College Students Grappling with Future Direction

“I'm about to finish high school within next 3 months and haven't chosen any college yet...I wanna do something related to art n design but has no idea on what to choose or do(neither does my parents)???I chose bio computer for 12th..what should I keep in mind while applying and any suggestions on what or where I could apply?help pleasee???!! submitted by /u/Artistic_avocado47 [link] [comments]”

“Hi! I am a sophomore in college looking for busy-season 2028 internships. My school offers a program where you can work full-time and finish some classes once the internship is over. I currently have an internship offer from Forvis Mazars, but I dislike the campus recruiter, and something about the location gives me bad energy. They are also offering the lowest pay out of every other number I've heard from other firms and students. I am also waiting to hear back from a more local firm, but I”

“I've had my plan pretty set for a bit now, apply to small respected liberal arts school, its ok if its in a small town and suburban, ED to Wesleyan, get in, go to law school, awesome! My hs takes college very seriously and Its been made an almost a set plan with my dean that id be applying to Wesleyan ED as I've been totally in love with it, great academics, cool people, tons of opportunities, cute town, etc... but ofc id have to visit before anything was fully set in stone. I visited an”

“I’m in my Junior year of college and I still have no idea what career paths could serve me well. I am currently pursuing a Political Science degree with two minor in Urban Design and Planning and Psychology. I’m interested in advocacy work and community work. I currently am doing non profit work and I love it, but with non profits come federal funding cuts and job insecurity. The reason I chose this major was to enter a field like student success counseling, HR management, Title IX coordinator,”

“Hi everyone, I’m a recent college graduate from a large state university. I had no clue what I wanted to do as a career coming out of high school. All I knew was that if I “went to college and got a degree I’d be okay.” I regret my degree more than anything. I cannot find jobs related to my degree that are entry level. I’ve begun applying to dead end jobs that barely pay enough to live without serious sacrifices. Can’t even land one of those jobs. I’m extremely depressed and have lost all motiva”

“Hello, I am currently a sophomore in civil engineering at a university and I’m lost on what to do. For some background, I went to community college for two years to get my basic classes out of the way before transferring. During my community college years, I believed that if I could get into university for civil engineering I would be set in my career. Now that I’m admitted (this is my first semester), I feel like I’m not as interested in engineering as I thought I would be. I find that my class”

“So basically I went into school for engineering because everyone makes it sound amazing and I enjoyed my engineering classes in high school. Now I’m in my sophomore year of college and have two internships done (one civil one mechanical), and I honestly cannot see myself doing this for the rest of my life. Everyone says it’s the math and physics that will make you drop out and honestly I will be able to finish this degree but I’m not sure I’ll enjoy working in it. Tbh most ppl at both of my inte”

“Im a highschool senior who goes to a ctc school hald day for graphic design, I love art and designing but with ai It seems like a bad idea. My plan was to be a flight attendant instead of college but I know they burn out frequently so I want a safety net degree. Im considering somthing in business because id love to learn more about computer systems and hopefully be able to tie in some design elements but whenever I come on reddit looking for job ideas everyone says they are terrible and theres”

“(I checked the rules and didn’t see anything against this type of post, so I’m sorry if I missed it) Hi everyone, I’m a current college student working through plans for my major. I’ll be transferring from a CC to University and doing an individualized major. The individualized major requires 3 concentration areas and my main concentration will be socio-cultural anthropology. I am undecided about my other two areas and would like to decide soon so I can decide what classes to take at my CC. Care”

“Soon going to finish high school, can't believe school life's gonna end 💔 Now I have to make the next major choice which would hopefully help me build my career..... I have been interested in robotics, electrical stuff and making cool projects since a long time. To be precise, since the day I watched Iron Man and saw my my father work on some circuit board from an old computer. My main goal in life is the end up as Robotics engineer, but its a highly specialized field as yall know which”

“i’m a sophomore in college and at this moment i don’t know what career i want. i like the idea of teaching, the idea of a corporate job, the idea of xyz. but then late at night i’ll think it over and realize— i don’t think i can fit in any of them. that’s not really an option though. and now, ive fallen behind. my resume is not very stacked, all i have are good grades and a grader position for a department at my university, and im still feeling stuck from being unsure of a career. all i know is”

“Hi there! I guess I'm writing here as a last resort because I dont know what else to do. Since 10th grade Ive loved chemistry although i come from a languages and history profiled school. Took that passion as a sign to start preparing for med school but now, after a year and a bit of studying chem and biology I cant help but feel like Im not going to get in, and if I do, I wouldn't have that striking motivation everyone needs to go through the whole 6 years of it. I chose this path think”

“That's what I'm gonna try to do when I get done with my courses [re: Have any of y'all decide to go back to school for a different field?]”

