<p>It’s fine for people to say that there isn’t department money at every school, but if YOUR school has it, it’s a good idea to declare and go for it. Both of my kids schools, both very different, have department scholarships open to freshmen.</p>
<p>If my daughter changes her mind, she’ll lose the money for the next year, but maybe there will be money in THAT department. It is usually not enough to make the student stay in a major she doesn’t like, but $2-3k is a nice bonus for studying something she likes.</p>