First, let me give credit where credit is due. The problem with most students who, like I do, come out of the American educational system is that we think we know it all. In truth, we are familiar with only a handful of disciplines, like history, math and science. Unless you went to a very good high school, you probably had very little exposure to such “obscure” fields as sociology or geoscience.
So the tendency is for few students to venture out of their comfort zones into lesser-known departments. Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel’s Major Choices initiative fights this trend by making two basic arguments: that most majors can prepare students for any profession and that small departments are preferable because they give more individualized attention. So, in short, if you have a passion in an “obscure” field, follow it.
The problem is that, even for students who accept these arguments, it is easier said than done. There simply isn’t enough time.
I’ll use myself as an example. By the end of this semester, I will have taken 19 courses over the past two years, two more than required. Of these 19, four courses were language courses, one was a writing seminar, and a few were for distribution requirements. I also tried to take one “random” course a semester, such as a creative writing or philosophy course, that I thought would never relate to my future academic plans. While these courses have done little to advance my academic career, they are among the best I have taken at Princeton.
In the end, I was left with eight courses that I could use to figure out my major. This alone was a challenge because, like many of my friends, I was a pretty unfocused underclassman and was mulling over entering six or seven departments. To make matters worse, many concentrations require two to four prerequisites, which meant that I could only realistically attempt to get to know four or five departments. I had to scratch some departments off the list without really having experimented in them.
I recognize that dealing with these built-in time limitations is challenging. But there are a few possible solutions. One is to reduce the number of distribution requirements. Another is to talk departments into reducing the number of prerequisites. It is often said that, when push comes to shove, departments are actually quite flexible with prerequisites. If this is true, departments should be encouraged to be more open about this to reduce the pressure on underclassmen to fulfill what, it turns out, are prerequisites in name only.
Even in choosing those eight courses that would eventually help me choose my major, I faced another challenge: Which courses to choose? Many concentrators claim that introductory classes are the worst in their departments, but other classes offered by their departments are so specialized that they may not offer a holistic picture of that particular academic field. To counteract this problem, departments should label in the course guide those classes that they would encourage underclassmen to take. This way, freshmen and sophomores could maximize the utility of their precious few courses.
Finally, the University should acknowledge that a lot of changes take place in the summer between freshman and sophomore year. My internship experience that summer made me rethink my direction both in life and in academics. To help students process these changes, they should be encouraged to meet with an adviser to talk about their summer experiences and how they affected their outlook on campus.
Implementing these changes will go a long way toward helping students feel as though their choice of major is more than just a best guess. But ultimately, there is a certain randomness to the process that cannot, and probably should not, be removed. I took ANT 201: Introduction to Anthropology in part because it was one of the few courses that fit my schedule sophomore fall. Thanks to a great professor and two positive experiences in later anthropology courses, I was able to confidently declare myself an anthropology major last month. Lets hope I’m still feeling this confident two years from now.
Adam Bradlow is a sophomore from Potomac, Md. He can be reached at abradlow@princeton.edu.
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