Scramble: Why Does Everyone Change Their Major?

Weirdly enough, I have never changed my major. I applied to USC as an International Relations major, made it through the heinous, irritating fundamental courses, and am now almost half-way through my junior year. The narrative seems quite different from my other friends though -- one switched twice before she even set foot on campus, one switched halfway through sophomore year, one switched five times total and still graduated on time, and at least a dozen other instances that I can't remember right now. So, why does everyone change their major?

The college application process seems to prize students that know what they want to do, and strongly encourage prospective students to declare what they want to study before they walk onto campus. In high school, it seemed like college was where we were supposed to know what we want to do and how to do it. High school was meant to be exploratory, a sandbox to try things out and know what major and school you're going to by graduation. Yet, it seems like college pushes this sentiment even more, where students (at least at USC) are pushed to explore and figure out a good fit for them. Although this is reassuring, it also makes me wonder, why are we pushed to decide a major by the end of high school even though we'll probably change it? Is this case of major-changing as widespread at USC as it is at most other colleges?

From my perspective, it seems that USC might have a slightly higher frequency of major changing than the average school, and our slightly lower percentage of students graduating within four years seems to prove it. Some schools have incredibly rigid general education requirements, where everyone is required to learn from the same book, get the basics, and then continue on their specialized studies. However, USC's general education requirements span across all its schools, from liberal arts to STEM, to the music and cinematic arts. Students are given the opportunity to learn about things completely unrelated to their majors, which I believe sparks the high frequency of major-changing at this school. Although I haven't taken part in this myself, I appreciate the flexibility that USC gives in comparison to other institutions. Allowing students to try out new things seems to optimize this exploratory period the most, and gives people the opportunity to tap into new passions and skills they might not have known about before. Despite not choosing to change my major, this general education system has bolstered my interest in international relations, and at the same time, given me the space to explore and even add a minor in STEM (something that I, a woman not in STEM, would have never expected).

Seeing people switch their majors as they find new interests and passions feels like a breath of fresh air after experiencing the precedent of "having it all figured out" that high school set. Even though it seems like graduation sets "deadlines" for us to decide what we want to do, it seems like that may not be the case (thankfully!).