Can You Put “Undecided Major” on Your Applications?
High school is the perfect time to discover new interests that could lead to a college major.
Maybe you're one of those teens who knows exactly what you want to do when you graduate from college—start your professional career as an accountant, an engineer, a forest ranger. My friend Shannon was one of those teens—she knew she wanted to be a nurse, right up until her first nursing class in college. When the reality of nursing hit her—the smells! the fluids!—she knew it wasn't for her.
College is all about exploring your options, learning from the mishaps and missteps, and growing into the person you want to become. Shannon tried a few other courses and found the perfect major for her.
It might seem like high school, with its rigid graduation requirements and tightly controlled schedules, does not offer the same opportunities to investigate options, but a little creativity can help. Your mission in high school, aside from fulfilling all those graduation requirements, is to try out new subjects, new courses, new sports, and new activities. Many of these new interests will give you insights about potential college majors and careers. And at the very least, you will learn what you don’t want to do!
As you try new activities and test out new subjects, spend a little time contemplating what exactly you like and don’t like about them. Consider whether, for example, you really don't like ALL math—or is it that you don’t like geometry (theoretical math) but find algebra (applied math) is sort of like solving puzzles, which you do like.
Here are a few ideas on ways to push your explorations:
Take a class in a subject you've never studied before. Take advantage of electives, and check out silk-screen painting or journalism. Or see if your high school offers credit for taking a course at the local community college.
Join a club. Even if you choose it just because you like the name, 😊, clubs can give you insight into different academic and professional fields. Our local high school, for example, hosted clubs focusing on psychology, Spanish, mental health, and robotics, among many, many others. After a year of discussing psychology journal articles, one of my students learned that she really didn’t enjoy psychology that much after all.
Invite an adult neighbor to coffee and ask them about what they do at their job. Find out what the daily grind is really like, and ask what educational path they took to get there. As a bonus, you get to know your neighbors better!
Shadow one of your parent's friends at work one day. You may be surprised to learn that computer security specialists don’t spend their days dueling hackers online while swigging two-liter-bottles of orange soda.
Volunteer to, well, volunteer at a business or organization you like. Going there regularly, you could get a feel for the rhythm of the job and how co-workers cooperate and interact in that field.
Get a job, even if it’s not in a field or industry you are considering. Working retail, for example, is a great way to learn if you're good at dealing with a variety of (sometimes angry) people or whether you like working on your feet all day.
Your “undecided” doesn’t mean you’re clueless; use the rest of your app to let them know you are narrowing your focus. Use the descriptions in the Activities Section to highlight skills or accomplishments that fit into the three or so fields that you are considering. Drop a mention in a supplementary essay about how the essay topic could lead into both (or all three!) of your current majors interests.
Take the time in high school to sit and reflect upon your activities and why you’re drawn to them. You might be surprised what you learn about yourself!
