The Influence of Family Communication on Students' Self-Efficacy in Choosing College Majors at Universities in Medan City

The choice of a major in college is a critical decision that has a significant impact on students' academic and career success. Although many studies have been conducted on family communication and self-efficacy, there is still a gap in the literature that connects these two factors, therefore this study aims to measure the extent of the influence of family communication on students' self-efficacy in choosing a major after being controlled by gender, parental education, and economic status. This study uses a quantitative method with calculations through SPSS 22 statistics on 398 samples of active D4, D4, S1 students from 4 university locations as representatives of the population. The results showed that Family Communication (X) had a significant positive effect on Student Self-Efficacy (Y) (t = 4.879; p <0.001). Every 1-point increase in the family communication score increases self-efficacy by 0.132 points, indicating that open dialogue and family support are key foundations in educational decision making. Then, from the four control variables, two of them showed a significant effect and the rest had no effect on students choosing a major.