<p>With admissions to Ross, engineering and so forth SO competitive, I was wondering if there is pressure on students who might realize their concentration is NOT what they like anymore, but since they’re in such a competitive program they almost have no choice but to stick with it?</p>
<p>Look up “sunk cost fallacy.” I’d link to a decent paper on the subject that I’d bookmarked, but my hard drive crashed.</p>
<p>At some point it becomes more of a issue of practicality, as well. If you’re in your junior or senior year and you begin to realize chemical engineering or linguistics just isn’t for you, well, then… too bad. That’s the degree you’re in all likelihood going to get at that point if you’re already deep into the concentration curriculum. Unless, of course, you want to pay an extra few semesters of tuition.</p>
<p>I wasn’t thinking about upper classmen as much as freshmen and sophomores who are still figuring things out. Like what if you’re a preferred admit to Ross and discover something else you like, but in the back of your head you can’t help but think you have to go through with Ross track because it is so hard to get into. It just seems like you have to decide your future freshmen year, and sometimes prior to stepping on campus, and switching majors sounds scary. Do people actually drop out of engineering or Ross or any of the other really selective colleges?</p>
<p>There are always a handful of students who turn down a Ross acceptance each year, and there are always plenty of transfers from the college of engineering to LSA, so yes, it does happen. I don’t think the kids alone feel pressured to stay in programs that are competitive. A lot of it probably has to do with their parents or other guardians and any expectations that may be placed on them, especially if their parents are paying their tuition, and doubly especially if they are paying out of state tuition.</p>
<p>lakeforest, students at Michigan do not declare their major until the end of their Sophomore year. Until then, students can easily switch majors (without any consequences or “pressure”), provided it is within the college they enrolled in. If a student wishes to transfer to another college within the university, then it would be wise to plan ahead. Students who wish to switch from LSA to Engineering should take the science and mathematics classes required during Freshman year while students wishing to transfer to Ross should plan from day one.</p>
<p>“lakeforest, students at Michigan do not declare their major until the end of their Sophomore year.”</p>
<p>Actually, in the College of Engineering, a lot of students declare before sophomore year. I’m pretty sure you are supposed to have your major declared by the end of first semester of sophomore year (for CoE).</p>
<p>Alexandre is correct. Students declare in sophomore year. It’s POSSIBLE that switching a major sophomore year would result in an additional summer or two, it is not impossible to change. The problem would occur if you keep dragging your feet or you have abysmal grades. The alternative is to stick to it and realize that there are probably millions of people who are doing jobs unrelated to their major. My sib was a UofM engineering grad and never engineered a single day.</p>
<p>I should clarify that I made my “sunk cost fallacy” response with the assumption that OP was talking about underclassmen. I absolutely agree with entendu that if you’re far enough along, it’s probably a better idea to bite the bullet and finish your degree - you might not like your concentration anymore, but you’d still be a college graduate.</p>
<p>I think most underclassmen students who stay in engineering/ross even though they don’t like their concentration is primarily because they realize recruiting is generally better for those two areas of the school. I don’t think they feel forced… they just understand the benefits of the excellent career opportunities. </p>
<p>I’m not saying that’s a good thing. A passionate student w/ a solid GPA in LSA is probably better off than a student uninterested in engineering. Students interested in their classes will naturally perform better.</p>
<p>I feel like this is a general issue with US college education more so than a university level one.</p>
<p>One thing I have noticed working after having co-workers from other countries over the years is that the level of degree specialization in the US seems to be much higher than in other countries. Non-US companies in Europe and Asia seem more willing to take generally smart people and spend the first few years training them up while in the US there seems to be an expectation in being able to be productive soon after graduation.</p>