BellaOnline Forums Education Colleges No Major Drama : Major Selection Tool

Interview with Paul Hansen, PhD, about No Major Drama (NMD), an Internet-based tool designed to help prospective college students select a college major (field of study). Dr. Hansen is the head of research for and a co-founder of Graduate Factory, Ltd., the company that developed NMD.

No Major Drama : Major Selection Tool

Hi Susan!

This was an interesting tool. I think it is definitely superior to the standard tests high school and college guidance advisors have given in the past; the pencil scantrons asking if you like trees more than explaining things to people (I was always told to be a vet). I used this tool and it actually told me to be a journalist, which is ironic because growing up that is what I said I wanted to be, but ended up in social work after graduation. It has just been in the past year I started writing. On No Major Drama, my majors (I triple majored) were all down towards the bottom of the my list!

Congratulations in beginning writing.

I am glad you thought it was interesting. I did too. I think that all interest inventories have their pros and cons. Overall though, I think most of them can be useful. They are a nice tool to help people clarify their interests and to find out about new areas. However, they can never paint the whole picture. A lot of things go into major and career decisions.

Also, I think that our interests often change over time -- sometimes going back to previous interests.