“So I’m a current sophomore and I already have an associate’s degree. I’ve really been going back and forth so I wanted some genuine input from other people on getting a bachelor’s degree in HS. I finished my associate’s in one year at Laurel Ridge Community College, VA and already have 36 high school credits (28 needed for graduation) with all HS requirements complete. I don’t want to graduate HS early because I’m using the time for experience. During the school year I worked as a paralegal and”

“Ive been thinking alot about what im going to do after highschool, im about to be 17 in february, and i feel pretty behind. All i want is some advice from people who have been in this position. What did you do after graduation?? Im scared because the economy is taking a bad turn, minimum wage will absolutely not be substantial if i want a happy life. I have around a 2.6 gpa. Im pretty creative, i like to make edits, i used to make mini things. (I dont know if this would be usefull). Should i go”

“Hi there, i'm stuck deciding what to major in. Just for context, i've achieved 4A* (basically max gpa) and grown up doing math olympaids (not outstanding at it tho), im also a hard working student and put in the hours. im mainly stuck between the math+cs pathway and electrical/computer/mechanical engineerning route. i have strong interests in both sides (probs more on the math+cs side) but im mainly just worried about AI. like reading news about how openAI published solutions to 700 prob”

“I’m 18 and currently exploring different majors for university. I’m considering fields like IT, business, marketing, logistics, and design, but I haven’t figured out which direction fits me best yet. I’m doing my own research, but I’d also like to hear how other people approached this stage of choosing a major. What helped you understand your interests and narrow down your options? submitted by /u/MainComplaint1337 [link] [comments]”

“I’m a 19 year old girl, I study nature science (more precisely pure and applied) and I’m in my last year of college. Next semester I have to apply for university, and I still have no idea what to do with my life. The thing is, I’m always contradicting myself, I wanna achieve a lot, be competitive and proud for working hard and doing things not everyone can do. But I also want peace and tranquility. I wanna analyze things, and make things work by using my own logic, but I also wanna do meaningful”

“I'm pretty new to reddit and this is my first post - I'm not sure I used the correct community tag but hopefully its okay, if not ill take it down!! I've been thinking super hard for a long time ever since I started hs, about what I want to become when I graduate. I'm not all that good in school academics but I'm interested in creative arts/hobbies. Lately, I've been thinking about a maybe in pursuing culinary, but after some digging, I've found that majority of the p”

“Im in grade 10 and I'm a bit lost and demotivated.I used to be very keen to attend and decent college and starts my career from that, but recently from people online and around me I cannot truely find the point of going to College. I mean what are you going to do after spent 4 years of your twenties and thousands of dollars going to society and being jobless. College are meant to let you be able to get a decent job and now ai is just taking over and what is the point of College now. su”

“I’m 19 m in NC and honestly pretty unsure about what I want to do with my career. I’ve been looking into different degrees and career paths, but one thing that scares me is spending 2–4 years getting a degree or certification only to graduate and struggle to find a job. I went to community college but just couldn’t stand people there. Half of them were mentally ill and professors would teach everyone with a slow pace and I just couldn’t stand it but whatever. So I dropped out to just work, save”

“So currently I'm a senior in high school and the way our university system works is based on the grades you get at the end of year exams. So I major in university based on what I get and how hard I've worked during the year. But here's the thing, I don't know what I want I have plenty of options (medicine, engineering, literature...) so I wanna hear your advice and experience in studying these majors and how is your work like etc.. I'm mainly considering Medicine, Biomedical”

“I'm a second year mechanical engineering student and I'm having doubts about my future. As time goes on and I think about my job after school and it feels like something I don't really want. like yes, the money is good, but it's not something I would love doing. Lately I have been talking to some friends about maybe going to a program to become a guitar Luthier, it has always interested me but this past year I have been really sucked into the world making it a dream job. And I re”

