The MBTI® Test and Making Decisions in College

In College Prep, MBTI by Jonathan Bollag, Owner and Founder

How do I know my results will be right for me later?

College students often wonder whether their personality type will change after their graduation.

As stated in Introduction to Type in College (CPP, 2003), the longevity of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® college student personality typing has been proven reliable, most recently in a study in which college students were tested and then re-tested 10 – 12 years later. The study showed no significant changes in the individuals’ MBTI® test personality type.

How do Types relate to my studies?

Knowing that our MBTI test personality type results will see us through college and well beyond, we can now step into the world of the eight letters of MBTI Type and what MBTI Types and pairs correlate to what specific areas of studies, and eventually majors. An MBTI “pair” refers to taking half or two letters out of your 4-letter MBTI Type and studying them uniquely from your entire Type. This manner of study has been met with great success and validity.

As discussed in previous posts on The Career Assessment Blog, there are 16 different personality types into which we, as individuals, are sorted. Therefore, it is said that we all belong to one of 16 categories that are made up of variations of Type including the 8 letters of The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Theory. These are: Extroversion (E) – Introversion (I), Sensing (S) – Intuition (N), Thinking (T) – Feeling (F) – Judging (J) – Perceiving (P).

Regarding fields of study and careers, the middle two letters of your Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Type, meaning your S-N and T-F, come into play more so than the outer two letters of I-E and J-P.  According to the source, Type in College (CPP, 2003), the middle Type letters, more technically known as dichotomies or opposites, parallel to the work and college major academic study areas. The middle two letters particularly equate to college major choice.

However, it is not necessary for students to believe that their college major choice will be a final career decision while still in college. For instance, in the 1990s, most people changed their career field more than once. Do not feel like your college major will finalize your career for the rest of your life. The MBTI at its best lays a foundation and awareness of how you learn, study, and interact, while most of all providing a basic interpretation of your best-fit careers and jobs in order to open your mind to new possibilities and an appropriate action plan.

Develop a new understanding on how you work and think to benefit your college experience with the MBTI test below:

Plan your collegiate and career future based on your interests with additional analysis and guidance from the Strong Interest Inventory Report below:

Choose a college major that works best with your interests, and then plan a rewarding career to follow your college career with the report below:

Find a fulfilling career that matches with your personality and interests, and develop a College plan for achieving that career with the MBTI Combined report below: