Tufts Blogs

One of the most asked questions in college is, “What’s your major?” To some people, this can be an easy and straightforward question. To others, this can be daunting, especially as a freshman. As a junior, I can almost guarantee you that most freshmen are undecided and many change their interest/majors after taking some classes. I was certainly one of them. I originally put “Biopsychology” as my intended major on the CommonApp. I remember spending hours going through the various majors offered at Tufts to be as accurate as possible as if I was declaring my major at a college I didn’t even know I would be accepted to. Besides, every freshman is marked as “undecided” until you fill out a major declaration form. The deadline for declaring a major is the Spring of your Sophomore year, so there is time to explore. 

As mentioned before, I came to Tufts thinking I was going to major in Biopsychology. First, the name sounds so cool and sophisticated. Second, the courses seemed interesting. However, after taking a few courses, I found myself not as interested in the subject as I thought I would be. I saw my homework as “work” instead of something that drew me into learning more about the subject. After realizing what I thought was my interest is not actually what I wanted to do, I was lost. I spent freshman year exploring different classes and trying to find a class that sparked my interest and curiosity. I took some great classes, but it wasn’t until Sophomore fall that I found what I am really interested in. I took “Intro to Community Health” and “Health Care in America” just to explore as I did with my previous classes during Freshman year. I knew I was interested in health and biology, so I chose to take some classes in the Community Health department. I was drawn into the class and found myself researching more about what I learned in class during my free time. After a couple of more classes in the Community Health department, I decided to declare my major as Community Health. 

In my Community Health classes, I was especially intrigued by health policy and health care. Also “Intro to Global Health” and my background living in different countries led me to explore International Relations as a major. Similarly, after taking a couple of classes, I decided to major in International Relations (Thematic concentration: global health, nutrition, and the environment) as well! So, I am double majoring in Community Health and International Health. 

Though I felt like I was lost my freshmen year, I now enjoy my classes and I feel more engaged with my class. It’s very common and easy to feel the pressure of declaring your major as early as possible, but I think it’s better to explore first and then declare a major that you’re truly interested in. You can find the list of majors and minors offered at Tufts here.