Do Majors Even Matter?

Here’s the truth college doesn’t tell you: Your major matters a lot less than you think.

Sure, if you want to be a doctor, engineer, accountant, or anything with a professional license, there are boxes you need to check. In those cases, your major is the first gate. But for 80% of jobs out there—especially in business, finance, tech, startups, media, and operations—your major is just a piece of paper.

I have friends that studied psychology that are now investment bankers, friends that studied organic chemistry who are now marketing managers, and friends that studied communications who are now successful operations professionals. Honestly, your major really doesn’t matter and most importantly, it doesn’t define what career you will have or what you can or can’t do.

Employers care more about what you can do than what you studied. That means your ability to think clearly, communicate well, learn fast, and solve problems matters way more than your transcript. And they’re not just looking at your GPA—they’re looking at internships, projects, part-time jobs, and the way you present yourself. A student with a 3.2 GPA and real-world experience often beats out the 4.0 with no hustle.

So what do you do if you're deep into a major you're unsure about? Or if you are unsure what to choose are your major?

• Don't panic. Most people pivot at least once in their career.

• Stack your resume with real experience. Internships, side projects, campus orgs—these signal initiative and curiosity, which are way more important than memorized textbook facts.

• Talk to people in the jobs you're curious about. They’ll tell you what their majors were, what mattered, and what didn’t. You’ll hear real talk, not bullet points from a career website.

Just think of your major as a base set of skills. I chose finance because I thought it would give me a good understanding of businesses and how they work.  You can parlay any major into whatever job you actually want to do. Think about it: I could sell being a comms major into being an investment banker or marketing professional, because strong communication skills are necessary for any of those careers. The same applies to finance, economics, political science, liberal arts, psychology, etc… It’s all about the story you weave together and the skills you’ve learned, not about what you actually studied.

Also, don’t underestimate the power of internships. Internships let you test-drive careers. They help you build networks, get references, and signal professionalism. You don’t need to land one at Google—start literally anywhere and build upward.

Your major doesn’t define you and after your first entry level job, you likely won’t even put it on your resume or ever talk about it again. It’s just not that big of a deal.