I am sooo sorry but...

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>Excuse me for such an off-topic thread, but how the heck do I start a thread without being too specific? I just had diverse little questions but I can't find anywhere to ask 'em.</p>

<p>Anyway, I hope a moderator will move this/redirect it.</p>

<p>So, my question is the following:</p>

<p>I am a senior in high school, it is November 3rd and I have NO idea what I want to do later on on life (like many I suppose).
Since I don't know what to do (literally can't choose between law, medicine, engineering, architecture, mathematics, business, finance etc...), I was wondering if it is possible to apply in an university without following a strict curriculum. (opposed to pre-med for example).</p>

<p>As in, could I take various different classes for a year or so and THEN decide what I'd like to do? Take a bit of everything, open myself to different subjects etc...</p>

<p>Is there such an option? I don't think I'd like a Liberal Arts College, but the idea is kinda similar.</p>

<p>Would this be what "Undecided Majors" are?</p>

<p>For example, could I apply for Harvard and take classes that would still give me credits for later on? Kinda like taking AP's in high school?</p>

<p>So yeah, I really wanna take a few classes in everything but I don't know what I wanna major in. What options have I?</p>

<p>Sorry for being such an ignorant. I arrived from Europe last year and there's just soo muuch going on!</p>

<p>Thank you, and sorry again for this off-topic thread!</p>

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<p>Harvard College, the undergraduate section of Harvard University, is a liberal arts college. Unlike in many other countries, you cannot get an undergraduate law or medicine degree; you can get undergraduate degrees in architecture or business at some colleges, where you will be segregated from the rest of the school and only (primarily) be able to take classes in your field. Harvard isn’t one of the colleges that offers undergraduate business or architecture degrees, however. Also unlike in many other countries, you apply to American colleges as a student (unless you are applying to one of the specialized architecture or whatever degree-granting places), not as a whatever major. Are you thinking that American colleges accept students for a certain course of study, like when I got my acceptance to a British school but only as an English major? That does not happen in America. You are accepted as a student. You then have two-four semesters, depending on the college, to decide on what to major in, and any student in the college can major in pretty much anything. At Harvard, like many other colleges, we have “distribution requirements,” that mean students have to take two science-y classes, two cultural-y classes, etc. in order to graduate. If you come in and take classes in math and bio and something vaguely pre-law like art history, that’s actually kind of helpful for the rest of your college career, since you’ll get those requirements out of the way and have more time to take electives. Also, pre-med is not that strict a program at many colleges. You certainly can’t major in “pre-med”; instead, it’s a sequence of courses you have to take to be qualified for med school. At Harvard, it consists of 10 courses. Harvard students have to take at least 32 classes to graduate, so there’s plenty of flexibility to be pre-med while still majoring in something else, like government (political science).</p>

<p>That’s a brief introduction to American higher education, but you need to go spend a lot of time reading Harvard’s information for prospective international students, other colleges’ information to that effect, and probably Wiki-ing how college works in America before January 1.</p>