Transfer post-sophomore year from Arts to regular school? Looking for advice

DadTwoGirls
Mon, 26 Jun 2017 04:08:21 +0000

I think that what you are experiencing is relatively normal. Someone I know well who is a professor at a small university tells me that he has seniors walk into his office and ask pretty much the same questions.

There is a chance that changing schools and changing majors now will prevent you from graduating in a total of 4 years. I think that this is fine, but you would need to budget for it. Even if you take a gap year, apply to other schools, and take another 3 years to graduate, I still think that it would be worth it provided: (i) You find a more appropriate major; and (ii) You can afford it; and (iii) You want to do it. If you change schools and majors and this takes another 3 years to graduate can you afford it? Some students go back to their in-state public universities or colleges specifically to make this affordable.

“Shouldn’t I already know what I want to do with my life? I have many interests from which I can find a career, but its the fact that I haven’t gravitated towards anything particular that bothers me (or “found my calling”).”

When I was your age I had not figured out what I wanted to do either. I majored in mathematics partly because I liked it, partly because I was good at it, and partly because math is pretty much the STEM equivalent of a generic liberal arts bachelor’s degree. It took me quite a while to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, but I did eventually figure it out and ended up doing very well with it. A lot of smart and creative people take a while to “settle in” on a career, and in some cases careers can sort of shift along the way as well.

One question: If you finish your current degree at your current school, do you have any idea what you would do with it? Would you be in better shape to finish your current degree and then try to figure out what you want to do with your life, or if you worked for a year or two, then went back to a different school and finished your degree in a different major? To me this seems like it might depend upon what your “many interests” are.