You Don’t Have to Know What You Want to Major In—Yet

Let’s start by dispensing with the myth that you need to have your whole life planned out at 17; you really don’t! And if you feel somehow like everyone else in your grade has it all figured out, let me let you in on a secret: they don’t! I work with many students every year who come to me not knowing what they want to major in, and that is totally OK. If you’re a rising junior, or an underclassman, there’s still time to try and figure out where your strongest interests lie. 

But if you’re a rising senior about to embark on your college application journey, you may feel at a disadvantage checking the “undecided” box on your application. Let me start by validating this choice by saying that widely accepted estimates state that anywhere from 20 to 50% of students apply to college undecided: making it the most popular major nationwide! There are many reasons you might be undecided: you might not have found anything that sparks your intellectual interest, or on the flip side, you may have TOO many things that do! In either case, colleges will not look down on you for not yet knowing what you want to study. In fact, over 75% of college students change their major (at least once)! So if you have no idea what to put in that “Intended Major” box on your applications, here are my suggestions:

• Don’t just pick a major to pick one. If you have a particular interest that intrigues you enough, you might want to list that as your major so you can hit the ground running with the proper courses and advising in college. Otherwise, declaring you’re undecided is totally fine! Better that than getting pigeon-holed into courses you’re not interested in and wouldn’t otherwise take. Also, randomly putting a major down that doesn’t align with your academic strengths and extracurricular interests can be a real red flag for colleges!

• If you truly are undecided, you want to ensure that the colleges on your list will provide ample support for you to explore your options. For instance, Indiana University Bloomington has a strong program to support “Exploratory” students and states on their website: “Exploratory is smart. Learn all your options and make a well-informed decision. Students who explore before declaring a major are less likely to change their major.” They also have a great tool on their website to help students connect their interests with potential majors at the university. Even if you’re not planning to apply to IU, give it a go to see some examples of what’s out there!

• That being said, you also want to make sure that the colleges you are applying to have a range of major options that feel at least somewhat appealing to you. You don’t want to end up applying undecided, getting there, and finding you aren’t interested in any of the college’s academic offerings! Larger universities typically have more academic departments, however be wary of the fact that it can be easier to fall through the cracks at those types of institutions! If you’re an undecided student who wants to feel more supported, maybe look for smaller schools with great programs like Marist University’s FOCUS program!

While it might feel like a liability to apply undecided because it makes you look “unfocused”, try to reframe it in your mind that you are open to and curious about a wide range of subjects! You will be the kind of student who will benefit from intellectual exploration and taking advantage of lots of different opportunities both in and out of the classroom, which is the kind of student colleges want on campus!