Why you may want to wait to declare your major
July 18, 2012
Arriving at college your freshman year, you will feel like an open vessel. The culture shock will wear off, but as it does your mind will be overflowing with new ideas - concepts of economics, an understanding of history and politics, new readings and criticisms in novelists you thought you understood inside and out, complexities of the human organism that transcend AP bio and high school anatomy, a world of paintings or photographers that outstrip your frame of reference by miles.
The first year of college is an exciting time, and it's also a point when you may suddenly find yourself exhausted by what adsorbed you in high school, or excited by something that you'd never really cared for previously. Whether calculus finally snaps into place when examined through the lens of Jorge Luis Borges or there's something about the hues of Mark Rothko's paintings that speaks to you. Maybe you will take a guitar class that turns into a collaboration with a professor, or the maze of economics ends up entrancing you like a puzzle would.
The fact of the matter is, there's no way to know what kind of academic individual you'll be when you come out the other side of freshman year. This is the time to Examine your interests. Carefully delineate what are passions, what are career possibilities and what are hobbies. The very first year of college should be about exploration.
For this reason, it's always advisable to take a class outside your planned major. Both semesters should include one course that removes you from your comfort zone and better informs you as an individual and a student. The magic of this experience is how it can serendipitously alter your path.
Whatever your concerns or aspirations, share them with your academic advisor and professors - they know as well as you what the excitement and pratfalls of picking a major are like and can offer helpful advice along the way. Also speak with upperclassmen, mining them for a better understanding about the years to come.
You'd also do well to apply for scholarship opportunities, before and during your first year. Sometimes scholarships require that you're in a specific discipline - be it education, music, drama - so be sure to seek out those applications once you've settled on your major.
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