Hello, CC members. I’m a junior in high school pondering for what major to choose. I have few questions about when applying to colleges, especially prestigious ones.
Does Ivy leauge have undecided major? If so, how and when do students with undecided major choose their major?
Do students predominantly change their major during their college years,even students from ivy league?
If i am unsure of what to major in, do you think applying for undecided major disadvantage me from getting into that school?
I am slightly interested in economics. What do you become after majoring in economics?
Yes, Ivy leave and highly selective schools allow people to apply us undecided and many do. You usually have to designate your major by the end of your second (sophomore) year.
Many students change their majors even at top schools. It’s very common to do that and usually just involves submitting a form to the Registrars office. You usually don’t require permission - you just notify them. Some schools - Columbia for example - require you to apply specifically for admission to their undergrad school of engineering at the time that you apply as an undergrad. And if you want to change into or out of that school, you need to apply - but this constraint is only for engineering. There may be other Ivies with this constraint but not Harvard, Princeton, Yale, or Brown. Others will chime in here with the rest.
Applying undecided is not a disadvantage. Many student do it. But keep in mind, even if you do put down a major, it’s just an indication of interest, not a commitment. You can show up on the first day of school with an entirely different major in mind. They will not object.
Since many top schools don’t offer business majors, many students who are interested in business will choose economics. With an economics degree, you can either go to work (and you may or may not decide to get an MBA later) or you can pursue graduate level studies in economics - masters or PhD. A business major tends to be more ‘applied’ and a economics major is more theory - but both are valued in the business world. If you do go the Econ route, make sure you develop a strong quantitative background at the same time.
If you think you might be interested in Economics, you can put that down in your application. You are welcome to change your mind at any time once you start school. This is one of the really wonderful aspects of US education - students are given time to try different subjects before they have to commit. (Although some majors, like engineering, may have so many requirements that if you don’t decide earlier than the end of sophomore year, you may have trouble finishing the degree in 4 years so pay attention to the requirements for the major you choose. It shouldn’t be a problem to finish an Econ major even if you ‘declare’ only at the end of sophomore year as long as you’ve had a few Econ classes before that.
No school has an “undecided major,” but you may apply to any school (Ivies included) as “undecided,” meaning you aren’t yet sure what you’ll major in.
Yes, many do. Even in the Ivies.
It might or it might not. There are two kinds of “undecideds”: those who haven’t yet discovered the subject they’re passionate about and those who are excited about a lot of subjects and haven’t yet narrowed it down.
Don’t be the first kind.
There’s no easy answer to this. You could go to law school. You could go work in finance & then get an MBA. You could become an academic. You could flip burgers. You could join the French Foreign Legion. You could start wearing your underwear on the outside of your pants and fight crime under cover of darkness.