Late decision on a major

Applying to College
1

<p>So I am now a senior in high school, and the one thing on everyone's mind besides graduating and getting out of here is COLLEGE.
Throughout most of my life I've always loved animals and wanted to have a career that involved working with them like being a zoologist or a veterinarian.
But when I started high school, when my parents asked me if I k ew what I wanted to do, and I wanted to be a veterinarian or something like that and they "suggested" that I find a major a little more worthy. What's sad about this is that even though I completely disagreed with them about their opinion about me being a veterinarian, their opinion influenced me to take classes that are completely not related animals.
I tried throughout most of high school to find other majors that I might
find interesting and wouldn't mind having a career for most of my life
But nothing came close.
So now being a senior the asked me again what I wanted to do with my
life, I said i didnt really know. But what is absurd is that NOW they say
that I should do something that makes me happy but it's a little to late
to say that.
Anyways, what I'm really trying to get to is that the colleges that I want
to go to have majors such as wildlife conservation and marine biology.
But the downside most is that in of my high school career I have taken
regular sciencE and math classes not any AP ones (until now, I'm taking
AP environmental science And UW precalculus which is college pre calc
class in a highschool environment, and they select those with a C or
higher to be in this class and it is tough) and that i dont have a strong
background in volunteering for things related to a wildlife or marine
biology major but I do have a lot of hours for certain organizations that
I really enjoy, they're just not animal related.
If my parents would have encouraged me while I was a freshman about
Pursuing whatever I want to do, I would have taken challenging math
and science classes and would have gotten involved in more volunteering
opportunities tha related to my potential major.
But the good thing is that in my regular math and science classes, I
have all A's, i actially have had straight A's all throughout high school. And I have signed up to volunteer at a local aquarium.
So despite my lack in volunteering in organizations not related to my
major and not taking as many challenging classes toward my major what
are my chances of still getting into the university that I want,
considering my situation? Do I still have a chance?
And I don't want to go to a community college because ever since I
started high school I always wanted to go to a university and worked VERY VERY hard to make it worth it despite not knowing what to major in until now.
So please help me and be honest about my situation. I actually have
found a backup major in case things don't work out but I really really
want to do wildlife conservation or marine biology major.</p>

<p>P.S. if it helps to know, I'm still in the process of getting a good SAT score and I took AP literature last year and I'm taking AP Composition, AP psychology and AP Environmental science.</p>

2

<p>TLDR</p>

<p>There are many college students that have no idea what then want to do with their lives. Plenty more Seniors do not know. You are not alone. Ask yourself this: Why do you want to go to college?</p>

3

<p>You’re under no obligation to declare a major. Most colleges don’t require this until the end of sophomore year – they actually find it fine for you to go and sample and explore. Your major declaration deadline is about 3 years from now. Really.</p>

4

<p>I mean I’m taking AP comp, AP environmental science and AP psychology this year.</p>

5

<p>So are you guys saying that apply as a undeclared major and must explore? Or should I apply as what I want to major in and see what happens?</p>

6

<p>I’m saying either is perfectly acceptable. What do you want to do?</p>

7

<p>Which schools are you applying to? Do they offer both your “backup major” and the other majors that interest you?</p>

8

<p>It is not an advantage or disadvantage to indicate what you are going to major in when you apply. I believe that close to 50% (don’t remember where I saw this stat) of applicants are undecided. And more than that change their majors after they get to school, so this really isn’t important. What is important is finding a school that offers the majors you want to explore and finding internships, research and work experience in areas that interest you. You haven’t missed out on anything thus far - you’ve explored a few other areas in high school that it turns out don’t interest you as much as your original interest, so start exploring that area when you get to school.</p>

9

<p>Well I live in seattle, and my number one choice of school is University of Washington and i want to study wildlife conservation or aquatic and fishery sciences there if I get in.
If however I want bewitch my major, I don’t know howncompetitive it would e because all other majors beides the environmental ones are very very competitive. But we will see.</p>