Undeclared Major: What It Means, Why It’s Important, and How to Choose

Find out how undeclared majors can help you get your dream job. Get the best major for you, learn more about the major that interests you, and get on track with your degree. Explore the meaning of an undeclared major. Find out what it means to be undeclared, why you might want to declare a major, and more.

What is an Undeclared Major?

What it means to be undeclared

What it can mean to you

Learn how to find your dream major by visiting the Financial Aid pages of the FAFSA.

Learn more about undeclared majors in general by reading “What is an undeclared major” by Prof. Kimberly Imbler.

To learn more, read Why College Students Have No Idea What They Want to Study.

Section 2: The different types of undeclared majors

Part-time and undeclared

Part-time and undeclared are both types of undeclared majors. There are multiple reasons why students choose part-time or undeclared majors. Understanding their different goals can help you understand the different types of undeclared majors.

To learn more about Part-time and Undeclared Major read About Part-time or Undeclared Majors.

Why Declare a Major?

Before you decide on a major, you should understand why you want to declare one. Are you unsure of what you want to do with your life, or do you just want to add a degree to your resume? Declaring a major gives you something to focus on, you can meet people at your major, and you can gain experience, which will hopefully lead to a rewarding career path.

Sometimes, it’s important to add a degree to your resume because many employers look for degrees on resumes, but they are not always very useful in their assessment of job candidates. Employers want to know what kind of worker you are—not just that you’ve got the right skills, but what kind of worker you will be in the workplace.

What are the benefits of declaring a major?

Defining Your Major

Deciding what you want to study and study in a particular program will be an important aspect in deciding which major to choose. This decision will have a big impact on your entire college experience.

But if you don’t decide on a major or program during your freshman year, you will find yourself wasting money, as you will not be able to take the classes you need. And having to take extra classes might not be desirable if you want to keep your high school GPA high.

Now let’s take a look at the benefits of deciding on a major or program.

One of the first benefits of declaring a major or program is that it will help you get in touch with the college counselor, which will allow you to get a jump start on your degree if that is your ultimate goal.

How to Choose the Best Major for you

Understand your strengths and weaknesses so you can find your career path. Take the easy way or hard way. The harder the path, the greater the degree of difficulty to success. Make the decisions that make sense for your career path. Choose the major that best fits your interests, abilities, and strengths. The choice of major might change as you advance in your career.

Discuss your major with a trusted mentor

Ask for a career advice from a mentor, school counselor, or professor. Ask your mentors for advice and help you learn more about the major that might be right for you.

Compare majors

This is a good time to compare a few majors to see what fits best for you. See what degree is best for you. Compare majors to see if you have the right concentration, degree, or certification.

What Does Undeclared Major Mean

enrollment in the major, 5 years of full-time college enrollment, less than 30 credit hours required for graduation

You’re not currently enrolled in a specific major in college.

Your enrollment is on hold

You’re not currently enrolled in a specific major in college. You’re taking a class or courses of study to explore a topic.

It’s important to check your undeclared major in this context. You can’t take general education classes and major in undeclared. You need to start your general education classes within your chosen major or minor to get to a degree level. However, you can have non-core classes within undeclared.

Why you may want to declare a major

Find out why you might want to declare a major, and learn more about the different types of majors available.

When is it too late to declare a major?

The allure of college is that you can “walk on” to a major by declaring an interest in it, but that isn’t always the case. If you do need to declare a major before the end of the first semester of college, you’ve missed the window. It’s typically not a good idea to change your major until your junior or senior year of college, since changing can disrupt your academic plan and be detrimental to your GPA. You can explore your options and change your major at any time, but you shouldn’t do so mid-semester.

Are undeclared majors worth the effort?

The answers depend on many factors, including how well your undeclared major will serve you after college.

Conclusion

Take control of your life by being productive and figuring out what you love to do, and then go for it. Don’t make excuses, make a plan, and build a career out of it.

Get our Full Online Degree Guide and start building your degree today!

Making the decision to start your education or start looking for a job can be tough. Making it even tougher is the number of options you have. There are many jobs that do not require a college degree.

You need to consider which career path is best for you, but there are more than a few career paths that are well worth the investment.

Maybe you are unsure of what career path is right for you. Maybe you are not sure which degree path to take. The good news is there are careers that are well worth getting an education in.

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