by Katie Fainer, Admissions Counselor
“What are you planning on majoring in?” seems like a simple enough question. For an 18-year-old high school senior, however, these may be the seven most dreaded words of all time. To a high school senior, this question is equivalent to, “what are you going to do for the rest of your life? I’d like a decision now.” As many parents, guidance counselors, and older siblings have come to realize, however, college students very rarely end up graduating with the same major that they entered college with. Unfortunately, even fewer people end up using those degrees in their careers later in life. Both phenomena can easily be attributed to a student answering that fateful question too quickly or in fact, answering it at all. The pressure for students to enter college with a specific chosen major can very often do more harm than good. That is why at the University of New Haven, choosing to be undeclared is not underrated!
A high school education provides students with a personal gauge on the broad spectrum of academia. It can reveal whether they are more suited towards the sciences or the humanities, as well as where a student’s strengths and weaknesses lie. Upon graduation, students often have a sense of the direction they would like to pursue, however many cannot put a name on the area of study they are truly passionate about. Perhaps this is because they are still unsure, but more likely it is because the student does not know their major even exists! For the majority of high school seniors, there just never seems to be enough time to decide the course of ones future.
By entering college as undeclared, students encounter a rare opportunity to explore and evaluate their academic interests on a whole new level. The University of New Haven enhances this exploration by providing students with the one thing they crave the most…options. No one wants to feel limited, especially when it comes to a major investment like a college education. While maintaining a relatively small population of about 4,200 undergraduate students, the University of New Haven is lucky enough to boast nearly 100 different majors for students to choose from! These majors are distributed between the College of Business, College of Arts & Sciences, the Tagliatela College of Engineering, and the Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences. All of the programs at the University of New Haven provide students with a challenging and engaging curriculum. Majors range from accounting or marketing to marine biology and music and sound recording. Areas like criminal justice and forensic science are becoming increasingly popular, but fields such as engineering and sustainability studies are thriving as well. Regardless of which major a student does choose at the University of New Haven, they will graduate with a solid foundation for the next step in their lives. Undeclared students are uniquely able to sample courses from a variety of areas in order to eventually, when the time is right, find the major that they will turn into a career.