So, you feel like you’ve got a pretty good handle on college. (Or you don’t, that’s okay too. Seriously, I can’t judge you on that.) Maybe you’ve got a year under your belt and now that you’re not a freshman, you feel ready to tackle anything. Or, you’ve been doing this college thing for a while now, and you’re not exactly sure why you keep reading advice articles about it, other than the fact that you’re just increasingly scared of becoming an adult. Either way, you know that at some point during your college years, you have one important decision to make: you have to choose your major. (Or your double major, if you’re feeling brave. People with triple majors are just intimidating. Please don’t hurt us.)
If you’re anything like me, you chose your major(s) in your freshman or sophomore year of college, or that’s when you’re planning to make the decision. And if you’re still like me, you’ve assumed that you’re going to stick with your major completely throughout college and never question it. Well, sometimes things change. Your interests, your future career, the classes you want to take, etc. Before you know it, you’re in the middle of college, and you want to change your major. If you’ve just started this journey of self-discovery, or you’re somewhere in the middle of it, here are five tips that can make the process a little easier.
1. Know why you want to change your major.
I know this seems kind of obvious, but it’s important to pinpoint why you want to go through the trouble in the first place. This can help with planning your future, too, which we all need help with. Is this a career move? What kind of job do you specifically want in this new career? If these questions seem scary, try asking one of the professors in the department of your new major. They probably have some job suggestions for you — it’s their field, after all.
2. Check how many more credits you’ll need. And double check.
One of the biggest parts of changing your major is knowing if you’ll be able to graduate on time with all the new credit requirements. Count out the credits if you have to — just go through the requirements for your new major and see how many more credits you can take in the semesters that you have left. Some of the questions to ask yourself here are: how many classes am I comfortable taking in a semester? Are there any core classes at my school that are required for graduation, outside of my major? Can I take summer classes or online classes to get my credits?
3. Make friends with the professors in your new department.
If you’ve been taking the bulk of your classes through the English department and you suddenly decide to change your major to Political Science (like I did), then you’ll be dealing with a whole new set of professors that you’ve never even met. You don’t know which professors are really good, which professors are tough graders, which professors have the strictest attendance policy, anything. So find out! Introduce yourself to professors in your new major. If you mention that you’re switching to their department, trust me, they’ll be happy to talk to you.
4. Make friends with students in the same major as you.
It’s equally important to befriend the students that’ll be in your classes. Especially if you go to a smaller school, you see the same people in your classes every day. Once you start getting to the 300 level classes, you’re all English majors or you’re all Biology majors. If you’re diving head-first into a new major without knowing anybody in your classes, you’ll have a way harder time borrowing notes from people or messaging someone at 11 p.m. to double-check the due date on a project. Also, you’ll probably get a better read on the professors in your new major by talking to the students that’ve had them for years.
5. Feel good about your decision!
Changing majors is a risky move, but it’s worth it. You don’t have to be stuck with a major you chose freshman year that doesn’t interest you at all anymore — people change. If you want to do something else, do it! Just be sure you know the steps involved at your school, remember the importance of making connections with new professors and students and you're golden.
