Problems with picking a college major (and sticking with it)

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I'm a 28 year old adult learner who's attending the City College of New York after a ten year lapse. I started off as a Music major, hoping to get into a studio recording program, but my dyslexia/dyspraxia made the music theory pre-requisite classes near impossible. I'm now tentatively an English Creative Writing major while I finish out the rest of the semester with GE classes, but I'm completely lost with my major.

I've read through a few articles about the subject and I've figured that I am really more of the visual type. I've dabbled in photography and graphic design, though I'm not sure if there's much out there job-wise except freelance work. I'm sure that I can't be alone in this, but it's freaky when you read these articles about what Aspies can/can't do (not that they're unhelpful) and then read up on what fields are actually hiring. I hear plenty of horror stories from both NT's and Aspies alike about how if they could only go back and change what they majored in.

I know that you're supposed to do what you love. I've always been in some kind of creative academic track and think that's where I belong. I'm an antique collector and one of my dreams has always been to design and manage an historically accurate type of restaurant/theater/venue, with others handling some of the more social aspects. A pipe dream, maybe, but it gives you some idea of my interests. Grad school might be in my future, but I'm officially lost.

Any thoughts/ideas from somebody who's been there or is going through the same situation? Thanks!

Maybe you should look towards broader studies that may help hone in your skills with your dream. What you explained your dream was is architecture, something that you should DEFINITELY look into. Even if it doesn't end up working out the way you want, you still gain design skills that can help you with photography/ graphic design.

If you make a mistake and later think you wish you'd done something else, you won't be alone. It can be difficult to choose a major because you're just choosing what seems best at the time you apply, which is changeable. Personally I'm doing a major in Mathematics and I was very sure I wanted to do it at the start, but as I got into it I realised that maths is so much different from what I've learnt before in secondary school and so I'm not sure that was the best choice for me anymore. Trouble is I don't know what else would be better either, for example I've taken on a few economics and finance courses which I'm good at but only textbook and theoretically wise, I don't understand current world issues and so wouldn't be able to apply what I've learnt to real world problems.

I think that it's good that you're starting to look into hiring practices for different degrees. That's something that most people neglect and is one of the most important choices with respect to choosing a degree in my opinion. And no offense but I'm not going to beat around the bush: both English and Music majors are a dime a dozen, and unless you're really darn good at either chances are you're going to be working in a completely different field. I knew an English major once who wanted to be a journalist...he's been working for nearly minimum wage at Home Depot for the past 4 years now though because he can't get a job doing what he wants to do.

If your goal is to eventually manage a business, I would recommend either getting your MBA or going into accounting. Those are both extremely valuable business fields, that have the potential to get you jobs while at the same time providing you with the knowledge you may need to run your own business.

I have my personal reservations about yahoo's information on this subject, but they do put out lists like this from time to time and they are relatively accurate for the most part. But I wouldn't recommend business administration by any means...if you're going into business do MBA or accounting.
http://education.yahoo.net/articles/deg ... s_want.htm
http://education.yahoo.net/articles/dea ... 75c0c79734

I returned to college after a long gap of not taking classes. From 2000 -> 20010. Went back to class in my 30s (started @19).

Like you, I begun a major then turned out that while I was good a it, AS issues would've made working in said field living hell. Who would've thought IT required so much social skills? After that long gap I found the major I really liked and seemed to fit in....where the socializing the job needs is mostly academic/technical in nature.

If you are a creative/visual person that knows about antiques you could look into things that make use of those skillsets.

Things that come to mind from the field I know is: Museum Studies, Museum Curation, Archaeological Illustration and Appraiser (dunno what you need to study for this.. history?).

If you dream of opening that venue you do need to go through hospitality management otherwise you would end up hiring someone to manage the thing for you and thats a recipe for disaster if its your own investment money on the line.

Ever thought of maybe having your own antiques shop with a small olde-time cafe service? Such a store could sell books, items, etc. You could be the research/acquisition/overall manager while a business/social type person runs the front end selling and cafe services.