2008 Woodie Awards
Changing majors not uncommon in undergrads
Kristen Arata
Issue date: 9/9/05 Section: Opinion
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Is your list of previous majors as long as your credit card bill or cell phone call log? Changing majors is common in college and occurs often.
Research conducted by Penn State and other institutions has revealed that up to 80 percent of entering college students admit that they are not certain what they want to major in, even if they have initially chosen a major. Perhaps it's a sense of urgency to make decisions regarding a major. Maybe it is the pressure of our family or society pushing us into a major that is not right for us. Our families have always wanted a doctor or a lawyer to carry on the family name with success. At a very early age society instills in us that a career should be a highly respected profession, such as a doctor, lawyer, teacher, police officer, or firefighter.
This is almost a repetitive statement heard by young children. These are noble professions, but the question is, which is right for us?
According to the Princeton Review article found online at www.princetonreview.com/college/reseach/artiical/majors/popular.asp a recent study uncovered the 10 most popular majors. The Princeton Review collected data from colleges about their academic offerings and had them report the three majors that have the highest undergraduate enrollment. The list is as follows: 1) Business Administration and Management, 2) Psychology, 3) Elementary Education, 4) Biology, 5) Nursing, 6) Education, 7) English, 8) Communications, 9) Computer Science, and 10) Political Science. Do you want to fall into the majority? Is it something you can see yourself doing 20, 30 years down the road?
Doing your homework and researching the different majors that you are interested in will help in the decision- making process. On Penn State's website at www.psu.edu. many students have misperceptions about how to choose the right major.
Misperception 1: "The best way to find out about majors is to take courses." You may get a false sense of the major by only attending a couple of weeks of a course and then decide it is boring. Michelle Russell, an MJC student majoring in business accounting, has had many majors: biological anthropology, education and teaching, before settling down with her current major.
Research conducted by Penn State and other institutions has revealed that up to 80 percent of entering college students admit that they are not certain what they want to major in, even if they have initially chosen a major. Perhaps it's a sense of urgency to make decisions regarding a major. Maybe it is the pressure of our family or society pushing us into a major that is not right for us. Our families have always wanted a doctor or a lawyer to carry on the family name with success. At a very early age society instills in us that a career should be a highly respected profession, such as a doctor, lawyer, teacher, police officer, or firefighter.
This is almost a repetitive statement heard by young children. These are noble professions, but the question is, which is right for us?
According to the Princeton Review article found online at www.princetonreview.com/college/reseach/artiical/majors/popular.asp a recent study uncovered the 10 most popular majors. The Princeton Review collected data from colleges about their academic offerings and had them report the three majors that have the highest undergraduate enrollment. The list is as follows: 1) Business Administration and Management, 2) Psychology, 3) Elementary Education, 4) Biology, 5) Nursing, 6) Education, 7) English, 8) Communications, 9) Computer Science, and 10) Political Science. Do you want to fall into the majority? Is it something you can see yourself doing 20, 30 years down the road?
Doing your homework and researching the different majors that you are interested in will help in the decision- making process. On Penn State's website at www.psu.edu. many students have misperceptions about how to choose the right major.
Misperception 1: "The best way to find out about majors is to take courses." You may get a false sense of the major by only attending a couple of weeks of a course and then decide it is boring. Michelle Russell, an MJC student majoring in business accounting, has had many majors: biological anthropology, education and teaching, before settling down with her current major.