I caution students from deciding on a college based on the availability (or perceived unavailability) or a major. I make this caution for several reasons, including:
- New concentrations, majors, and programs may come about while you're on campus and you may decide that's what you want to focus on (like Dartmouth's new courses in International Studies--not to be confused with International Relations--and business, though not a major)
- You may find yourself loving a topic you never considered previously. High schools don't offer the breadth of classes you'll find at schools like Dartmouth, so how is it you know what you want to major in when you've never tried anything besides math, science, english, history, art, and PE? My opinion--come to college to try something new and then decide what you want to major in (and it may be what you liked all along or might be something completely different).
- A major does not determine your career! An economics major is not required for business nor is a government major required for law school. One Dartmouth friend of mine now at medical school was a music major; another friend now in law school was an english major; I was a government major and now I work in admissions as well as run an education non-profit that works in Africa. You should major in the subject or subjects you enjoy--that will allow you to be the most successful both in the short term and later on down the road.
- At Dartmouth our majors fall along disciplinary lines, not professional ones--this is true of most liberal arts colleges. Don't expect to find a very particular major that's overly focused (business, accounting, journalism are examples of majors we don't have; but certainly many Dartmouth graduates go into business, accounting, and journalism). Your major does not make you an expert in that field; that's what graduate school is for. For instance, you're not going to be an Animation Major at Dartmouth, you'd probably be a Film and New Media Major; or you're not going to be an Architecture Major, you'd probably be a Studio Art major modified with Engineering.
- Names of majors can be deceiving. Don't ask if a college has this or that major, ask "How can I study this particular thing, whatever this thing is that you're passionate about?" For example, if you want to study International Relations, you'll be a Government Major with a focus on international relations; technically speaking you're not an IR major accordingly to your transcript but you'll have learned all about international relations. This goes back to the naming more by discipline than specific topics.
