Dietetics or apparel studies?

This was the life-altering decision Mikayla Hahn faced. After interviewing and finding housing at Los Angeles’ Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, the Bottineau, N.D., native scrapped her plans and came to North Dakota State for its dietetics program.

And then switched to apparel studies this semester.

“I realized if I really like fashion and love fashion like I do, then I’ll find a job I like,” the senior said.

For students like Hahn, being undecided or switching majors allows for exploration and testing the waters of various vocations.

It’s the kind of position where Carolyn Schnell is there to help.

“There are students that have several things they’re looking at as possibilities, so at this point in time, they’re going to try some things out before they actually commit,” said Schnell, associate dean of university studies, “and there are students that really have no idea when they coming in and are going to try a lot of things and looking for some guidance as far as what that might be.”

Here to help 

The path of an undecided major at NDSU is full of trying programs and possible majors.

Schnell said undecided majors, or undeclared majors as she prefers, are assigned an adviser based on their section of UNIV 189 with a focus of establishing a good relationship.

“When it comes time to register for classes, they’ve already established that relationship with their adviser, and it’s a comfortable working relationship,” Schnell said.

Undecided majors work at advancing their general education credits and trying out possible majors in their early semesters at NDSU.

“If they take (a program) and it’s not interesting, it’s good,” Schnell said. “They’ve ruled it out.”

She added that students should look at majors they may want to take from the time they arrive at school, though. “There are a lot of people that really are not ready to declare at the point in time that they come. They’re ready for college but there’s so much to choose from once they get here that they’ve never been exposed to before.”

Schnell has seen students similar to Hahn, who declare a major, “then decide it wasn’t for them, come back and start the process over again and discover a new major.”

By a student’s second year, Schnell said she likes to seem them “honing some of those decisions … so that they’re not going to be out of sequence in a particular area.”

Above all, a student’s comfort with their career path is key.

Students have chosen to leave school for careers in the military, at a two-year institution or to return years later. Schnell said that’s OK.

“I think that’s a valid decision on the part of a student,” she said. “They may learn more about themselves … they may decide they don’t have the motivation at this point in time. … I’m supportive of the students finding where they are and where they want to go.”

Up and down 

While NDSU’s enrollment has trended upward since fall 2011, the number of undecided majors has come down.

Four percent of the student body, or 487 students, is undecided, as found by the office of university studies.

Less than five years ago, 705 students were undecided majors when NDSU had 11,911 undergraduates.

“I think that with job placement having gotten tighter, I think a lot of students are being pressured to find something early as opposed to spend time exploring,” Schnell said.

Colin Rucker, a sophomore in accounting, found his major in high school classes.

He said he liked the “business feel” of accounting, among other draws to the career, though he looked at IT positions and other business programs, too.

Schnell added NDSU is somewhat unique by allowing students to remain undecided in their major, as opposed to other universities where students cannot be undecided or cannot declare a major until their junior year.

“When they come in, the goal is to give them a comfortable jumpstart on college so when they declare a major, they know what they’re doing. It’s a matter of ‘Let’s get you acclimated to the institution,'” she said. 

Passion, purpose

Sophomore Katherine McFee is a dietetics major as Hahn was, but her reasons for choosing the major are different from Hahn’s focus on its job opportunities.

A vegetarian looking into veganism, McFee said her choice of major followed more educative reasons after doing personal research.

She said she did look into English and communication programs in her early semesters at NDSU, but she plans to graduate in dietetics in 2018 or ’19.

“If I’m a registered dietician sometime in the future, I could help educate people on veganism and stuff like that,” McFee said.

Schnell said her office doesn’t limit students time-wise to finding a career path, adding, “I tell students, however, careers are 40 years long, so it’s really important to find something you enjoy doing.”