<p>Trying to keep this brief.</p>
<p>While I've narrowed down what I'd like to major in to only a few things, the requirements for these majors would be vastly different... say, chemistry and political science. I'm a junior in high school. Do I need to have narrowed my major down to a group of similar majors in the humanities or sciences before I've applied to college, or if not, when?</p>
<p>The most popular major for incoming freshmen is undeclared. That being said, at some schools it’s harder to get particular intro classes if you haven’t declared a major in the subject. If you don’t get the intro class your freshman year, it could mean that you have to delay your graduation plans or take a summer session. For instance, my friend at UCSB wanted to try biology because he thought he might want to do premed. However, he was and still is, a declared poly sci major and the freshmen who declared a science major were allowed priority into the intro bio classes. That meant he didn’t get the bio class that he wanted because he was a poly sci major. </p>
<p>At other schools this isn’t the case. For instance at my school anyone can register for any classes, so long as they’ve completed the prereqs. For better or for worse, little priority is given to students who are majoring in the field.</p>
<p>Not always. Unless you are applying to a pre-professional school within a university (i.e. engineering, nursing, business), you will probably be applying to the college of arts and sciences, in which case you would be able to study any liberal art (including pure sciences). College applications will ask you to list the majors you are interested in, and they may base acceptance on what you say; some universities have limits to the number of majors they can support, and others are looking to expand the number of majors in a given area. But you most likely can change your mind after you are accepted. Liberal arts colleges and the college of arts and sciences at a large university would provide the most flexibility. Many college students encounter disciplines in college that they never heard of in high school, and they change their major to pursue those new interests.</p>
<p>A typical freshman schedule would include some core requirements (i.e. a required writing class, a lab science) and then a couple of intro classes in potential major areas. Many people do not declare their major until the end of sophomore year.</p>
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<p>However, some majors, usually in science or engineering, may have long prerequisite sequences that must be started early if you want to graduate on schedule. So if you are undecided, but considering such majors, be sure to plan your frosh schedule to make progress to all of your majors so that you can later choose one without delaying graduation.</p>
<p>As long as you are talking about sciences vs humanities, and not engineering vs arts and sciences, you are okay. But if you don’t hop on the engineering train first semester, you will need to put in additional time to make up the missed courses.</p>
<p>A lot can happen between now and the time you fill out your applications. My D didn’t know a year ago what she wanted to major in, but had a good idea by the time she submitted college apps. Next year at this time??? She may be in something completely different.</p>
<p>as pointed out in post #3, you generally don’t need to decide before applying to college. By the time you register for classes, though, you need to develop a rough idea (although you’re not committed to it). Many science majors are going to require the same lower division classes, especially frosh year, so you can easily switch between science majors. And if you don’t get started on them frosh year then you’ll have trouble graduating in 4 years since the sequences of classes become requirements to enroll in other classes later years in college. However all is not lost if you start on a science path and change more to the humanities. In many colleges the math and science classes you took will apply to satisfy breadth requirements in humanities majors.</p>
<p>Some schools have restrictions on number admitted to certain programs or you have to apply directly to that dept/school. Be sure to check carefully.</p>