Undecided major

Anyone who started undecided, was it easy, during freshman year at Wisconsin, to find a major you loved?

Being undecided does not mean being all over the map with possible choices for your major. College means more specialization than HS and also means more freedom in choosing classes. By now everyone has subjects they like/dislike and do better/worse in (all relative to each other of course). Some students do so well in all HS subjects and like many diverse ones that it becomes a matter of needing to choose a direction. Before your summer SOAR session you need to figure out a general direction. This means taking science and math for possible STEM majors if you are inclined towards that. Or taking interesting subjects not available in HS Humanities or Social Sciences that intrigue you. Most courses you take as a freshman will fulfill breadth requirements if they later become unneeded for a major. All classes will help educate you.

Son finally declared his major(s) to graduate. He took several honors math and physics classes and ultimately made his decision. He also took several classes in philosophy for his enjoyment- beyond meeting breadth requirements. He had extra physics classes but that’s okay. He added the computer science classes to add that major as well.

You can also do two majors if you wish. UW has comprehensive majors and no minors. You also will meet the same requirements for L&S majors whether you choose a BA or BS degree (the language and breadth requirements vary slightly). I chose the BA in chemistry and had the same chemistry those with a BS did, as well as having more language, humanities and social science credits than they needed.

Your UW experience is an education and not just doing a major. You may find you do not really enjoy what you thought would be your major, or that you enjoy something else more. This applies to students who do declare a major early on as well as those who start “undecided”. All of us are multifaceted and could do many careers. But- we can only do one (at a time) and need to make choices.

btw- With your CC name I suspect the MD is for the state and you do HS sports as well as being good academically. Many top students also are involved in HS sports, music and other activities. Plenty of club sports to keep involved at UW.