Lauren
What are your experiences of going into college undecided?
I'm currently a High School senior and am very much undecided about my future or college major. I plan on going to a local Community College to try to figure out my path.
So what are your experiences going in undecided?
Should I go the general education route and then transfer to a 4 year with a planned major or should I "try out" a major now and figure out how to switch if it's something I'm not interested in?
It seems as though no one else in my graduating class has this same problem, they all have an idea of what they would like to do.
#undecided #collegemajors
6 answers
Serge V. Vaval, M.P.A.
Serge V.’s Answer
When I graduated high school, I went to a community college as my major was undecided. It's okay to go into the first semester as being undecided. I took the requirement classes for the all majors such as College Algebra, English, Biology, Communications and etc. This way I would not lose credits bc all of the majors in my university required those classes.
Serge
Erika Wall
Erika’s Answer
I went into college undecided and as others mentioned above, it's perfectly fine to do so! You will have a lot of general requirement courses that fill up your first semester or two. I would recommend taking some introductory level courses in the majors that seem of interest to you, and also leveraging the departmental resources at the college you are going to (or would like to go to) to get a feel for the programs as well. Some instructors may even let you 'review' a course/sit in on a few lectures to get an idea. I would also recommend checking prerequisite courses for different areas of interest; for example, if you think you're trending towards a major that is more in the math/sciences, the basic science requirement might be to take Biology 101 with a Lab, whereas if you think you may end up in something more in the liberal arts (communication, writing, etc.) you may have more options and/or not have to take the lab component. You'd want to try and avoid having to go back and take a lower-level course your sophomore or junior year when you could have taken it initially and still met a general requirement for graduation!
Bryan Brock
Bryan’s Answer
That is how I entered college--undecided, but I had an idea of the direction (engineering) I wanted to go. It can help to try out different areas your first two years, and I remember some of the required courses were intended to let people do that. Pay attention to what you are most interested in during the first two years and keep in mind that what you may think of as easy, may not be easy for everyone. Sometimes the thing that you are most interested in seems easiest. That kind of interest can build on itself, because you are going to be more willing to work hard on something you enjoy, and as you do that you will get really good at it. I'd pay attention to taking classes that can be used in more than one discipline if you are still unsure so that you do not lose credits or have to take extra hours to complete your degree. Even if you do lose credits by taking courses that don't go toward your degree, it will still be OK because you will learn something in those courses too. You may learn about people or you may just learn what you don't want to do. That can be useful too, because then you won't later wonder if you should have taken a different track. I found that the things I enjoyed which others also said were difficult for them were a good indicator of what I needed to do. Finally, I was told by an elderly tutor in one of the libraries I used to frequent that unless you are very sure about making a change in something as important as your major, you might be better off staying with it until you are sure. You'll learn to listen to yourself more, and giving up too soon on a choice because you are going through a difficult period can be very costly. Once you are sure, then you can feel better about your choice.
Angela D
Angela’s Answer
Hi Lauren,
I walked into college undecided and not sure about what I was going to do. I am very happy that I chose not to declare for a while because it gave me the opportunity to explore different classes and find out what I liked. I started off by taking the necessary basic requirements and then adding on electives. During this time I was completely open to taking different classes and not tied down to one particular set of coursework. If I were to go back in time, I would approach college in the same manner.
Your classmates may think they know what they want to do but I guarantee many of them will switch their majors. Some people will walk into college with a set plan and after a semester or two realize they no longer want to pursue that path. College is a journey, I would recommend taking it as an exploratory time to evaluate what you might be interested in. After two semesters, I would reflect on your experience in each class and then declare a major.
Good luck!
Pro Professional
Pro’s Answer
Divya Jain
Divya’s Answer
Hi Lauren,
When i joined my college, i wasnt sure in which field i want to grow. that is the major reason that most of the colleges make you study basic subjects from all the department so that by the end of the first year you have a basic idea of what you like and what you dont. Eventually as you start learning more topics, you will figure out what stream / specific technology you like. you can take up extra credits in college as well if you would like more knowledge on something.
I am a computer science engineer and eventuallu i realized i like networking more than coding and so i took up some extra credits and evetually work as a network engineer now.
You will figure out all these eventually.