College major quiz: which of my majors fits?
Compares the majors you're considering on your own answers, and never picks for you. Free, no sign-up, nothing sent.
Part 1 of 4: Your majors
Question 1 of 20
Your match table
Add two majors and your match table starts here.
Example answers, not yours. Start my own list clears them.
Finish the quiz to see what could change the order, your to-check list and your questions.
How the college major quiz works
You start with your own list: two to six majors you're already weighing. Then the quiz asks about you, one question at a time. Which kinds of coursework would you enjoy? How much math and lab time are you willing to take? How many years, and how much money, can you plan for? Last, it asks what you know about each major. Every fact about a major comes from you, and anything you leave as Not sure stays not sure.
Limits come first. A major that needs more math than you're willing to take goes under "Conflicts with a limit", however many points it scores, and it's never listed above a major that clears every limit you set. A major with something you haven't checked yet, like its cost, gets its own group in between.
Points come second, and they only order majors inside a group. Coursework counts as a share of the most you could have given it: enjoy is 2, fine is 1, dread is 0, and a kind of work you skipped is left out for every major alike. Curiosity is your 0 to 4 answer out of 4. The quiz multiplies each share by its weight, adds them up and turns the total into points out of 100. In our example, Nursing's coursework comes to 5 of 6 and its curiosity to 2 of 4. Weighted 2 and 2, that's 66.67 points, shown as 67.
Two majors within the margin are too close to call. The margin is a quarter of what your most heavily weighted answer can add. With two answers weighted equally, each can add up to 50 points, so the margin is 12.5: the size of one step on the 0 to 4 curiosity scale. Leave an answer as Not sure and we work the points out at both ends, so a major can read 25 to 75 until you answer.
The quiz never turns points into a chance, a salary or a verdict about you. Instead, it ends with what could change the order, a to-check list, questions for your counselor and one thing to do next.
| Major | Where it lands | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychology | Clears every limit | 50 | Coursework 2 of 4, curiosity 2 of 4 |
| Nursing | Something to check: cost | 67 | Coursework 5 of 6, curiosity 2 of 4 |
| Biology | Conflicts: math | 75 | Coursework 3 of 6, curiosity 4 of 4 |
Who this is for
A high-school junior with three majors circled on a college website and an application due. A first-year who has to declare. A sophomore wondering whether to switch from Biology to Nursing. And the parent across the kitchen table, who'd like the conversation to start somewhere better than "I don't know, maybe bio?" A counselor can use the printed table as the agenda for a ten-minute meeting.
Student questions about choosing a college major
How do I decide between two majors?
Start with what would rule one out: a math sequence you won't take, a fifth year, a price your family can't carry. Check those facts first, in each program's degree plan and with the college's net price calculator. If both majors survive, compare what you'd be doing week to week and how curious each subject makes you. When the two stay within a few points of each other, that's a question for your counselor, not a coin toss.
What major is right for me?
No quiz can know that, and we'd be wary of one that claims to. What a quiz can do is hold your answers still long enough to compare them. Ours scores only the majors you put on your list, and the closest match it names is simply the one closest to your answers. No list yet? Tap two or three that sound good and see how they compare.
Is it okay to be undecided in college?
Yes. Undeclared is an ordinary status, and your college sets when you have to choose. What helps is narrowing the field: two or three majors you'd genuinely consider, and one fact about each that you check this term, such as whether it requires a calculus sequence. Put them in the quiz and let the to-check list do the remembering.
When do you have to declare a major in college?
Your college decides, and the date can differ from one major to another. Look in the college catalog or ask your academic advisor. Some majors also have their own application on top of admission to the college, sometimes with a GPA cutoff, so read the program's page early. If a cutoff could rule a major out for you, add it as a deal-breaker in the quiz.
Can you change your major in college?
Usually, yes. The real cost is often time: courses you took for the old major may not count toward the new one, and that can add a term or more. Before you switch, put the old and new majors on one list here, with the years each would still take you, and see where they land.
What is net price for college?
The U.S. Department of Education defines it as "the amount that a student pays to attend an institution in a single academic year AFTER subtracting scholarships and grants the student receives." Loans don't come off, because you pay them back. Each college's net price calculator, on its own website, estimates it from what students like you paid the year before. That's the figure the quiz asks for under cost.
Which majors need calculus, and which need less math?
It depends on the program, and the same major can differ from one college to the next. We don't keep a list of majors' requirements, on purpose: a list like that goes stale, and yours has to come from the college you'd attend. Find the math courses in the degree plan and match them to the quiz's three steps: the general requirement only, statistics or one calculus course, or a calculus sequence or more.
What is a degree plan?
It's the program's list of required courses, often laid out term by term. The college publishes it in its catalog or on the department's page. It answers most of the quiz's questions about a major: the math, the lab or clinical courses, and how long it takes. Reading one start to finish is, we think, the most useful ten minutes you can spend on a major.
What should I major in? What a quiz can and can't tell you
The major quizzes we tried ask about your interests and personality, then hand back suggestions from their own list of majors. That's a fine start when you have no ideas at all. What they can't tell you is whether a particular program fits the limits your family has to work with, because they never asked about them.
So use a quiz for what it's good at, which is sorting your own answers. Ours keeps the hard parts hard: a limit is never traded for points, a blank stays blank, and the arithmetic is on the page where you can argue with it. One wrinkle to watch for: the major with the most points is sometimes the one you haven't priced yet.
Comparing majors when you have two or three
From the degree plan and the net price calculator, write down each major's math requirement, its lab or clinical load, its length and its cost after grants. Cross out anything that breaks a limit you truly hold. Then compare the rest on what you'd enjoy doing every week. If two stay close, the deciding fact is usually one you haven't looked up yet.
Questions to ask your counselor or advisor
- Which math courses does this major require, and when?
- How many lab, studio or clinical courses are there, and in which terms?
- How many years does the degree plan take from where I am now?
- What would a year cost us after grants and scholarships?
- Is there a separate application, a portfolio or an audition?
Sources and last checked
- Coursework statements and the math and lab steps: written by our editors. Wording last reviewed Oct 7, 2026.
- Major names you can tap: plain forms of program titles in the National Center for Education Statistics' Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP 2020).
- Net price: U.S. Department of Education, Net Price Calculator Center.
- Data version 2026-10-07. Last checked Oct 7, 2026.
More free tools for students
- All free tools on Distinguished Teaching
Every free tool we've made, gathered on one page.
- GPA calculator: semester and cumulative
Handy when a GPA cutoff is one of your deal-breakers.
- Online metronome for audition practice
For the music major on your list that asks for an audition.
Bookmark the quiz for the next time your list changes. It doesn't save your answers, so copy or print your table before you close the tab.