Exploring the Benefits and Strategies of Applying to College as an Undecided Student

Is it truly beneficial for students to say they are undecided when applying to college? Discover how keeping an open mind might actually set your student on a path to success. We tackle this intriguing question from Amy, a mother of a high school junior, who wonders about the advantages and drawbacks of her son applying as an undecided student. We'll explore how entering college without a declared major can be a strategic move, allowing students to explore the vast array of academic options beyond the typical high school curriculum. 

Join us as we uncover the practical side of applying as an undecided student, offering advice on engaging with admissions counselors to better understand the implications. We'll share valuable insights on how students can demonstrate their commitment to academics, even without a specific major, emphasizing the importance of a strong application and high school transcript. This episode is essential for students and parents looking to navigate the complexities of college admissions and seize the opportunity that comes with starting college undeclared.

For more about me - my experience and my speaking, check out the links below.

You can reach me at jen@firstgenfm.com.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenschoen/
https://www.firstgenfm.com/speaker-high-school-educators-students-parents

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome back to College TNT. I'm your host, jen, and I am going to help you prepare for college, help you navigate the college admissions and scholarship process and make a smooth transition into your first year of college. So welcome to College TNT and thank you so much for joining me today. Let's dive into today's episode about being undecided. This question came from a friend of mine who is a parent of a high school junior and they wanted to know about being undecided because her son is currently undecided. And so she asked me is that okay? And then her follow-up question was how does he show he's a serious student, though he isn't sure what he wants to study? So I want to unpack those questions a little bit and hopefully give you some answers about that. So shout out to Amy who wrote in with this question.

Speaker 1: 0:55

Personally, I think being undecided is awesome or undeclared, whatever the university or college calls it because you go into college with a way more open mind and you're willing to try a few different things to see what it is you want to do. I like to tell parents when I talk to them that you know your student in high school has taken English, math, science, history and a foreign language, most likely maybe a few other subjects, but those are the core academic subjects in high school. No matter if they go to a large or a small school, there's going to be 70, 100, 150 different majors to choose from. That they don't have any experience in. That may be exactly what it is that they want to study. So if they go in undeclared, they really are going to be advised about maybe taking courses in different areas that they're excited about. And so when they go to orientation or at some point, an advisor is going to sit down with them and say, well, what do you like to do? What did you like in high school? What courses were your favorite? And they're going to help craft a schedule. But that's a little past this.

Speaker 1: 2:04

Let's talk about being undecided in the admissions process. Like I said, personally I love that At Northeastern we call it the Explorer Program. If a student comes in undecided about a major, and I just love that name because it's exactly what I hope students will do. They'll explore. So different schools, different colleges treat undecided in different ways. So for some colleges it can help to be undecided because you may not be competing with everyone who wants to be in engineering or pre-med or business or whatever that most popular major is at that university is a good thing. At other colleges they might want you to put what you're most likely to want to major in, and that's because they really don't want to over enroll a particular major or have people what they call sort of going in through the back door. So like, oh, I'm really interested in engineering, but I may not get into engineering. So I'm going to say I'm undecided and then I'll get into engineering later.

Speaker 1: 3:04

So if you're thinking of being undecided, the best way to get the most accurate answer is to ask an admissions counselor at the school you're considering. If you are having a school visit like so, if the counselor is in your high school, you can ask them. You can email the admissions office at the colleges and universities you're looking at. You can ask them when you're there for a tour and an information session on the campus. And here's two questions you can consider asking. You could ask how do you so you're talking to the admissions counselor how do you consider undecided students in your application process? Or you might ask does being undecided hurt my chances in the admissions process? And I could tell you no admissions counselor is going to be surprised by those questions. So you will get a great answer that's specific to that school and I can't emphasize enough that colleges and universities treat how they accept students differently, regarding into different majors or, if it's a big university, into different colleges. So the College of Engineering, the College of Humanities, the College of Social Sciences, so there might be different colleges and you want to ask those questions before you apply to the institution. So that's my two cents about being undecided and going in undecided.

Speaker 1: 4:31

Now the other question is how does he show he's a serious student? Or how does a student show that they're a serious student even if they're not sure what they want to study? And the answer to that is that's all going to be part of their application in their transcript. So when they submit that transcript so right now, if you're a senior and you're applying, you're submitting everything you have that's in there and that's going to showcase how serious a student you are. And they're going to look at all different things when they look at your transcript, not just your grades but the kinds of courses you've been taking, your grade trend. So those are the things that they're going to showcase if you're a serious student.

Speaker 1: 5:12

Now, if you're a freshman or sophomore right now. This is the time to dive in, take those courses. Take courses that challenge you, because that is going to show you're a serious student, regardless of what it is you want to major in. I know that's way more than what do you do if you're currently undecided, but I really wanted to address those questions that Amy sent to me and I hope that that helped give you some good thoughts, good questions to ask when you speak to an admissions counselor, because that's what they're there for. They're there to ask questions and to counsel you as to whether applying to that institution is a good fit for you. So ask them the questions that you have. So that's it for another episode of College TNT. I would love it if you would rate and review this episode Give it five stars, I hope, and leave a review or share it with other people so that they can get the help that they need to navigate to and through college. Thanks for joining me today. Have a great week, thank you.