Am I better off declaring a major as soon as I enter college or waiting until the end of sophomore year?

Do you have a major in mind first?

Hi, Aye Marie,

It depends completey on you. What type of college are you planning to attend? For example, are you planning to go to a liberal arts college, which encourages students to explore many different types of courses (such as sociology, philosophy, art history, physics, religion)? Or, are you going to a college that specializes in a specific field, such as an engineering college (because you know you want to be an engineer)?

Even if you want to become a doctor, for example, you do not have to major in Biology or another Science field. You could even be a French major, as long as you also take all of the necessary courses to qualify for medical school. When I went to school, I thought I would be a double-major in Political Science and Spanish and perhaps become a diplomat. However, I found that I did not enjoy my political science classes but that I liked my Spanish and other language classes. In the end, I declared English Literature as my major and continued to take Spanish classes and even studied in Spain during my junior year. I also took a lot of art history classes and decided to study art history as a graduate student. I subsequently established a career in Marketing and Communications, where I use my skills and knowledge as a writer, work with graphic designers, and apply the analytical skills I developed as a student to develop advertising campaigns.

Find what you interests and excites you, because all of us generally do things better when they are the things we like to do. Good luck!

If you are not sure what you want to major in, I would wait. I chose nursing my freshman year because that is what my sister and my best friend were going to do so I thought, sure, that's what I will do too. I soon realized that it was not for me and I switched to undecided and finally declared Business Administration at the end of my Sophomore year. Try to take classes that touch a lot of different areas so you can find something that you are passionate about.