6 Reasons It's OK To Have An Undecided Major

I am about to make a very bold claim. Are you ready? OK. Here we go: I think that people who don’t know what to major in are actually better off. There, I said it. It feels good to get that off my chest. Now, let’s actually look at the process of picking a major and maybe the previous statement won’t seem so radical.

To start off, the process of picking a major really starts in high school. You’re told to take standardized tests in order to get into an institution that fits your passion. My passion in high school was doing the least amount of work possible and still maintaining a decent grade point average. Last time I checked, Harvard doesn’t offer that as a major. Or minor. Real Talk — most people are going to pick their school based off three characteristics; tuition price, how much it would cost to attend, and price of tuition. We take all the exams, we apply to all the schools and we completely ignore the fact that we are asking a 17-year-old kid to decide what they want to do with their lives.

Most people will go to a school where after a year or two you have to take a firm stance and declare a major. Again, we ignore the fact that most students don’t have the legal right to drink but are apparently mature enough to pick the field they will spend the rest of their lives in. We ignore this because as a society we want to box people in, label them, and ship them off to an area never to be thought of again.

If you are feeling pressure to conform, then I'm here to tell you to go easy on yourself. The following is a list you can use to tell anyone and everyone in your life that you are totally better off not knowing what to major it:

You Are Well Rounded

Knowing what you want to major in can cause you to have tunnel vision. All subjects not associated with your major are deemed useless. I’m so glad you can name all of Hemingway’s written work, but can you please show me Venezuela on a map? No? That’s because you didn’t think you should take a geography class.

You Have Fewer Regrets

Why on earth am I paying close to $250,000 for a piece of paper that only says screenwriter on it?

You Avoid Feeling Like A Failure

In high school I told my parents and friends I wanted to be a director. In my mind I was going to be the next Tarantino. I went to a film school, transferred into another one, realized I was always going to be a writer, and finally changed my major. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop me from feeling like I failed — still, being able to keep an open mind was what put me back on the right path, in the end. People who don't feel like they have to decide their majors right away are already open to other possibilities.

You Get To Take Cool Classes

Declaring a major is pretty much like becoming a vegan. You limit the palette of classes you can consume and all your friends hate you because you won’t stop talking about it. Why do this to yourself when you can have the savory and delicious taste of a well rounded education?

You Skip The Scheduling Nightmare That Is Registration

I have almost thrown my computer at the wall because every class I wanted to take in my major was filled up by the time I entered my login information on registration day. When you are undeclared, the world (your class schedule) is yours for the taking.

NOTHING MATTERS AND EVERYTHING IS A LIE

If you think that you will be the same person five years into the future you are wrong. We grow and learn and change all the time. At the end of the day, picking a major doesn’t matter. You could be pre-med and then decided that you actually love performance art. You can change your major. Nothing is permanent. The people that realize this early on, are way better off.

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