SMU, along with most colleges in the United States, requires its students to choose a major by their junior year.
Some students have a clear idea of what they want to do when they graduate. Thus, choosing an appropriate major isn’t difficult for them. However, some students, especially those who haven’t decided on a career path yet, would rather not declare a major at all.
“I think that students should focus on three or four subjects, with a pretty equally distributed course load,” said student Elizabeth Criner. She believes that students would have a more well-rounded education if they could choose courses from different areas and not have to worry about picking a specific major.
Criner thinks that students should have the option to choose whether or not they want to declare a major. Another SMU student, Monica Trevino, agrees with Criner on this issue.
“A student who would take a wide spectrum of classes would be more well-rounded and less stressed,” said Trevino. She believes that the idea of not having to pick a major is an appealing concept, especially to those students who feel pressured because they’re still undecided.
Trevino also thinks that some students just pick a major that appeals to them at the time, but they don’t really use what they have learned after they graduate.
“For example, my cousin graduated from Texas A&M University with a biology degree, yet she works as a sales representative for the Texas Rangers,” said Trevino.
However, some students strongly believe that having a major in college is important.
Student Sylvia Herrera said, “I shouldn’t learn about world literature or American literature if I want to be a journalist.” She said that students already have the opportunity to take a variety of required courses during their first two years including math, literature and history, that help students decide what major to choose.
Another SMU student, Christy Osborne, believes that a major provides students with some direction.
“I think that those who are undecided and forced to pick a major will eventually understand what major they want,” said Osborne. “I think you have to experience a major to determine what you want to study.”
Osborne, along with many other students, likes having a declared major. It gives some students the feeling of security because they can finally focus on the classes that will prepare them for a future career.
“I think that everyone should have to choose a major even if it is just business or any of the fine arts,” said student Monica Sifuentez. She said that if students aren’t required to pick a major, “then they will be taking pointless classes and spending lots of money on nothing when they could just go straight into the work force without a degree.”
Chuck Donaldson, the coordinator of undergraduate academic services in the Meadows School of the Arts, thinks that declaring a major is important for SMU students.
“My guess would be that SMU feels like students need to be prepared for a particular discipline,” said Donaldson. He said that SMU does allow students to work with an advisor or a committee of advisors to come up with an individualized major.
Donaldson said that one SMU student had an individualized major concentrating on costume design and art history. He said that this student took some theater courses focusing on costume design, some art history courses and some other related courses.
This idea of an individualized major could help some undecided students who need to declare a major because it enables them to study more than one subject in depth.
