A Guide to Changing Your Major

When most people enter college, they're barely adults and just living on their own for the first time. It's thrilling, scary, overwhelming and invigorating all at the same time. Though taking classes and determining a course in life is a major concern, these students are also dealing with making new friends, adjusting to life away from home, being completely responsible for themselves and trying new things. All this combined makes it difficult to really decide "What do I want to do with my life?" at the ripe age of 18.

It's not uncommon for college freshman to choose a major and then decide to change it later. It's nothing to be ashamed of, either. Better to admit you were wrong the first time then to get stuck in a career you don't really want or enjoy. Even though it's a common practice, and nothing to be embarrassed about, changing your major should still be a "major" decision. While it's great to feel like you know what you want, don't rush into it. You don't want to get caught in a pattern of changing your major every time you get stuck in a tough class or meet one professor you don't like. Instead, plenty of thought should be put into this important decision which will alter the direction of your life.

Before changing your major, step back and think about everything that goes into your decision. First of all, why are you changing your major in the first place? What caused you to believe that your original choice was incorrect? If there are good reasons for your decision, that's a great start. But make sure you aren't basing this life change on getting in with a cooler crowd at school or skipping over the harder classes.

If you know you want to make a change, why not give it a try before making it official with the school. Take a class or two in your prospective major, and try to meet up with some working professionals in that field. Learn as much as you can about that new major, whether that entails researching it online, visiting the library or talking with other students in that degree program. While all of this will take a semester or two, you won't be rushing into a decision that you later regret. Plus, you won't have to keep going back to change your major with an academic advisor if you wait until you're sure to make the switch.

If you've gone through these steps and you know you want to change your major, congratulations; you're on your way to a happier, more successful career in the future. Set up a meeting with an academic advisor to plan out the remainder of your college career. In some cases, you may have to take summer classes or stay an extra semester to make up for the credits you used taking classes for another major. That's okay though - at this point you are sure you want to make the change and, in the end, it will be worth the extra work.