Deciding on a Major

Find Your Major

• The Find Your Major website lists every major offered at Illinois State University and includes a brief description of the major, related skills, a list of possible career options, the middle 50% GPA’s of students who are typically admitted, and sample plans of study.
• This is a great place to start in order to learn more about each major.

StrengthsQuest

• StrengthsQuest is an assessment tool to help people find out the top 5 areas in which they are naturally talented.  At Illinois State, we are using this tool to help students explore their talents, strengths, and interests in relationship to major/career options, coursework, internships, etc. 
• The assessment takes about 30 minutes and will provide a report of your top 5 talent themes out of 34 total themes.  There are two ways to purchase the StrengthsQuest assessement:
• Purchase the StrengthsQuest book at a bookstore and find a personalized code on the inside cover used to access the assessment online.
• Create a StrengthsQuest account online to purchase a code for the assessment.
• After taking the assessment, use the following exercises to relate your strengths to majors offered:
• Apply Your Strengths
• Analyze Your Career Choices
• Major Elimination Activity
• What You Do Best and What You Want Most
• University College Academic Advisors have additional worksheets and exercises tied to this assessment that can help students find a major that fits with areas in which they are naturally talented.

Major Exploration Activities

• Alphabetical list of majors
• Choosing a major – Pros/Cons Chart
• Holland Code activity
• Majors grouped by theme

Career Exploration Activities

• O*NET Activity
• Occupational Outlook Handbook
• IDS 106: Career Choice Seminar
• Consult your undergraduate catalog for more information about this course
• Career Center and FOCUS assessment
• Transferrable Skills Activity

Additional Resources

• iCampus
• Academics tab
• Under the Academic Applications channel, choose Plan a Major Change
• Internship opportunities or job shadowing
• Talk to your advisor about how to purse an internship to get valuable experience in a specific career field
• Student Counseling Services
• University College Academic Advising