At the beginning of a college career, perhaps the most important question looms over a student’s head: What will I major in? Many students have been set on a major for as long as they can remember, and others still have not found a fit, but there is always the option to switch.
LSU Academic Counselor Tim Fields said it is never too late to switch majors and the University has a willing and helpful team of counselors to help students complete the process seamlessly.
The most common time for students to doubt whether they belong in their major is during their freshman year. He wants students to utilize resources like the University College’s Center for Freshman Year.
“Freshmen sometimes forget to spend time on their major,” Fields said. “‘Okay, where’s my dorm? I’ve fallen in and out of love three different times. I’m homesick. Somebody scratched my car that I got from graduation.’ This freshman college exists to try to encourage them to engage to get a good foundation so that you don’t have to change after you already have 100 hours.”
Fields said there are many reasons students pursue a major they do not enjoy. Some are swayed by financial opportunities, some are raised into it from their families and others go with what they were successful with in high school. Fields suggested that another motivation freshmen use to pick their major is simply to fit in.
“A lot of the reason incoming students find themselves in the wrong majors is because it gives them a sense of place,” Fields said. “You arrive at this big campus, and it’s like you’re getting dropped off on Bourbon Street in the middle of Mardi Gras. You just assume that if you’re this major then you’ll know where to stand at mixers and where to go at parties. So, it gives you that since of comfort, but you reach a point where you come in and go, ‘Wow, these are pretty tough courses.’”
Sophomore Grace Pulliam recently switched her major from coastal and environmental science to English. She said she was too nervous to tell her parents and go to the guidance counselor’s office and make the switch last year, but this year was able to declare an English major in one day without making up any credits.
“I was really unhappy,” Pulliam said. “There’s a lot of pressure to not go with a fluffy major. My brother is older than me and he’s a science major so I guess I wanted to fit in. My grades were slipping and English has always been a passion of mine, but I was scared to go with it.”
In some cases, students switching majors like Pulliam are able to transfer credits seamlessly without having to make anything up. There are some majors that are tougher to switch to and from, like petroleum engineering. Majors falling under Humanities and Social Sciences are typically easier to move in and out of, as well as majors that share prerequisites.
Fields said that even though switching majors is always an option, it is not encouraged in every case. He said many students often want to make the decision based on one specific college course that they are struggling with.
“About 80 percent of the time, it’s because of study skills that they brought with them when they came to college,” Fields said. “You can’t base the decision off one course. If you’re determined then you can do this.”
Fields said that the most important factor for students to consider when potentially switching majors is how passionate they are about the field of study.
Fields added, “taking the financial part out of the equation, what would be worse: Walking into a job and doing a job that you feel uncomfortable doing each day, or maybe losing a few hours of credit and then getting into something that you love.”