“I recently graduated from university, and one thing I’ve noticed is that choosing what to study and figuring out what to do with that degree are two completely different challenges. During university, I was focused on completing projects, learning new skills, gaining practical experience, and getting through each academic year. But now that I’ve graduated, there’s this whole new pressure of deciding what direction to take professionally. I’ve had some exposure to different aspects of my field th”

“Hey everyone, I’m currently a high school senior in a bit of a crisis. Throughout school, I was basically conditioned to just get perfect grades, and that’s it. I succeeded (I have all A’s), but it means I spent all my time chasing numbers and never actually figured out what I personally enjoy doing. I need help figuring out how to blend my strengths. Here is my profile: The Math Side: I majored in Math/Physics in high school and took the advanced-tier exams. I actually really enjoy math; I don&”

“I graduated three months ago with a degree in Business Administration, and honestly, I still have no idea what I want to do career-wise. When I chose Business Administration, I mainly chose it because I didn’t know what I wanted at the time. I liked that it was broad and wouldn’t limit me to one specific career. I never felt particularly interested in any of my classes, but I always worked hard, got good grades, and usually took the lead in group projects because I cared about doing well, even t”

“I graduated three months ago with a degree in Business Administration, and honestly, I still have no idea what I want to do career-wise. When I chose Business Administration, I mainly chose it because I didn’t know what I wanted at the time. I liked that it was broad and wouldn’t limit me to one specific career. I never felt particularly interested in any of my classes, but I always worked hard, got good grades, and usually took the lead in group projects because I cared about doing well, even t”

“This is one of the few times I have ever used reddit, so please forgive me if I sound quite unexperienced, but I feel like the ideas of my future are weighing on me. Basically since I have entered high school, I have decided to attempt to become a lawyer, as for what kind of lawyer has been still in thought, but narrowed down. Though, I have been really considering if I truly do want to follow this path. A lot of times when the topic of lawyers are brought up, it’s definitely not in a positive l”

“I graduated highschool in 2025. Since then i’ve just been working and thinking about what i want to do with my life. My parents never cared about college and in fact straight up did not want me to go, so even in school i kinda just didn’t participate with anything to do with college and getting you prepared for it. But now i know i want to go to college for either peds occupational therapy or speech language. I’m just feeling a little bit lost and don’t know where to start. How do i apply and wh”

“I’m a freshman and I’ve only been in college for about a month, but I’m already questioning what I want to do in the future. Before college, I was pretty sure I wanted to become a corporate lawyer because I’m interested in both law and business. I’m currently majoring in political science, and I’m also part of a scholars program focused on public policy, advocacy, and helping communities, which I really like. The problem is the amount of reading. I honestly haven’t finished a single assigned rea”

“You see, i've been thinking alot about my future and i don't really know what major should i do? I don't really have Dream or ultimate goal that i work towards. I only have skills on Art and Programming and those stuff are either Useless or Overcrowded. You see i wanna have a Major that is versatile and can lend well with most jobs and im fine with any Job as long i enjoyed it So what should i Major for in College? submitted by /u/Dormixia [link] [comments]”

“I am almost done with community college and am a bit worried about my future. So, I am on track right now to earn associates degrees in social and behavioral sciences, child development, and early childhood education (if I fail one of my child development classes this semester or get a grade lower than a C in one, it will just end up being social and behavioral sciences) in addition to a certificate showing that I have completed the gen Ed’s. I am a behavior technician and have been doing this f”

“Sooner or later I will need to figure out what do I wanna major in and most people around me already know what they wanna be later in life but this isn’t the case with me. If I don’t decide Ig I’ll have to choose sth random and get along with it but I don’t like that thought tbh. I like math and biology so I am trying to find a major that has both cause I can’t choose one . Any help would be great ! submitted by /u/ReplacementOk5999 [link] [comments]”

“For my high school years i've been in an early college program, and i will be graduating with an associate in science (hopefully if i can pass calculus). This sounds like a good thing but for me, it's just given me less time to figure out what i want to do. I've been worrying about finding a future career and what to use as my major when applying for college since i'll be going in with enough credits to be a junior. I know you can technically go in as unregistered and change your”

“Hello, all. I am a 22M (23 in Oct) living in Illinois, and I've been struggling to figure out what I want to do regarding school for the past four/five years, all of which I've spent at community college. I have around 60~ credits (along with some AP credits), most of which are in humanities, though there are also some science/technical classes. Of note, however: my best math class is only College Algrebra, and I haven't taken any statistics. At the start of my journey, I was attendi”

