When I applied to schools my senior year of high school, my dad advised me to make a list of the pros and cons for every school I applied to. While compiling information about the size of the towns and friendliness of the students, I came to the conclusion that there was only one negative on my list for Cal Poly: deciding my major. Students shouldn’t have to decide on their major as incoming freshmen.
At the age of 17, I didn’t have much of a clue what I wanted to do. It seemed what I deemed important in finding a school were the following: how fun the tour was, what the on campus food was like, how many of my favorite shops were downtown, the distance of the school to the beach and what campus housing was like. And to think that I actually considered going to a school because it had a concierge service for students so they didn’t have to do their laundry.
Once acceptance letters are received, starting out with a major may help or hinder your decision whether or not to attend Cal Poly. My friend was accepted as an architecture major but after having only a few high school drafting classes, panicked before the April 1 housing deadline and decided to consider other schools.
College is about new experiences and meeting new people in a completely different environment than you are used to. These experiences help you learn more about yourself. The decision of choosing your major may be a little overwhelming since you don’t want to feel restricted. You may say to yourself, “If I go to Cal Poly I will be a (whatever your major is)” whereas “If I go to another school I will have a couple more years to figure out who I am and what I would like to do with my life.”
By making students chose their major prior to coming to Cal Poly, the school is forcing people that don’t have a definite idea about what they want to do for the rest of their lives to cross Cal Poly off their list. And Cal Poly only accepts a certain number of applicants for each major so students that apply for majors with higher requirements may be great students but were turned away because of the major they chose.
Electives help students get a feel for other subjects that aren’t related to their major. These are really important especially if you didn’t get to take many in high school. Fortunately, my major allowed me to take numerous classes outside its curriculum. However, doing that has also made me realize that some other majors may have suited me better.
Cal Poly’s goal to have students graduate in four years leaves little time to rethink your major. Also some of the requirements to switch majors seem almost as if they don’t want you to change your mind.
I was told last spring that I could not double major because I would be taking up two spots and it would take me much longer to graduate. Since I had taken the majority of major classes, it would be foolish to change. It seems like we are only allowed to change majors or add another when it is most convenient for the school. Starting our major classes fall of freshmen year makes it harder to switch along the way since we will have so many useless credits. Other schools are more flexible and don’t pressure you to decide until your general education courses are finished. I love Cal Poly but are you really denying me the right to learn what interests me most?
Jennifer Titcomb is a journalism junior and Mustang Daily reporter and copy editor.