Hypothesis

A virtual CEO, as cited by Dietz, 2010 said, “Don’t let a career drive you, let

passion drive your life”. But in today’s day and age of economic uncertainty how

realistic is it to follow, how many students entering college choose their major based on

this philosophy. The hypothesis of this study was that there are various influential factors

that are taken into account when students choose a college major, and the aim was to

identify the most influential. Moreover there are three main categories these influences

fall under, personal, interpersonal relationships, and practical. Aspects of the decision

may include if the school they will be attending offers the program they are interested in,

what type of career opportunities will be available after graduation, family influence,

inspiration of a teacher/mentor, career counseling services, interest in the subject matter

and more. Thus more specifically the hypothesis of this study was that while

traditionally factors under the personal category was the most influential, that with the
current economic status practical reasons were in fact more influential to students when

deciding their major.

1.4 Assumptions and Limitations

A potential limitation of the study was the use of the Rowan subject poor which

would limit the sample size. Additionally since the sample includes students enrolled in

an Intro to Psychology, there is a higher chance that students in that class are psychology

majors, so that would limit diversity and variety of subjects.