Exploring the Majors

Choosing a major is an important decision to make during the first year of college. The Office of Undergraduate Advising and Academic Programming recognizes this significance and has created this section to assist you in the process.

These resources are organized around three main questions you may be asking yourself:

1. How do I choose a major?
   
   
   • See Advice on Making Your Choice, Myths About Major Choice, Majors & Careers, Student Profiles, and the Timeline for important information and tips.
     
     
2. What can I major in?
   
   
   • See Course Profiles and Major Departures, Dual Degrees & Minors, and be sure to attend departmental Open Houses to learn more about your options.
     
     
3. What jobs can I get with a major in?
   
   • See http://mit.edu/career/www/infostats/ and http://mit.edu/career/www/infostats/byschool.html both of these links take you to the MIT Careers Office (MITCO) web site. MITCO has great career advise and numerous resources for career research.

To address the question of  “how,” we offer an advice page to help you through the process of making a decision. To answer the question of “what,”  we’ve collected a wealth of descriptive information about departments and put together a schedule of events and a list of resources that will help you find further information. To answer the "what jobs" questions we direct you to our MIT Careers office. The link to the MITCO site brings to career information specific to our academic schools.

Choosing a major is not necessarily the same as choosing a career, but many MIT students find that their majors lead directly into their career fields. Explore the information  here, attend open houses, talk with faculty, your advisor, your associate advisor, and other upperclass students. Then you’ll be ready to make a well-informed and fulfilling decision.

Most students choose their major in the spring of their freshman year. However, if you are unsure about what you want to choose for your major, you have until the end of your sophomore year to choose, but all students MUST choose a major by the end of their sophomore year.

Undesignated Sophomores: If you're not sure which major to choose at the end of your freshman year, you may elect to be an undesignated sophomore by indicating UND on the Course Selection form. Undesignated sophomores can keep their freshman advisors or request an advisor from a department that interests them (except for Courses 6 and 15).

Whether you declare a major this spring or choose to be an undesignated sophomore, you need to submit the Course Selection Form before you leave for the summer break at the very latest. See the Timeline for more information on the declaration process.

If you haven’t yet made an appointment with your advisor to talk about majors, please do so right away. Use the resources listed in this section to help you make this important decision.