty of students are pursuing degrees that they perceive will generate the biggest salaries. I assume that’s why business is the most popular major – more than one out of every five students select it. I can’t resist mentioning that the blockbuster...
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September 16, 2012

Getting Real About Majoring in Engineering

It seems to me that too many parents are stressing about what their children should select as a college major. I’m of the opinion that what’s important is getting a degree. I believe it’s less relevant what that degree is. Students are more likely to be successful if they choose a discipline that they are passionate about. In this rush...
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September 5, 2012

Answering the College Major Question

In my last post, I shared a question that Mike, a frequent college blog visitor, asked. Mike’s daughter is struggling with this college application question: Why do you want to attend this college? If you missed the post here it is:  A Puzzling College Application Question Today I wanted to focus on the second college application question that is perplexing...
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November 16, 2011

What Colleges Offer the Right Majors?

How can you find schools that offer the college degree that you want? That was the question that I got from a mother whose daughter hopes to become a registered nurse. The mom asked me  how her daughter could find a list of colleges and universities that offer nursing degrees. (Nursing, by the way, is the most popular major in...
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November 15, 2011

Popular College Majors With the Highest and Lowest Unemployment

I want to welcome all my new visitors to my college blog. Spend time at  The College Solution and you’ll find lots of tips on finding great colleges and making them more affordable. What college majors pay the most money? What college majors are the ones most likely to lead to a job in this lousy economy? Which college majors...
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July 11, 2011

Stressing About College Majors

  Stressing About College Majors Last spring I bumped into a dad I know whose daughter had attended the same middle school as my son. I asked him where his daughter would be attending college in the fall and he said: She’s going to a community college. I was surprised because Rachel is a very bright girl. The dad explained,...
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January 17, 2011

Why Not Major in Philosophy?

I wanted to share an email that I got recently from Mark Couch, an assistant professor of philosophy and director of the Liberal Studies Program at Seton Hall University. He was reacting to a post that I wrote for my CBS MoneyWatch college blog. I thought what the philosophy professor had to say was worth sharing because too many parents...
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September 27, 2010

Getting a Head Start on a College Major

During my last two posts, I have focused on picking college majors. This is the last post that I’m going to devote to majors for awhile. Here are my previous posts: Chosing a College Major College Majors: 5 Things You Need To Know Is getting a head start on a college major a good thing? Not according to a study...
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