Many students go into college with an idea of what they want to study; however, some students don’t.
According to US News, approximately 12% to 14% of first-year college students nationally are undecided.
Although this number may seem small, there are many students at Ohio University who begin their college experience not knowing what career they want to pursue.
Zach Graman, associate director of Learning Communities, has worked with undecided students over the last five years.
Graman said students starting college undecided is more common than people may think.
“Last year, University College had about 450 students enter (OU) exploring undecided, undeclared,” Graman said. “I want to say that trend has been pretty close to the same the past couple of years … and students change their major more often than people realize as well.”
It may feel isolating to be surrounded by peers who know their major, but for incoming freshmen who may be in this group, there are resources available.
“If a student during their application process declares as an undecided or exploring student, they are housed in University College where we have advising and student services,” Graman said. “There are specific advisors in that realm that work with students to help look into different majors, career outcomes, that kind of content.”
For both decided and undecided students, Graman said Learning Communities are a great resource for exploring interests with guidance.
“Some Learning Communities will be more designed towards students that might have an interest in writing or journalism … film … or … health sciences, to really give students a taste of the different majors their first semester,” Graman said.
Emma Prazer, a junior studying studio art, started college undecided and just recently chose a major.
Prazer said utilizing her resources was helpful in deciding.
“My advisor helped me a lot. I wasn't sure. I had a couple of options and I couldn't narrow it down, but my advisor helped me a little bit with that,” Prazer said. “I was in a Learning Community, and I took a class that was half of the semester that was supposed to help you choose a major.”
Many high schools offer mostly basic classes and students don’t always have the opportunity to explore their interests.
“I remember my high school, we had the basic classes that we needed, and that was about it, not a whole lot of room for exploration in high school,” Graman said. “So we try to give them that chance to do so sooner rather than later.”
Not only do Learning Communities offer students guidance, but the course also fosters connections with other undecided peers.
“I think it's part of just that sense of belonging and building that community, right?” Graman said. “I went here as an undergrad, and learning communities were just starting to be developed during my time when I was here, and so really I never had that place where I could go once a week to be around like-minded peers, to be around students who were also so in that same vein of exploration.”
Typically, students have a good sense of what field they want to go into by their junior year, but Graman said it can vary from person to person.
“It really depends on the major the students are interested in,” Graman said. “So if a student, for instance, finds out in their first or second semester that they really love psychology … we're going to help them declare that by the end of the first semester.”
For students who may take longer to decide, there are plenty of resources available to ease the process, such as the Career Service Center and Allen Advising.
However, even though there is support for undecided students, many may still feel pressured to know exactly what they want to major in when they start college.
“There is this performative pressure, right?” Graman said. “Like all of my friends know what they're doing, why don't I? When, in reality, their friends might just act like they know what they want to do. I think the statistic is that 70% of students typically change their major at least once.”
It may feel intimidating to begin college feeling unsure about what the future may hold, but there are resources available for every student, including those undecided.
“(My advice is to) join clubs that you might be interested in, because I didn't really do that, but I feel like I feel like that's important to do right away to really help figure out what you actually like,” Prazer said. “Talk to your advisor frequently, go to your learning community and be active and explore.”
