Major Choices

The sociology department experienced a significant drop in the number of declared concentrators between last year and this year, the most dramatic yearly change when most departments reported similar numbers of sign-ins compared with those of last year.

While the growth of some departments may be due to the larger number of admitted students in the sophomore and junior classes, a department-by-department breakdown of the numbers nevertheless reveals a few shifts in student interest.

Apparently the mere thought that anyone would consider wasting their time applying to college without a major firmly in mind or, even worse, that someone would actually spend up to two years in college without having success in one field planned out every step of the way was so stupid it was laughable. The representative assured me that students did not need to declare a major right away, but the damage was done.

Dean of the College Valerie Smith reported on the progress of the University’s Major Choices initiative and presented data on trends in undergraduate major selection at a meeting of the Council of the Princeton University Community last week. Her findings include an 85-percent growth rate in the mathematics department since the initiative began.

Though there are certainly admirable qualities to studying what you love and are passionate about, we must also consider the political and economics landscape in which we live. This is bad news for people like me, who favor the humanities as a matter of both interest and ability.

The undecided social-science-inclined students can’t go wrong with their major choice — but you can, and people do, pick a major for the wrong reasons.