You know about Vikings, Ikea, and Ingmar Bergman, but if you delve a bit deeper into the rich cultural history of Northern Europe as a Scandinavian Studies major, you’ll learn about the cultures of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and their neighboring countries. You’ll explore Scandinavian history, folklore, literature, theater, film, politics, economics and government from the medieval to modern eras, and take classes in Danish, Swedish or Norwegian, reading novels, plays and poetry in their original language. Some schools offer exchange programs, and spending a semester abroad is a great opportunity to experience Scandinavian people, language, and culture firsthand. By senior year, most majors undertake an independent study project; possible topics vary from Norse mythology, to the design of the “Welfare State,” to twentieth-century Finnish architecture. A Scandinavian studies major can be applied to many fields, including arts, business, economics, filmmaking, political science, social science, tourism, and translation.

Preparation

English and history classes are essential preparation for this major; European History and World Literature will come in particularly handy. In addition, take three or four years of a foreign language to round out a solid humanities background, and make learning subsequent languages easier.

The Slavic Languages and Literatures major is the study of Russian, along with work in another Slavic language, such as Serbo-Croatian, Polish, or Czech. The study of the languages is combined with the study of the literatures. Russian literature is some of the greatest in the world. You’re entering the realm of Pushkin, Mayakovksy, Bulgakov, Nabokov, Solzhenitsyn, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Chekhov and Dostoevsky. These writers have also written some of the longest works ever committed to paper, so you’ll have Great Doorstops after you read these Great Books.

Preparation

If you can take Russian or Polish (or, by some chance, Serbo-Croatian or Czech) at your school—do it. Since these languages are not often offered, you can start getting experience in mastering a foreign language by studying one that your school does. Classes in European history and world literature will be useful. And start digging into those Russian novels.

The Social Work major is definitely not for the faint of heart. It leads to some of the most demanding jobs, but as such, also some of the most fulfilling. At the heart of the social work major is a desire and willingness to respond to people in need. It means compassion, dedication, and a genuine desire to improve someone else’s life. As a social work major you will have a wide assortment of problems on which to focus your talents. Whether it is inner city poverty, illiteracy, substance abuse, homelessness, racial inequalities, or any of the hundreds of other ills affecting our society, the Social Work major prepares you to counsel and aid people as they struggle to better their lives. You will have the freedom to study the problems and crises in today’s society from several different perspectives. Translation: lots of humanities and social sciences. Your courses will range from biology and psychology to direct field work with clients who, in the end, may teach you more than any course or textbook.

Preparation

It’s never too early to begin practicing what you preach. There are always organizations looking for volunteers to spend a few hours a week teaching, reading, or just talking to people. It’s a great way to not only explore the field first hand, but also to start making a difference.
As far as coursework goes, take psychology if your school offers it and all the history and economics classes available.

Soil is, to say the least, an incredibly valuable natural resource. Don’t think so? Try to grow crops without it. No problem, you say, we’ll all eat meat. Okay, but where is the food for animals going to come from? The fact is that 75 percent of the planet’s food and almost all of its fiber come from soil. Soil Science is the study of the soil as a component of natural and artificial systems. If you major in it, you’ll learn about the classification, physical properties, chemistry, and fertility of all kinds of soils. Along the way, you’ll develop a working knowledge of ecology, microbiology, chemistry, and physics. You’ll have to if you want to understand issues that are central to Soil Science, including water and air quality, landscape design, crop production, and waste management. Once you graduate, you should find a wealth of career opportunities. Many Soil Science majors take management positions at farms and ranches, at soil and water conservation agencies, and in the area of land-use planning.

Preparation

You don’t need to know anything about Soil Science to major in it, but having an endearing love of biology and the physical sciences will help you immensely. Take all the biology and chemistry courses that your high school offers. Don’t slack on math, either. Everything that you can learn about genetics, water, and plants will be helpful. Obviously, you should also learn as much as you can about the properties of different kinds of soil. Get out there. Get your hands dirty. If your high school offers agriculture courses, take a few.

South Asia comprises some of the most geographically diverse and populous countries in the world. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Tibet are all South Asian countries. That’s a lot of real estate to cover, not to mention history, which in some cases stretches back for several millennia—almost to the dawn of civilization itself. There are hundreds of languages and several religions (including Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity) that converge in the South Asian Studies major. Part of what’s important about a South Asian Studies major is that you don’t try to learn everything in detail. In combination with an interdisciplinary approach that includes related fields such as history, political science, literature, and economics, you will have the opportunity to pick a region or country that interests you most and focus on it. Not all colleges and universities offer a major specifically in South Asian Studies. In some cases it is listed as a possible concentration within a larger major such as International Studies or Asian Studies.

Preparation

Knowledge of a language spoken in South Asia (besides English) is, of course, a great skill to have, but such language courses are not easy to come across in most high schools. In lieu of speaking fluent Urdu, you can always do your own research about the region, as well as keep up on current events. The Economist is an excellent, albeit dense, resource for keeping up on world politics and business from week to week. Keep those critical reading and writing skills finely honed because you will definitely need them.

