Is it a waste of time to be Undecided on your major?

<p>I'm undecided, but i feel like it's a waste of time. I'm full aware that the general classes i take freshman year will count towards my major, but then I would have to take another year to finish my pre-major requirments and then declare my major and then take the 'upper classes'. So is it a waste of time? I mean i'm kind of leaning towards business, so should i just head into that?</p>

<p>Depends - you might want to apply to a business school if it’s difficult to transfer in later. At many schools, it’s very difficult if not impossible to transfer in, easy to transfer out. (Wharton at Penn) You’ll also want to pick a school where business is offered - no sense in going to college where they don’t even offer the major. (Most LACs) However, if you’re going to a school that offers business and there’s no problem transferring into the business school, then undecided is just fine.</p>

<p>My own kid applied to all colleges undecided. Was a good all around student. Figured it out sophomore year. Graduated in 4 years. It is true that some majors are better started in freshman year with your prereqs.</p>

<p>I’m going in undecided and I am so happy about my decision. There were just so many kinds of classes that weren’t available to me in my small public high school, so I wasn’t really able to explore all of my interests. I am really excited to explore a broad range of topics along with finding new topics that interest me. There are many colleges who don’t allow you to come in as a declared major; rather, you just note an area or two of interest and go from there once you arrive on campus. Rarely would being undecided cause you to need an extra year to graduate, unless you decide junior year to be an engineer instead of an English major or something. Since you said your main area of interest is business, I would say you’ll be absolutely fine. </p>

<p>It isn’t a waste of time, practically speaking.</p>

<p>Let’s say that your eventual major requires 40 hours and you have two classes you have to take in sequence before you take anything else in the department. That’s a pretty normal set-up, other than in STEM fields. So let’s say that you have three majors you are currently interested in. Freshman year, you take mostly gen-eds, and the introductory class in two of those majors, and you settle on one. Then you can take the second semester at the beginning of your sophomore year and the rest of your 40 hours in your junior and senior year, scattered through with electives and the rest of your gen-eds. The other major class you took freshman year will count towards your divisional/gen-ed requirements (i.e., I was trying to decide between psychology and sociology, so I took the intro for majors for both. I settled on psychology, and sociology became my social science divisional requirement.)</p>

<p>The only way going in undecided really “hurts” you is if you choose a major (usually STEM, but also language majors) that requires four semesters (two years) of introductory work before you take the other classes. You kind of have to start that in your freshman year so you can take the other classes in your junior and senior year. Language is a big one because the 101-102 (intro/beginner) sequence usually doesn’t count towards the major - and sometimes, 201-202 (intermediate) doesn’t count either, but they’re still prerequisites to the other 40 hours you have to take.</p>

<p>What I recommend is if you really don’t know what you want but you want to go to a college with a competitive business school, apply for the business school. It’s easier to transfer out than transfer in. But if you want to go to a college where the majors aren’t necessarily competitive, then go in undecided but narrow it down to 2-3 majors. Then take the intro to majors in those 2-3 majors, and pick one. You do eventually have to settle on one but your major honestly doesn’t matter that much unless you want to do something very specific (i.e., if you want to be an engineer or a nurse).</p>

<p>Sometimes programs are impacted enough that you have to take this route… Especially business at my own college where you don’t get to apply until all the pre-major courses are completed.</p>

<p>Also to the comments above, if you have ridiculous amounts of AP credits, you’re wasting your time if you don’t declare your major lol.</p>

<p>Start in the most restrictive/competitive major you are interested in and then switch if that is not for you.</p>

<p>Register for the intro business classes along with classes in other fields you think you might be interested in … and then make your decision once you see how those go. Don’t let other people pressure you into anything you’rte not ready to commit to.</p>