The students who are accepted into Cal Poly are the straight A, 4.5 GPA students in high school. We spent our days at SAT prep classes, studying for AP tests, and doing all the extra credit we could get our hands on. Why? Because the ultimate goal, Cal Poly, requires the highest grades, the highest numbers. We knew our CSU application would be easy, submitting our grades that would outshine the other applicants, until we got to the page that asked us to select a major. For all that preparation and dedication we had committed to getting the highest numbers, we never stopped to think what one thing we wanted to do with the rest of our lives. After all, the ultimate goal was just getting into Poly, right?
It seems ironic that the one school whose application doesn’t take our life experiences into account also requires us to choose the remainder of our life experience with the click of a button. I applied undeclared to every other school I applied to, knowing that I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted my life to take. My father changed his major five times, so I suppose indecision may run in the family. A year online, a leave of absence, and multiple ICMAs later, I’ve finally found a sense of belonging in my major that I hadn’t felt before. So trust me when I tell you: it’s possible to change.
Changing your major at Cal Poly isn’t as easy as just checking a new box, the way it might be done at other schools. However, it certainly doesn’t have to be as difficult as most people perceive. I’m going to walk you through some steps to change your major, but (besides Step 4) this isn’t the same information you’ll find on the Cal Poly website.
Step 1. Disregard your distant future. It was absurd of them to ask you to choose the rest of your life’s trajectory when you’re 18. How’s that any different than when you’re 19, 20, or in your early 20’s for that matter? It’s not. Some individuals have always known what they want to do with their life and they follow that exact course to the end. Those people are rare, and if you’re reading this article, I’m guessing you aren’t one of them. My first piece of advice is to stop thinking about future you. Stop thinking about your potential career. What do you want to do now? Read course descriptions in the catalog of subjects you might be interested in. Sure, you might want to be a doctor, but are hours of genetics lectures and memorizing anatomy parts really how you want to spend the next few years? You may have been planning to be an engineer your whole life, but is there something about the Lure of the Sea that makes you want to study pirates and vikings all day? Give yourself the courtesy of taking classes you enjoy. Not only will you be more successful, you’ll have a better college experience overall. The present is truly all we have; don’t waste your present taking classes you hate for a future you may or may not be here to enjoy.
Step 2. Talk to everyone. There’s no better way to get an inside feel of a department than by talking to those involved in it. Talk to current students in your desired major, and ask them about the worst parts. Talk to professors and see if you’re excited about the same things they are. Talk to advisors! I felt like I was in a constant state of changing my major throughout all of my second year, with no idea what I wanted to do. From nutrition to sociology to microbiology (I didn’t end up switching to any of these), I met with many department advisors and found their guidance extremely helpful. Find the advisor you need here.
Step 3. Step away from the stigma: Part 1. Cal Poly is an extraordinarily stigmatized campus. We’ll talk about a couple of them today, starting with the major stigma. It can be especially hard from an outside perspective to enter a major that has a negative reputation, but that shouldn’t stop you from pursuing what you enjoy. One of my good friends recently switched to business, after a long struggle of perceiving external shame around the major, and is so much happier now. Once you’re in the major where you belong, you’ll be surrounded by like-minded people who all suffer from the same school-wide stigma, except none of them believe it because it likely isn’t true. You’ll meet brilliant BUS majors, street smart CS majors, and even liberal AG majors. If you’re worried about what other people will think, here’s what I have to say:
- Be more selfish. Those people and their opinions won’t matter in the long run; they don’t care about your future as much as you do.
- Those people won’t be the people you see everyday once you’re in your new major. Your classmates won’t judge you for the major that you share.
- The rest of the world doesn’t have these Cal Poly stigmas. Your friends at other colleges aren’t exposed to the same reputations about the same majors. Your employers want to see that you majored in something you enjoy and value, and that’s what you should want too.
Step 4. The easy part. We’re talking about change of major workshops, advisor meetings, and ICMAs: the reasons why changing your major appears so “impossible” at Cal Poly. These meetings and paperwork are certainly annoying, but my controversial belief is that this is the easiest, most straight-forward part of changing your major. Every department works slightly different, and every ICMA is designed on a case-by-case basis, but here’s a general outline of the process:
- Attend a Change of Major Workshop. In the Academics tab of your portal, click the “Change of Major” link in the Advising box to register for a workshop.
- Set up a meeting with an advisor from your intended major (the major you want to switch into). This meeting will end with the formation of an ICMA (Individualized Change of Major Agreement) that outlines the exact steps you’ll have to take next in order to be approved into the major. If you’re lucky like I was the first time, the process ends here and your ICMA is automatically approved. You’ve done it! More often, though, you have one more step.
- Pass classes in your intended major. The exact classes will be outlined on your ICMA, and the purpose is for you to concretely determine that these are the types of classes you want to be taking for the next few years. This step should be doable and even fun, since you’re finally in the classrooms you want to be in.
Step 5. Step away from the stigma: Part 2. I’m trying to convince you that you can change your major, but I won’t hide the fact that there’s a stigma surrounding change of major students in general. Most people aren’t even aware of this. You don’t necessarily notice it until you become one of us, but it looks like this:
The easy get-to-know-you question, “what’s your major?” suddenly becomes so complicated, and people aren’t really interested in your long tale. Your younger classmates see you differently because you’re a third year in the traditionally first-year class. Your classmates who are your year don’t see you as one of them because you haven’t been with their cohort from the beginning. No one can ever remember what your major actually is. You feel the need to justify your choices every time a major-focused discussion comes up.
Just remember this: you aren’t alone. Change of major students are far more common on this “impossible to change your major” campus than you think, and once you become one of us, you start noticing us everywhere. There is no traditional path through college. Everyone’s journey is different and trust me, no one follows their flowchart exactly.
Long story short, change your major! It’s possible, it’s doable, and you won’t regret it. I came to Cal Poly as an Environmental Management major, spent a while as a Biochemistry major, and finally settled as a Biological Sciences major. With all the indecision that came in between, it’s a miracle I only changed twice.
For more information on how to change your major at Cal Poly, go here.