Counselling activity: Guess What Major
Often, students are only familiar with a handful of well-known university courses, such as engineering or business. This activity introduces them to lesser-known areas of study
While counselling is often emphasised in the latter years of high school, it is during Grades 9 and 10 (Years 10 and 11) that students benefit most from early exposure and inspiration. At this stage, many are only familiar with a handful of well-known majors – such as engineering, psychology or business – while hundreds of other exciting interdisciplinary fields remain undiscovered.
To address this, I introduce the Guess What Major activity in Grade 9 (Year 10), and then revisit it again in Grade 10 (Year 11). The aim is to provide students with a creative and analytical thinking challenge that will help them to explore a broader range of academic and career possibilities.
Guess What Major: how it works
Grade 9 students are grouped in teams of up to three. Grade 10 students complete the assignment individually.
Each group or student receives a slip of paper with the name of an uncommon college course, such as criminology, supply-chain operations, ethnomusicology or e-sports and kinesiology. Without googling the course, we brainstorm what students think the major might involve. Then, through guided research, they verify or correct their assumptions.
Students then create three short, engaging clues that reveal the essence of their assigned major without naming it directly. The objective is to describe the major in a way that captures its interdisciplinary nature and potential career paths, sparking curiosity in their classmates, who will try to guess what it is.
Here are some examples from the students:
Criminology
I am not a cop, a lawyer or a judge – but I study all of them. I am a researcher who studies crime patterns and helps shape policy and law. My work sits somewhere between psychology, sociology and law.
Supply-chain operations
Ever wonder how Amazon ships so fast? I study logistics, manufacturing and global sourcing. I am the person who keeps businesses running smoothly.
Forensic science
I work with the dead. I study anatomy, pathology, toxicology, DNA analysis, chemical testing, criminology and law. I investigate causes of death.
Game instructions
1. Divide the class into small guessing teams.
2. The counsellor draws a major from the hat and reads the clues aloud to the class.
3. Each group has two minutes to discuss and guess the major. They can submit their answers on the slip of paper during this time.
4. After two minutes, the counsellor reveals the answer.
Scoring
The first group to answer correctly earns five points.
The second group earns four points.
The third group earns three points.
All other groups who guessed correctly earn two points.
Groups that did not guess correctly are not awarded any points.
The group with the highest score at the end of the round will then draw the next major, and the process repeats.
After students have guessed all the majors, reflect as a class with questions such as:
- Which major surprised you the most?
- Did you think any of these majors would be interesting to explore in the future?
The purpose of the game
This activity helps students become more aware of the talent pipeline and career pathways that lie ahead. Additionally, it provides a foundation for more focused exploration later in high school, as students begin making decisions about advanced courses, summer project-based learning and, eventually, college applications.
By helping students start this process early, we increase the likelihood that they will enter higher education or workforce with a clear sense of purpose and direction. It also helps shift their perspective from simply asking, “What college should I go to?” to asking, “What do I want to learn?” and “How can I shape the world, rather than just fitting in?”