Clock ticking down for sophomores

“This is a microcosm of the spirit of the French and Italian department,” Benhaim said, gesturing to a room full of FIT faculty and prospective concentrators as the melodic strains of a Debussy piano arabesque play in the background.

“We want to show not only its intellectual academic quality but also its collegiality,” he said.

The FIT department’s European-themed dinner on Tuesday was one example of the ways in which departments are luring prospective majors this month.

As the course-registration deadline approaches and sophomores begin planning for the next academic year, many students have still not decided which department to choose for the next two years. Members of the Class of 2010 who are pursuing an A.B. degree, except for those in the Wilson School, must choose their concentration by April 22.

“It’s difficult to say how many sophomores haven’t decided on a major, since the official enrollment period is only just beginning,” Whitman College Director of Studies Cole Crittenden said in an e-mail.

Small departments appear to be making special use of the remaining time to ensure that students make informed decisions about their majors.

Sociology, for example, invited interested sophomores to dinner at the Calico Grill on Nassau Street, while the architecture department is hosting a trip to New York tomorrow to visit an architecture firm. Compare this to the plate of cookies passed around at the English open house and the soda and chips offered for prospective economics concentrators.

This spring many sophomores received a list of all departmental open houses. The 12 that advertised refreshments or meals were smaller departments or programs, such as philosophy, African studies, Near Eastern studies, Slavic languages and literatures, and architecture.

“Some departments do more outreach to students than others,” Crittenden noted, adding that Major Choices, the administration’s effort to make students more aware of the advantages of smaller departments, is a big part of this outreach.

“The goal of these outreach programs is to help students understand their options better when choosing a major,” he explained. “The real perk is information, and the effect is a better informed decision.”

While such events had little effect on Ben Farkas ’10’s decision to study philosophy, extra efforts taken by small departments like sociology and FIT are “effective” and “legitimate,” he said.

“By organizing these events, I think the small departments are able to show students that they will have access to all of the department and all the professors,” he explained, noting that faculty accessibility was an important factor in his decision.

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Such factors are still important for many students, said Tiffany Lu ’10, who was accepted into the Wilson School but is still considering architecture and East Asian studies.

“There are still a few people for whom a hair-splitting factor is going to make the decision for them,” she noted. “Having an event that shows a bit more cohesiveness or a bit more willingness to engage is definitely going to interest students a lot more, I think.”

Alejandro Perez ’10, who has not yet decided on a major, attended the FIT event as well as several other open houses to help him make a decision.

“For me, going to these open houses shows that these departments are really going to be focused on you,” Perez said. Though the food itself won’t influence his decision, he added that “the dinners are representative of how much a department is really willing to grab your attention.”

For some departments, however, attracting attention isn’t an issue. Departmental representative Avinash Dixit noted that the economics department has seen a consistent number of sophomores sign in each year, attracted by the subject itself, potential career opportunities or placement in graduate schools.

“We don’t actually try and woo students,” Dixit said. “We give them the information, and [if] they want to choose us, that’s fine.” The economics department simply can’t afford, he explained, to offer perks like free Xeroxed copies of journals to every prospective major like the math department can.

Dixit said he wasn’t worried, however, when “surprising[ly] few” people came to the economics department’s open house. “My guess is that most people have a pretty good idea of what they want,” he said.

Regardless of the attention devoted to this decision, not all sophomores who remain undecided are losing sleep over the issue.

“Devoting yourself to one track your entire life is kind of a mistake, so it’s really not a big deal,” Lu explained. “It’s not going to determine the rest of my life per se.”

Whatever department sophomores choose, Perez noted, students will still have the opportunity to excel.

“I just feel that people shouldn’t freak out about it,” he said. “The answer will come. No matter what we choose, it’s still going to be a Princeton education, and it’s going to be great.”

So when is Lu going to make her big decision? “As far as I’m concerned,” she said, “the goal is whenever it feels right.”