At a young age, we are always thinking about what our ideal majors will be. We even play pretend; but by the time we finish high school, we begin to find our dream university along with our dream major.
Sometimes, that dream major makes us second-guess ourselves, and we ask ourselves if this is what we genuinely want to do. That is when many questions arise about switching majors; the pros and cons, the financial questions, questions on what your family would say or think, and what others would think.
According to the Student Research Group, it is common for college students to switch majors once or twice, and one in ten students change their major more than once. The research above proves that it is more common nowadays for students to switch their majors.
When it comes to searching for a major, it is one of the most difficult decisions to make. At first, you know what you want to study and many continue with that major throughout their time in university.
I have met some students at SJSU or from different universities who told me that they are second-guessing their major. Many debate on the idea and don’t move forward with it because they are scared to switch due to all the classes that would be lost if they go to a completely different major.
Similar to finding the right university for you, choosing the right major can have an incredible impact on your college experience.
Pros of Switching
What are the pros of switching majors?
One of the biggest pros of switching majors is that it helps you follow your dreams and work harder to get to that dream. For SJSU students, San Jose offers Spartan Connect, you can contact them and make an appointment with an advisor who can help guide you if you are planning to switch majors.
Another pro is that it allows you to explore what you like and what you don’t like. When I began looking into different possible majors, I began to take some general classes to figure out what major would be the best choice for me, and I found that taking general classes was like a free trial to what would be in store for me if I chose the major.
Cons of Switching
Now that we were able to look into what might be the pros of switching majors, what would the cons be?
When it comes to looking into things that we plan to do, it is always better to look into the pros and cons. Even though there are times that we really don’t want to know what the cons are when it comes to different possibilities.
One of the main reasons that switching is a con is that you may not graduate on time. The minute that we attend college, we are there and ready to work hard to reach that goal which is to graduate. But there are times when life happens and you begin to second guess your choice and that’s where graduating on time can become a 50/50 situation.
Another con is that when it comes to students having financial aid, it can create some issues. One issue that can occur is that it is possible to max out your student loans. SJSU’s Financial Aid and Scholarship office can help with different scholarships and what to do to receive financial aid. You can also meet with someone and receive some counseling.
One last con would be that some credits would not transfer over hence you might have to retake some classes.
College Raptor and Vault have more in-depth information on the pros and cons of switching a major. The Career Center at SJSU also offers help with advising.
Additionally, Colleges Of Distinction offers what signs to look for if you’re planning to switch majors. Many students begin to second-guess their majors within the first two years of their university journey. I’ve heard many people who switch majors usually keep their current major as a minor so they don’t lose much of the credits that they accumulated.
For me, I began to second-guess my major during my first year of university. I experienced a lot of stress about what I wanted to do with my life and that is when I began to look into different potential majors. Financial aid was a bit of a hassle at times which created even more stress for me.
In the end, I went into a Business major with a concentration in Human Resources Management. It wasn’t easy to choose my major; I was at De Anza College and taking many different classes made choosing a major a little more difficult. It may be difficult at first but it isn’t impossible.
Just know that you are not alone when it comes to switching majors, because at the end of the day, it’s your dream and you have the power to decide what you’d like to do.
Have you ever thought about switching majors or have you switched majors? Let us know by tagging us @HerCampusSJSU.