ARTICLE SUMMARY

This article goes into the importance of choosing an area of study early and then gives practical advice on how to pick a degree proram quickly.

While it is productive to explore various areas of study, don’t delay in nailing down a major. By the end of your first year (your first semester, in fact), you should pick something. The reason for this is that programs have certain course requirements and you want to make sure that you will be taking all the required courses in the four-year period allotted to you. Some schools will require that you declare a major right away, other schools will be flexible. If your school is the latter of the two, take a page of out the book of successful students and declare something as quickly as possible.

Regardless of what you choose to study, you can still take courses in other areas of interest (be it as electives or as a minor area of study).

The reason why you need to declare your major early on is that it will help you focus, get on track and achieve school-life balance.

Your four years in college will move by very quickly and if you fall behind (as a result of not declaring a major), then you will find that your college experience will dim and succeeding in college will become a little more difficult for you.

How to declare a major sooner than later

Flip through your course calendar and study the courses that really capture your interest. Be honest and choose the courses you are really drawn to as these could make up a minor area of study and/or make great electives.

Now, you may have goals to get into some sort of graduate program (getting an MBA, or an MD or a Law Degree, etc.), which will require you to focus in on a certain area of study. If this is the case, then narrow down your options by short-listing relevant programs for your planned studies that are of most interest to you. Make a commitment to pick something within a week of starting the contemplation process.

Program advisors are a great resource. Book an appointment with them and get their input and advice. It will help. Once you nail down a good program, you will then be able to see how your coursework will be laid out and where all your electives and/or areas of minor study might come into play.

Final thoughts

That’s really it. Your interests could possibly have you contemplating on two or three major areas of study (many students have this problem and end up with double majors), but don’t let that create a dealy in making your choice. Whatever you ultimately choose, limit the amount of time you dwell on exploring so that you can move onto the task of setting goals and mapping out a solid plan to follow for the four years you’ll be in college.