Tufts Blogs

Choosing a major was quite a journey for me. I applied into Tufts as a Child Study and Human Development (CSHD) major. Why? Honestly, it was more of a “why not?” I looked at the classes and they sounded really interesting, especially this class called “Creative Dance For Children,” which I am currently taking. As a dancer who had taught dance camps for the past few summers, I thought the class sounded perfect for me, and that led me to indicate that I wanted to major in CSHD.

The first semester, I took a history class and I knew that I really liked history, but I couldn’t see how that would lead me to a career, because I didn’t think I wanted to be a historian or a teacher. So then, I thought, “maybe I will be a history and CSHD double major.” I also took the economics intro course first semester, and I liked it enough to take microeconomics my second semester and consider majoring in econ. I guess that was thanks to the part of me that wanted more of a financially secure path in life, but at the end of the semester, I decided that econ was not for me.

That takes me to this semester. I continued to have very positive interactions with the history department, and after my history seminar one day, my professor, Professor Drachman, who also happened to be my pre-major advisor, asked me what I was intending to declare. I told her that I was thinking maybe history and something else (that something else was still up in the air). She said that she thought I should start considering who I would want to ask to be my advisor, and I replied nervously, “do you take advisees?” I really didn’t know how that conversation was supposed to go, but we have a good relationship and I have had her as my professor for two classes so far. I know that I want to take Professor Drachman’s history research seminar called “Tufts In U.S. History,” and I am really interested in women’s history, which is her key area of interest as well, so she seemed like a good choice. Thankfully, she replied, “I would love to be your advisor.” Really, it was that easy.

I filled out the major declaration form online, which asked for my name, email, ID, major, major advisor, and that was about it. This is comforting, because if I decide to change my major later on, all I have to do is fill out that quick form. Next, I set to work on my second major. 

I was still considering CSHD, but as those of you who have been reading my blogs probably already noticed, I really enjoyed my abnormal psych class this semester, which led me to think that maybe I should major in psychology. After a few weeks of inner turmoil, some frantic calls to my parents, and one or two major breakdowns, I decided that psychology may be a better fit for me than CSHD. The major differences in my mind came down to three things. One, I like working with people, but not specifically children. Two, I feel like I enjoy learning from textbooks more than through research articles, and many of the CSHD classes seem to include a lot of academic readings, which, although important, are less interesting to me. Three, the classes in which I am interested in the psych department are geared more towards careers that I may want to pursue.

With that all in mind, I asked Professor Queen of the psychology department if I could meet with him. I had never met Professor Queen before, but I saw on the website that he is teaching the Clinical Methods class that I want to take next semester, so I thought he would be a good starting point. After talking with him, it seemed clearer to me that at that point, it made sense for me to declare a clinical psychology major. At the end of the meeting, I asked him if he took advisees (again, I was worried that this didn't follow the correct etiquette, but I think all professors know that is what you want if you meet with them during sophomore year, and they don’t really seem to care about how we ask). He said yes and agreed to be my advisor.

I went ahead and filled out the form, and viola, I now have two majors. Will I change my mind again? Maybe. But at Tufts, you have to declare by March of your sophomore year, so it is good to know that I at least have something declared, and if I decide to switch majors, like I said before, it is really easy.

Today, you get a whole Emma’s Advice paragraph. No matter what you think you want to declare as your major, take some time to explore when you get to college. Keep an open mind and see what classes really interest you. Go to major fairs and talk to the upperclassmen at each table—ask how they chose their majors. When you feel pretty confident, start talking to professors and don’t be nervous about asking them to be your advisor! They like talking to students, and worst comes to worst, they will just say that they already filled their advisee spots. Most importantly, don’t worry if choosing a major seems like a major dilemma—it all works out in the end!