Why It’s Okay To Change Your Major A Year Before Graduation

With 76 different majors offered at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, it can be difficult to choose just one major. But that doesn’t mean that you need to stick with the first major that you chose. According to Borderzine.com, on average, college students will change their majors two or three times during their college career. So it is completely normal and okay to change majors.

However, I know that when people get to their junior and senior year, they start to feel anxious about their major and lives after college – they feel stuck with their majors because they’re “in too deep”. But this is the perfect time to change majors, especially if you can already feel that it isn’t working out.

I ended up changing my major a year before my expected graduation date and it was probably one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. I loved my old major and I was on the path to fulfilling my “dream job” since I was a child. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work out. Breaking the news to my parents was difficult because I had previously taken a leave of absence, so I already wasn’t on the path to graduate in a total of four years (which is totally okay!)

In case you’re in the same situation as I was in Spring 2020, here are some reasons why it’s okay and understandable to change your major a year before graduation:

Wasted money

No one wants to have paid tuition for years just for a degree that they aren’t happy with. Whether you’re paying in-state tuition or not, tuition is not cheap. It is a minimum $12,000 a year just for tuition at UH Manoa, not including fees, books, and housing. Even if you graduate in four years, that’s a total of at least $48,000 towards a degree that you may not be happy with.

Wasted degreE

If you’re unhappy with your major, you’re most likely not enjoying your classes and not “feeling” the content that’s being taught. If you already aren’t into the information, chances are you probably won’t like having a career where you’ll be repeatedly using that information. I don’t want anyone to get the ick when they’re telling people what degree they got in college.

Stuck with something you’re unhappy with

Unless you’re an influencer or have a sugar daddy, having a career is how you’ll survive and make money. But if you have a degree in a career path that makes you unhappy, pushing through your final year in college isn’t going to be worth it. If you’re going to be working for 40 more years of your life after obtaining your degree, those 40 years should be spent doing something that makes you happy and excited to go to work every single day.

It can be scary to make a big decision like changing your major so close to graduation. It can change how many more credits you need, your class standing, and means that you’ll have to pay a couple more years of tuition. But if those things don’t matter to you, definitely consider it if you’re unhappy. Always remember that this is your life and that the decisions you make affect you the most. Do what makes you happy and what will keep you happy in the future!