Perhaps you’ve already fallen in love with the poems of Pablo Neruda and the novels of Gabriel García Márquez and realized that you want a deeper look into the culture and language in which these writers flourish. Or maybe you’ve got a businesslike mind and see a lot of potential in the developing economies of South America. Regardless of what your interest may be, a Spanish major will provide you a unique insight into the second most widely spoken language in the world. Spoken throughout Central and South America, Spain, and many parts of the United States, knowledge of Spanish is a bridge into varied cultures that span several continents and dozens of centuries. In addition to becoming fluent in the language, a Spanish major also obtains a broad knowledge of the history of the Spanish-speaking world. From Aztecs ruins to Argentine fascism, you’ll delve into the social, political, and economic elements that have made Spanish one of the most important languages in the world. Many colleges recommend or require that you spend at least a semester studying in a Spanish-speaking country of your choice.

Preparation

Most high schools offer Spanish as an elective, and even if you don’t decide to major in it, getting as deeply as you can into the language will help you pass the general education requirements in a foreign language that many colleges now have. So take it from your freshman year until you graduate. Geography and history are also useful, as Spanish has been spoken all over the world for many centuries. If you’re lucky enough to find a linguistics class, take that, too.

Speech Pathology is the study of speech, language, communication, voice, swallowing, and fluency disorders, and the methods of their treatment. It is usually connected to the field of Audiology, which is the identification and treatment of hearing disorders. Speech Pathologists work with a wide range of people, treating everything from minor speech problems to the total loss of speech ability. Speech Pathologists work in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, schools, and in private practice. At the minimum, you will need a masters degree in order to practice as a speech pathologist; in some states, a Ph.D. is required. The undergraduate program will prepare you for that course of study. When you complete your training and meet all requirements, you will be awarded the Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC) from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Preparation

A good background in arts and sciences will serve you well. Classes in biology, anatomy, and psychology will also come in handy.

Like to be down in front—courtside, ringside, or on the sidelines at the 50-yard line? If you’re not game to be a player, mascot, or coach, you can still catch all the action up close and personal as manager of the team. Sports management lets you participate in—and cash in on—the exciting world of sports from a business standpoint. In this major, you’ll learn about sports themselves (perhaps focusing on one or two in particular) plus the psychological principles at work behind them and how sports fit into our society. But you’ll also gain a strong foundation of knowledge in the field of business, examining how the worlds of business and sports interact and how you can make those interactions more profitable and beneficial for every person and interest involved. The way we think of sports has drastically changed over the years; these days few people would say that a sport is “just a game.” Indeed, sports provide serious entertainment and big business in this country, and sports managers are crucial to ensuring that the players, fans, coaches, and financial backers coexist peacefully. (Or, as close to peacefully as possible.) You’ll learn how to market sports effectively and how to plan events, diving into the areas of sports publicity, coaching, and administration. An interdisciplinary field, sports management encompasses elements of economics, accounting, marketing, psychology, law, and communications. Students who major in sports management go on to pursue careers as agents, managers, publicists, and many other positions in the sports industry. Sports management is a broad field, and the knowledge you acquire about both business and sports makes for a whole arena of action-packed possibilities.

Preparation

Sports managers must be fantastic communicators, so take courses such as English and languages that will strengthen your writing, reading, and speaking skills. Any business courses your school offers will be helpful, but it’s more important to build up a strong foundation in a variety of disciplines, including math and science. Of course, any experience you can get with your school’s sports teams—as team manager, statistician, fan, or player—will give you more insight into this exciting field and give you a head start on your studies.

It’s like this: you sit down in the back seat of your grandparents’ car and immediately spy the jumbo road atlas. You pick it up and are enraptured by each map, thankfully blocking out your grandfather’s thirty-sixth telling of his appendectomy story. Surveying, a field of study often listed under a civil engineering program, is concerned with all aspects of the land around us. As a Surveying major, you’ll study data collection techniques such as photogrammetry and satellite positioning. You’ll learn about geographic information systems and other computer programs. You’ll study drafting and site planning, and you’ll be exposed to astronomy, geography, and other fields involving measurement. As a Surveying major, your primary concern will be the physical environment—its beauties, problems, resources, and effects. You’ll study how natural resources should and can be preserved and protected. You’ll investigate the ways in which different aspects of the land affect each other. You’ll study the land in order to tackle issues like hazardous waste, deforestation, wildlife endangerment, and border disputes. Eventually, your major in Surveying might lead you into a career with railroads, urban planning, architecture, land development, or public utilities. Your knowledge of the land—and the skills you develop to study it—can lead to endless opportunities.

Preparation

To prepare for a major in Surveying, make an effort to take courses in geography, geology (you study some of this in physical science), computer science, and a lot of math. These will give you a good foundation for your college courses.