I’m narrowing down a shortlist of some colleges that I’m interested in. I have a pretty wide range of interests across both stem and humanities and feel that I may have some propensity to change my major even after enrolling in the school; I want to ensure that the college I go to has flexibility for me to do this if this ever ends up happening. Would not want to be stuck with a major that I am unhappy/unfulfilled with.
I also know that some colleges have undergraduate schools of liberal arts, of engineering, etc but don’t know how difficult it is to switch majors or add a major once you have already committed to one. The main schools I am unclear about are Columbia, Duke, and Penn. Does anyone have any insights into the flexibility of these schools if you wanted to switch from liberal arts to engineering or vice-versa, or if you wanted to switch majors within liberal arts/within engineering? Or perhaps add a major if I decided to do something interdisciplinary?
I can’t speak to the practices at these specific schools, though I expect others will. Generally speaking, however, if there are two majors that you’re equally interested in, it’s best to apply for the more restrictive program. So, if engineering is one of the areas you’re interested in, you’d want to start in engineering first because 1) there are lots of sequencing issues and if you get off, you could end up needing an extra semester or even a year to get all you requirements in, and 2) it’s harder to go from a less popular major into a more popular major.
So if you’re interested in engineering, computer science, or business, you’d want to apply for that program first and then you can switch out more easily into the college of liberal arts or wherever the next program you’re interested in is housed. All of that said, at the majority of colleges in the U.S., this is not an issue. At the most popular colleges, however, this is a consideration. Schools like Penn, Columbia, and Duke generally have the reputation for allowing students to freely change their majors, but I know that Wharton is definitely restricted at Penn, and I don’t know what other majors may be as well.
Hopefully someone else will chime in with more specifics for you about the particular schools you’re interested in.
There’s no issue switching at Duke with the one caveat being any engineering disciple requires more prerequisites and specific sequencing than other majors. If you are interested in engineering, starting freshman year with the required calculus, chemistry, physics requirements will make graduating on time much more likely. My daughter had zero issue adding a second major sophomore year.