Student Advice on Choosing a Major

For this week’s installment of our student advice series, we explore how to choose a major.

“I came to Meredith undecided on my major, but I knew I loved biology. After taking many biology courses at Meredith, I realized that I couldn’t picture myself pursuing anything different. It wasn’t until my sophomore that I officially decided to major in biology. It is the right path for me.” —Katelyn Steadman, ’19, a Biology major from Randleman, N.C.

“Before coming to Meredith, I went to an architecture school for a year and wanted to focus on Interior Design. I did not declare my major until I explored some more options. My advice is not to be too quick to specialize. Even if you know what you want to major in, give it some time before you declare. That’s the beauty of a liberal arts college. You get to experience the various areas of studies before deciding on a major, so be sure to take advantage of the general education classes you take.” —Helina Biru, ’18, an Interior Design major from Ethiopia.

“I have always had a strong love for fashion, so I entered Meredith knowing that I wanted to major in Fashion Merchandising. However, because my long term goal is to own my own boutique, my parents encouraged me to minor in Business Administration. During my sophomore year, I began to wonder about the possibility of double majoring, because I enjoyed my business classes much more than I expected. With the help of my two advisors, I soon had a four year plan to graduate with a double major in Business Administration and Fashion Merchandising with a minor in Marketing.” ––Blake Elmore, ’18, a Business Administration and Fashion Merchandising major from Lexington, N.C.

“I had always wanted to study chemistry. While taking general biology classes required for chemistry, I found out that I loved applying what I knew in chemistry to how the body or the environment works. Let your passions guide you. It might take you two weeks or two years, and you might get it on your first try, but most likely not. It is okay; just be sure you are passionate about what you are doing.” ––Jessica Bunn,’19, a Chemistry and Biology major from Wilson, N.C.

“I had to first decide what interested me and what I wanted my profession to be after to graduating from Meredith. Once I figured those out, I met with my faculty advisor to ensure that the major I chose met my interests and desired profession.” –Kayla Satterwhite, ’20, a Psychology major from Oxford, N.C.

“I was registering for classes for the second semester and joked that it would be funny if I chose one of my strengths, communication, as a major. I took an intro class my second semester and knew the first day that I wanted to have this as my major. I have always had a crazy dream of becoming a news anchor, but I did not think it was realistic. Through Meredith’s communication class, I realized that it is all possible.” —Yessy Anorve-Basoria, ’19, a Communication major from Apex, N.C.

“I came to Meredith wanting to be a Psychology major. I took AP Psychology in high school and loved it. Then I took Intro to Communication and fell in love with it. After my Intro to Public Relations class, I decided that I wanted to major in Public Relations, so I added it as a second major.” —Kaitlin Toxey, ’18, a Psychology and Communication major from Raleigh, N.C.

“Choosing my major was a long journey. I came in as an international studies major but quickly changed my mind to do dual engineering program. After realizing that it wasn’t my true calling, I was a little bit lost until one of my math professors told me I should considering majoring in Mathematics. I thought about it and decided to go for it, since I love the subject a lot. My second major in Economics seemed like a good complement, and I declared it before even taking an economics class. Luckily, after taking various economics classes, I love Economics and am glad to have declared it as a major.”—Mary Kolisnichenko, ’19, a Mathematics and Economics major from Luhansk, Ukraine.

Meredith has more than 80 majors and minors. Explore academic programs at Meredith