Storm on the Horizon: Declaring a Major

As my fellow sophomores (hopefully) know, the deadline for declaring a major is this April (before registration of 5^th semester classes). Although it’s a long way away, I’m certainly already starting to feel the pressure. Several of my friends have already declared, and although I liked their Facebook statuses, I definitely do NOT like the fact that each one reminds me that I am nowhere close to a decision yet.

Some days, it's all aboard the struggle bus.
(An MBTA struggle bus, no less.)

For some people, choosing a major is simple—they know what they like, they know what they’re good at, and what they like is what they’re good at. But for the rest of us, we either like too many unrelated areas of study, we don’t think we like any areas at all, or we struggle in areas that are interesting to us but very challenging. I tend to identify with the last category on this list. For some reason, I’m not at all interested in math or math-intensive sciences like physics even though I did best in these classes in high school. I’ve been considering a biopsychology major, but I haven’t declared yet because I have to work much harder in my biology and psychology courses. Does this mean I should give up and pick a major that will cause me significantly less stress? Or does the fact that I work harder in these courses demonstrate my interest in them, and therefore I’m correct in pursuing them? Where do I draw the line between what I like and what I'm good at? These are questions I constantly ask myself, and I haven’t quite found the answers yet. A quick poll of the adults in our lives will yield answers like "Follow your passion" and "It'll just come to you" and, my personal favorite, "You already know what you want, you just don't know you know it". While these phrases have merit and make you feel like your life is an uplifting after-school special, they don't exactly provide concrete advice or suggestions, which, let's face it, some of us really need. To quote a popular saying in the social media universe, the struggle is real.  

How I feel 98% of the time.

Besides my interest in biopsychology, I also began pursuing it as a major because of its relatability to my (potential) career. A required course of this major is Animal Behavior, and other classes discuss topics related to veterinary medicine. However, one of the biggest pearls of wisdom that the Career Center often gives is that your major does not restrict your career choices. The New York Times article Major Decisions highlights this point, emphasizing that most employers are interested in transferable skills: your ability to work independently and in teams, to problem solve, and many other skills that you'll learn in almost any discipline. Health Professions Advising further states that graduate schools place minimal emphasis on major, and an applicant can major in anything so long as the appropriate prerequisites have been completed. In other words, I don’t have to pick the major that I feel most strongly relates to my future career. For now, the only focus is choosing a concentration that is interesting and will enable me to succeed. Although this is comforting, it also means I have more options than I thought I did, which adds to the confusion.

So, that’s the unclear situation I’m in right now. In the next few months, some serious exploration is in order before I can formally declare. As the Career Center advises, looking on department websites can be very helpful—it familiarizes you with faculty and required courses, and gives you an idea of the course load for the duration of the major. It’s also important to take a few classes in the major before fully deciding; I was considering a history major for some time last year, and although the courses I took were really interesting and I did well in them, I found the reading and homework for these classes to be very dry (just my opinion—no disrespect to any history majors). Although it wasn’t the result I was hoping for, taking these classes definitely helped me narrow down my options for a major.

While talking to Nicole, she showed me a great handout published by the Career Center entitled Choosing a Major. The best advice I garnered from this handout is the idea of an informational interview with current students (particularly upperclassmen) who are majoring in the field you’re interested in. Asking current students questions like “Why did you choose your major?” and “What do you like most/least about the major?” can give you insightful perspectives that you won’t get from department websites and discussions with faculty. You can start with your friends, and if you don’t know anyone in a particular major, you can ask your friends’ friends—chances are someone will know someone. Also, talking to Nicole or any of the career advisors is a tremendous resource--if you're truly lost, you can always make an appointment with the Career Center!

This post certainly does not encompass the entire process of declaring a major, and my own process is far from over. However, I now have a jumping-off point and a plan for narrowing down my options. I hope that you, my faithful readers, have the same, and if you ever feel alone or thoroughly confused or like no one understands how alone and thoroughly confused you are, just know that somewhere out there I’m stress-eating family-sized boxes of Cheese-It’s at a time.

Until next time,

Sean Boyden

Class of 2017