<p>As I've mentioned before, in applying ED my d was torn between Princeton and that other school on the Charles. ;) (And Byerly, before you launch in with some kind of sour grapes implication, every student in living memory from her hs with credentials similar to -- actually, less than -- hers has been admitted to H; the local H adcom is eager to grab our top student every year.) She decided on applying early to P for a multitude of reasons, and loves it. </p>
<p>One thing she hadn't really thought about at the time was <em>the date of declaring the major.</em> When she arrived at P, she thought she knew what she wanted to major in, but during freshman year she had the opportunity to explore certain aspects of her interests more deeply and to recognize that they can be pursued in more than one way. As she enters her sophomore year, she is signed up for courses in three different departments that are potential majors for her, in order to be sure she is narrowing it down to a course of study and a group of professors she finds most energizing. Fortunately, at Princeton students do not have to declare a major until the second semester of sophomore year. </p>
<p>At Harvard, she would have had to declare her major during the second semester of <em>freshman</em> year. I gather Harvard itself has come to recognize that this is a problem: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/27/education/27HARV.html?ex=1398398400&en=90e04f6dd31a97df&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND%5B/url%5D">http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/27/education/27HARV.html?ex=1398398400&en=90e04f6dd31a97df&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND</a></p>
<p>I am so grateful that my d is getting this chance to really explore...</p>