“Ok so bottom line i will graduate from my masters in horticulture by next June. By this year it was understandable I didn't want to pursue it. P.S I also plan on working anywhere near my household mostly night shift as my family is a little burdened by expenses. I don't have to attend classes just to go for exams. 1st thought about learning core marketing by free courses online . I was still overthinking so someone close told me about marketing analyst. I dove into it. Deciding to learn”

“hey guys, weird question, and not even sure if this is the right place to ask, but I’ve spent a pretty large portion of college networking, optimizing my resume, doing internships, talking to academics/professionals, etc. I’m fortunate enough to already have some stuff lined up after college too, so career-wise I feel like I’ve been pretty focused. But recently I realized I’ve barely done a lot of the actual “college” stuff people talk about, and I kinda feel like I might’ve missed out on part o”

“I’m currently in college and recently realized there are so many things nobody really teaches you. Could be anything money, friendships, studying, internships, career, communication, or just surviving college. What’s one thing you learned the hard way that you wish someone had told you earlier? submitted by /u/Hopeful-Bird-3855 [link] [comments]”

“I’m sure this question comes through here a ton, but i genuinely feel very behind. I am in my second year of community college and 20 years old. I am studying business with the goal of transferring to a 4 year and completing a degree in finance, but it seems like i am so behind in that space. Almost zero networking, can’t get an entry level job in that area. I’m not completely set on it, but am more interested by it than anything else i’ve come up with. Any type of advice from anyone helps, I li”

“I’m sure this question comes through here a lot, but i genuinely feel very behind. I am in my second year of community college and 20 years old. I am studying business with the goal of transferring to a 4 year and completing a degree in finance, but it seems like i am so behind in that space. Almost zero networking, can’t get an entry level job in that area. I’m not completely set on it, but am more interested by it than anything else i’ve come up with. Any type of advice from anyone helps, I li”

“Hello everyone! I would love some help on figuring out where I should go to college! :) Here are the subjects I’m interested in : Entrepreneurship Art Fashion Animation Singing Dance Fashion Cooking Japanese Poetry Public speaking Gender studies Studies about Feminism I’ve done quite a bit of research myself, but it’s gotten to be overwhelming and even draining, so I would very much appreciate any help! Thank you so much for reading 💕 submitted by /u/SunRaaii [link] [comments]”

“I'm a freshman in college and I have no idea what I want to do. I'm currently a psychology BA major, because it's one of the only things I find mildly interesting. I'm aware a BA is not as good as a BS, But I am very bad with STEM, specifically science and math. I find things like criminology and forensics cool as well, and I think being a profiler would be interesting. The problem is that I'm just not really good at anything, nor do I have a passion for anything. I live righ”

“I'm a freshman in college and I have no idea what I want to do. I'm currently a psychology BA major, because it's one of the only things I find mildly interesting. I'm aware a BA is not as good as a BS, But I am very bad with STEM, specifically science and math. I find things like criminology and forensics cool as well, and I think being a profiler would be interesting. The problem is that I'm just not really good at anything, nor do I have a passion for anything. I live righ”

“Im about to graduate (biochemistry/mol. biology) and I'm torn between what career paths I want to pursue, meanwhile, it seems like everyone around me has a solid goal to work towards, they do extracurricular, volunteer hours, entry-level jobs, all to get to say, med school or some grand career path. In comparison, I'm kind of a bum with no motivation or goals. I've always been smart and done good in school with low effort, never had a job, my parents told me "focus on school&quo”

“I’m currently a student at a T50 university, majoring in a politics-related field and originally planning to go pre-law. The problem is that the more I think about it, the more I realize I don’t really want to be a lawyer. I also have severe ADHD, which makes a career that requires huge amounts of reading, writing, and sustained focus especially intimidating to me. I’ve always struggled with sitting down and grinding through long periods of work. On top of that, I’m not naturally good at math, s”

“hi guys Im a senior in hs!! I feel like Ive worked my butt off to get where I am, mostly because Ive always wanted to get out of my state. I live in what is considered the south and its never really been something Ive felt happy with. Im a really outdoorsy person and im gay and ive always felt kind of out of place in my environment. Ever since I was really young its been a dream of mine to live in the northeast likely in a big city!! Im at a point where I am deciding what binding early decision”

