Three "Major" Rules for College Freshmen

In 2004, I started my first year of college at Messiah College (Grantham, PA), sure of what I wanted to be, and sure I knew how to get there. I never thought I'd be the student pulling all-nighters to catch up in classes, freaking out about deadlines, and having panic attacks at the end of my junior year because I suddenly wasn't sure about my major! Here are three pieces of advice that may help you avoid some of the mistakes I made my freshman year of college!

Know Your Own Major

An advisor is an invaluable tool to help you avoid course conflicts and get you into the classes you want. Unfortunately, advisors aren't infallible. I learned this the hard way when I took my advisor's advice to put off unwanted Math and Science courses until later; he was unaware that my program required those classes to be taken by the end of my freshman year. While he made a mistake, the fault was mine because I didn't pay enough attention to the major requirements the department had provided! Study your major requirements, and have conversations with both your advisor and professors in your major who have graduated people from your program!

Get Organized

In college, be prepared for your professors to hand you a syllabus and leave you to your own make-you-or-break-you devices. Get organized by keeping track of your assignments for each class in a highly visible way. My personal favorite organizational tool is a large erasable wall calendar you can update with all your major assignments each month; choose a different colored pen for each class and write all the assignments in on the day they're due (or, if you're likely to leave it for the last minute, the day before they're due). Include everything from readings to short writing assignments to tests; put extra emphasis on major assignment days and major exams!

Major Changes

I went into my first year of college thinking I knew exactly what I wanted to do. By the end of the year I had an idea my major wasn't what I wanted but stuck with it anyway. By the end of my junior year I absolutely hated my major and was behind in my course requirements. I finally accepted, three years late, that I needed to make a major change, figuratively and literally! According to a 2005 MSNBC news report, 50 percent of college students change their majors after declaring it; many will change it two to three times before graduating! There is nothing wrong with starting college as an undeclared student, as long as you're smart about it! Take classes that interest you, but make them classes that will count toward one or more of the majors you're considering. The biggest mistake I made, and the biggest one you can make, isn't changing your major; it's sticking to a major you hate, and potentially putting your entire college career--and college financial investment--in jeopardy!

Sources

Gayle B. Ronan, "College freshmen face major dilemma," MSNBC.com