Changing majors in College is okay!
As someone who pursued Information Technology in high school through Cambridge International School, our curriculum was inclusive of CSS/ HTML and JavaScript. Despite being challenging, coding was something that gave me great joy after completing a project. I thought to myself – what would be better than to further delve deeper into this direction at DePaul University’s College of Computing? This is why I changed my major for the first time to a BS in Computer Science from BFA in Film Production with a concentration in Direction.
I enjoyed classes such as Discrete Mathematics 1 and 2 and Data Structures 1 and 2. I learned to get comfortable with Python and Java programming languages and started to enjoy my time at this University. During the Fall Quarter of my sophomore year, I decided to attend a career fair that focused on tech and data (MORE ABOUT THAT CAREER FAIR). This is when my life pivoted once more in a more streamlined direction in the sea of Tech and Data.
There are many aspects of American higher education that I admire as an international student who came here from India. One of those has to be the fact that it is so flexible to change majors when in University. This is the type of privilege other countries do not have. In my personal opinion, I have grown to find out that making a huge decision such as what field you want to end up working in for the rest of your adult life at the mere age of 18 is not something everyone is great at – including me.
I started my journey at DePaul University as a film student. It was an honour to get accepted into one of the best film schools in the USA, according to the Hollywood Reporter. While also challenging, the film program at DePaul is more creatively inclined, while I realised that I craved something that would challenge me in a different way. This is when I pivoted my major to my next interest: computer science.
My personal experience of enjoying classes such as Data Analysis and my genuine interest in FinTech as a whole benefited the trip to the career fair. I was able to talk to a DePaul Alum who now works at Northern Trust and with whom I was able to discuss the brilliant Data Analytics Early Career Internships Northern Trust offers. It pushed me to look into DePaul University’s Data Science program specifically. This is how I decided to change my major for the second (and hopefully the last) time.
Overall, the process of changing majors at DePaul University is very quick and easy. A couple of clicks after selecting the right tile should do the trick. The corresponding changes will reflect in your Degree Progress Report shortly. I would highly recommend speaking with your academic advisor before making any changes as they help you with moving any credits if possible so you can still graduate as soon as possible despite the major change.
I am very happy with my current major and genuinely look forward to graduating with a BS in Data Science!
– xoTani
How to Change/ Declare a Major/ Minor/ Concentration