“I am a senior, so I am almost done with my degree. I have spent thousands of dollars only to find out I don't even want to go into the field I am studying. I feel like I have wasted so much money; I don't know why it took me this long to realize that. I have matured so much socially and mentally over these four years, and I am grateful for that. I just don't know if my degree will help me, especially if I apply for a job that doesn't involve my degree. submitted by /u”

“I’m graduating with my bachelor’s in psychology this December and am trying to figure out what direction to take next. Originally, I planned on becoming a therapist, but I’ve been reconsidering because I’m worried about the income compared to the amount of schooling and licensing required. I’m open to getting a master’s degree, but I want to make sure the time and money I put into graduate school actually leads to a career with good earning potential. Some of the paths I’ve been considering are”

“Hello! I’m 17M and I’m about to graduate high school. I’ve been thinking about going to my local community college for two years to work toward an Associate’s degree in Information Technology, with a focus on programming, and then entering the workforce immediately afterward. Because of my family’s financial situation, I would be able to attend community college completely free for those two years, which makes it a pretty appealing option for me. I genuinely enjoy working with computers and gett”

“Hi! I’m an incoming HS graduate and i really have no idea what I want to do, yet i’m getting pressured to figure it all out, I was thinking about criminal justice, but I don’t know what jobs there ever are in that job group (im sorry if i posted on the wrong sub, dont really know what im doing tbh lol) submitted by /u/Aquaxblxee [link] [comments]”

“Hi, lol. By the time I turn 18, I will have my associates degree thanks to dual enrollment. I’m not sure if I want to continue college since I dislike it. I would rather start collecting real experience. Is HVAC a good career to get into right now? Is there another job or blue collar job you wish you perused instead? I’m not sure what to do. Thank you! :) submitted by /u/Moonlight363 [link] [comments]”

“Hi, lol. By the time I turn 18, I will have my associates degree thanks to dual enrollment. I’m not sure if I want to continue college since I dislike it. I would rather start collecting real experience. Is HVAC a good career to get into right now? Is there another job or blue collar job you wish you perused instead? I’m not sure what to do. Thank you! :) submitted by /u/Moonlight363 [link] [comments]”

“I feel like I’m wasting time and there’s something I’m supposed to be doing. I’m planning to go to grad school. Is there anything specific I can start doing now that would help me later, save me some time, or make the process easier? submitted by /u/Sensitive_Set_8234 [link] [comments]”

“I am going into my second year of college and I'm majoring in informatics (human computer interaction) and I am unsure whether I like my major. I decided to go into the information technology field because I really like doing anything involving computers, but I quickly realized I hate coding after my first year. I can focus more on UI/UX design or datas science but I am unsure whether I'd be passionate enough for those subjects and the market for IT in general seems dire. I've been a”

“In my senior semester of undergraduate studies. Fortunately one of the capstone classes has our school career development team come in and give us some guidance. Now I know that I’m going against the general guidance to stay off social media, but why? The negativity and despair that someone must have felt to create /recruitinghell Can’t be light! Have people heard of career one stop? Some of the positions there seem to have a good outlook ☀️ submitted by /u/Klutzy-Hand3672 [link] &#3”

“tldr: open discussion about college guidance for students/families who need help navigating everything from admissions and course planning to transferring, majors, financial aid, and all the confusing stuff in between. What college related questions do you wish you had someone you could just ask? Hey alll~ I'm curious about something and would love to hear from current high school/college/university students, parents, and/or recent college applicants :) I've worked for ~10 years working”

“I’m applying to college soon and I genuinely have no clue what I want to do for a career. Every adult I’ve asked either says “follow your passion” or describes a job that sounds miserable. So I printed 180 flyers and spent a day taping them to poles around Manhattan. They ask one thing: if you have a cool or interesting job, would you let me shadow you for a day? By cool I don’t mean high paying. I mean the kind of job where people ask follow up questions when you say what you do. Jobs most peop”

“Im a 17 year old student in college, during high school i never knew what i wanted my major to be, i was that student who hated school and didnt even want to go to college. I was always bad at math, basic math i can do but not the complicated math. Im not so good in science either. But almost every major includes math and science. At first because i didnt know what to do but was forced to go to college i just decided on real estate, but then realized that wasnt for me. And i really wanted to be”

“I’m curious what are parents suggesting their kids do after high school right now? Go into the trades? Or if college, study what exactly? (Assuming the kids are receptive to suggestions) submitted by /u/asleepymom [link] [comments]”