Many college students, in fact, change their majors during their college years; sometimes, students have to stay in college for 5 or 6 years because of the changes. Nowadays, many college including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University enter all of their students into a General Program during the first two years. However, some programs such as Engineering at North Carolina State University essentially force their students to start engineering when they take their first step on campus. So, it is still very important for a high school senior to evaluate his or her potential majors before applying to colleges and universities.

The most important factor in choosing a major is interest. It is a horrible idea to spend the next four years of your life studying something you despise then having to work 40 or more hours a week in a field that you find repulsive. However, most people generally do not prefer to study a field where there are extremely low salaries and high unemployment rate. Having a backup major is generally a good idea.

According to scholarships.com, the most profitable college majors are:

1. Chemical Engineering ($55,900 average starting salary)
2. Computer Engineering ($54,877 average starting salary)
3. Electrical/Electronics/Communications engineering, ($52,899 average starting salary)
4. Mechanical Engineering ($50,672 average starting salary)
5. Computer Science ($50,046 average starting salary)
6. Accounting ($45,723 average starting salary)
7. Economics/Finance/Banking ($45,191 average starting salary)
8. Civil Engineering ($44,999 average starting salary)
9. Business Administration/Management ($39,850 average starting salary)
10. Marketing/Marketing Management/Marketing Research ($36,260 average starting salary)

It appears that students that enjoy engineering have a lot of flexibility in choosing their major without much detriment. If they realize that you do not enjoy working with hardware, they can always work with software with a Computer Science major, or in analytics with a Mathematics or Statistics major. Students who enjoy working with finances also have flexibility choosing between Accounting, Economics, Finance, Banking, Business Administration, and Marketing. It may be difficult for a student to decide whether he wants to study Accounting or Economics while in high school. However, it may be a strategic decision to start leaning toward the finance field.

For most of the degrees above, a Bachelor’s degree is sufficient to get a job. A master’s degree such as the MBA is optional and can be obtained at a later stage. However, in other fields such as English, a Masters of PhD degree may be necessary to obtain the best employment opportunities. That should be taken into account. People who do not want to stay in school for a long period of time should avoid these majors and take advantage of the alternatives. Also, some colleges’ engineering programs can be essentially 5-year programs. Student shouldn’t assume that all Bachelor’s degrees can be completed in 4 years.

There is also an opportunity in many colleges to double major. It may be give the student more job flexibility. However, if the majors do not well overlap, it will also be more time consuming. Minors can also be pursued and only consist of several extra classes. In my opinion, minors should only be pursued out of pure interest since most of the time, they are not listed on a diploma and do not give the student enough expertise to be employed in a field.

Use your wits

Once given a paper to fill up, all applicants who know how to read and write can finish it easily. However, this would not say that all applicants would be considered. Many will fail on this stage. This is because there are few people who know how to read and write at the same time, applying their wits and writing properly what is on their mind on the college scholarship essay.

Brand yourself

The difference between winning a scholarship and failing the entire application process depends on how you package yourself in your college scholarship essay. Making sure that you use what your smartness, thoughts, and skills would certainly a plus towards winning the scholarship. Branding yourself with an organized essay is a great help.

Be creative and original

When you write your scholarship essay, choose a topic that would spark the interest of the reader but still remains to sound interesting and intellectual. If in the case that you have no choice but to write an essay on a given topic, be different, creative, and original. There is no better way to get noticed than by hitting the reader right on the first verse of your essay that could be maintained throughout the whole essay.

Editing, rewriting, proofreading, and re-editing

Making sure that your essay in not only original is not enough. Your essay should also be error-free. To do this, you must read and spot mistakes on the entire essay. Change any word, phrase or sentence that does not sound good or has errors in grammar and spelling. Making sure that your essay has no single error is a great appeal to your sponsor.

Write it yourself

There are online sites that offer to write you original scholarship essay for certain amount, usually $10 and up. While this is an easy way to assure that you accomplish the essay writing stage, you must remember that the sponsors would like to read something from you and not from anybody else. If writing in not your skill, you may consult them but be sure you can carry on with the writing style at least on the application process.

The Internet is a great resource for finding financial aid opportunities. Any search engine will direct you to millions of web sites that deal with financing your college education. Finding funding opportunities that apply to you will take some time. Be patient. Go about your search with a sense of sustained interest. This is your future we’re talking about. You need to be in control of it. Using the Internet is the most basic way to start seeking out financial aid opportunities.

If you’re in high school, seek out advise from your teachers and counselors. Ask them if there are any specific financial aid opportunities that you qualify for. Start your search for funding options early, so that you can have your funds available when you need them.

If your in college, visit your school’s financial aid office. Ask questions about your situation. Clarify anything you don’t understand about your own obligations and funding sources. See if the campus offers any university-wide or subject-specific aid opportunities.

Scholarships and grants are the most attractive college funding options, because they don’t need to be repaid. Purchase books and periodicals that list scholarship and grant opportunities. Go online and hunt for your money. Apply for every conceivable grant option from local, state and federal organizations.

If you are serious about your financial aid search, the results can be dramatic. You could go to college at a drastically reduced price, or you could end up going for free. If working while you’re in school doesn’t sound appealing to you, then put yourself in a position to receive financial aid checks in the mail.

There is certainly a lot of money out there for college students, put no one is going to just give it to you. You have to apply. Put in serious time researching these opportunities, and once you find one that your qualify for, pounce on it. Get all your stuff in early. Take time to answer every application questions completely, and write a high-quality personal statement that you can be proud of.

The cool thing about looking for financial aid opportunities, is that it forces you into self-categorization. You have to look for different identity boxes and see if you fit in them. If you don’t feel comfortable squeezing into a particular identity box, then don’t plan your future around that identity. Clarification of your educational interests and professional goals is a secondary bonus of the financial aid hunt. Your primary goal should be achieving the ultimate bonus; going to school for less than free.