You'll Probably Change Your Major
Growing up kids are often asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” As you begin the college application process, that question morphs into “What do you want to major in? What programs are you applying to? Have you considered grad school?”
It can be daunting to think that at the age of 17 or 18 you have to know what you want to do with the rest of your life. When I was 17 I wanted to be a doctor, specifically a pediatric surgeon. I was set on it - I had taken health sciences classes in high school, interned at a local hospital, and loaded up my high school schedule with math and science courses. I applied to Barnard as a political science major on the pre-med track who was definitely interested in going to medical school.
Today, I’m not a political science major. I’m not on the pre-med track. I have no plans of going to medical school and I took exactly one biology course at Barnard over four years. My sophomore year, I took a course called the Social History of American Public Health with James Colgrove, a professor of Socio-Medical Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia. The class went over the history of public health and healthcare policies in the United States and combined everything I love - history, healthcare, and politics. The class helped me realize that how I want to work in healthcare is on the policy side of things and that being a lawyer was a pathway to do so. So I’ve switched the MCAT for the LSAT and I am a history major intending to go to law school with strong interests in public health policy and civil rights and civil liberties.
My change of major and career plans are not unique. So many people change their minds over the course of college about what they want to major in and what they want to do. Over 4 years, your interests and passions can change and what you thought you wanted to do can change with it. Some people’s plans become more concise, some shift within the same field, and others do a complete change form one field to another. What’s wonderful about liberal arts colleges like Barnard is that there are so many opportunities available to learn about fields and subjects you haven't before. The broad curriculum makes it easy to take classes in history, science, math, political science, and sociology all in the same semester if you want. By the time you declare a major your sophomore year, you will have taken classes across so many different fields that you can feel confident about your choice. Though, if your interests change again, you can change your major or minor with the help of your advisor until you find the one that works best for you.
I’m not alone when I talk about my experience changing majors at Barnard. Below are experiences from other Barnard students about how they came to settle on their current majors and what they had originally planned on studying:
Megan Simmons ‘21
Planned Major: Political Science
Current Major: Education Studies and Sociology
“I've always been interested in public policy and government, so Political Science seemed like a logical choice for me when applying to schools. I really liked my Political Science classes, but the focus was on political institutions in the U.S., not policy or social issues. Two different internships solidified my interest in health care and education policy and passion for health care and education equity. I found that switching to Sociology would give me more opportunities to research and talk about these issues.”
Madison Murphy ‘21
Planned Major: Economics
Current Major: American Studies
“I came to Barnard from a small town in the Midwest, and had this misconception that in order to go into the business field, I would need to study economics. During freshman year I stayed on the economics major track, but was not enjoying the coursework and dreaded taking the future requirements.
Two factors drove my switch to American Studies. First, I planned to finish all of my Foundations requirements early, and in filling these classes I took the introductory American Studies course. That class was by far the most thought-provoking and challenging (in a good way) course I've taken here, and unlike economics, the material was interesting to me. While the economics major is highly structured, the American Studies major is super flexible and can easily be tailored to any interest within the field, and the idea of having this freedom to design my own curriculum was exciting. But before I officially changed my mind, I talked things over with some peers in a business club I'd joined. They assured me that I'd be able to land internships and jobs in the business realm without needing to study finance, and talked me through their recruitment journeys as humanities majors. Now, going through recruitment myself, I find that many recruiters are interested in learning more about my major. Because American Studies so unique and something I'm so passionate about, it actually helps me stand out as an applicant!”
Jenna Zucker ‘21
Planned Major: Computer Science
Current Major: Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
“At first, I took Women and Gender Studies classes as my ‘fun’ class, and one semester after another they were my favorite courses. I took a course called Gendered Controversies that was co-taught by two amazing Women and Gender Studies professors. I loved how it is a major that helps me combine my interests and do amazing interdisciplinary work. Now, I am on a Women and Gender Studies study abroad program that travels throughout Europe, and I never would have imagined this even just one year ago! I recently took a course called Gender Justice at Columbia Law School with Barnard alum Professor Katherine Franke, and it changed my world — now I'm considering law school!”
Sara Hameed ‘20
Planned Major: Neuroscience & Behavior on the Pre-Med Track
Current Major: Psychology (No longer Pre-Med)
“For me, I first discovered an interest in psychology through the course ‘Abnormal Behavior’ with Emmet McCaskill. Then, I had an amazing internship in a psychiatry department that showed me how much I love clinical psychology work. I love speaking to patients about their symptoms and their stories, and I realized there was more than one path than medical school to be able to do so. I still get to engage with neuroscience material in my classes and at work, but in a way that is much more in line with my interests.”
Tuesday Smith ‘21
Planned Major: Chemistry
Current Major: Art History
“I've switched my major three times. I came into Barnard interested in both art and public health but had no idea where I wanted to take those two passions or if I could merge them. I was especially interested in studying art history and/or chemistry. I vacillated between pre-med, pre-law, and completely leaving both for a visual arts major before I settled on my first major, Urban Studies and Public Health. I declared the major soon after I discovered Barnard had a program for it because it felt right for what I told myself I was interested in before coming to college, even though it ended up not being what I wanted to spend all of my time studying.
I needed to change my major, so I spoke to faculty who could help guide my process. I was interested in majoring in either art history and chemistry. Talking to faculty helped me understand the opportunities I could have in each major and between them. A major does not control what you do for the rest of your life, and I met a lot of people who helped prove that to me. From there, I switched to chemistry during my sophomore spring because it bridged my interests in both health and art and I enjoyed those classes most (I still did not want to let go of pursuing public health or pre-med). I still wasn't sure about what I wanted to do after college and focused on what would "sound good" on my resume instead of what I enjoyed studying and wanted to put extra effort into.
I'm now an art history major and am challenged in a completely different way than I was in chemistry, but it suits my academic skills and interests more and as a result I feel more fulfilled. I have more fun with the homework assignments and am excited about my senior thesis and the rest of the courses I need to take to fill the major. Also, through talking to professors I was connected to the Scientific Research Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and was introduced to a possibility to combine art history and chemistry after college. I also have a campus job in the Rare Book Library conservation department which is another connection between art and science. Once I started talking to other students and faculty who were torn between art and science, I realized that the two are very closely related and there are a multitude of possible combinations. I still plan to take chemistry courses while at Barnard, but in the end I decided to choose my major for how passionate I was about completing the required courses. I put all of my effort into my courses now and it doesn't feel like a chore.”
Rachel Gates ‘20
Planned Major: Environmental Biology
Current Major: Environmental Science
“The key thing here is that I used to think I was going to be an ~earth science person~. I took biology, chemistry, and geology my first year. I'm also an anthropology minor and I was taking biological anthropology. Then I went abroad and I did a social science research project on indigenous tourism and it was AWESOME. Now I'm taking more classes in cultural anthropology and questioning the legitimacy of scientific practices and understanding that scientific knowledge is NOT unbiased and does NOT necessarily speak the truth. Social sciences and interdisciplinary studies are really cool! I am also taking an amazing gender studies class and a class on immigration currently and I feel like I almost missed out on learning all this because I was so sure that research and labs were what interested me. Turns out I have more interests.”
-Paige
pcm2126@barnard.edu
Responses have been edited for clarity and length.