Choosing My Major Just in Time
I just declared my major, and as a sophomore at Tufts with the March 1st deadline right in front of me, it feels both relieving and a little surreal. Every student at Tufts enters undecided, which I’ve learned has its pros and cons. It gives you time to explore, but it also means that there’s a point where you have to stop exploring and choose, even if you’re not completely sure—although switching majors is doable.
Freshman fall, I took Europe to 1815 and Intro to Computer Science. I had always loved history, but taking that class with Professor Proctor reminded me why. His lectures felt more like stories than lessons, and you could really feel how much he cared about the subject, which made it easy to stay engaged.
At the same time, I signed up for Intro to Computer Science because I had enjoyed AP Computer Science Principles in high school. I was also influenced by how popular the major is at Tufts and by all the stories I’d heard about people taking the class and suddenly realizing they wanted to major in it.
However, unfortunately that wasn’t my experience. I gave the class my best effort, but the work never felt intuitive or enjoyable. I found myself dreading the long hours spent coding each assignment, and watching others genuinely love it made me realize that computer science just wasn’t for me.
Sophomore fall was when things finally started to click. I took Statistics and Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory, and realized how much I liked using math in the context to understand real-world problems and decisions. It felt challenging in a good way, and I found myself genuinely interested in what we were learning.
As March 1st got closer, I kept finding myself leaning toward economics. Declaring it didn’t feel like some huge decision; it just felt like what made the most sense for me. And, honestly, knowing that you can change your major at Tufts made the choice feel a lot less scary.
If you’re a sophomore or even a freshman staring at the same deadline and still don’t know what to major in, you’re not behind. Declaring doesn’t mean you have everything figured out. It just means you’re taking a step forward, even if you’re still figuring things out as you go.