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Ranking Every Major I’ve Thought About Declaring

Ronnie ranks the majors they thought about choosing (and the one they did choose)!

Ronnie ranks the majors they thought about choosing (and the one they did choose)!

Admissions Blog Ranking Every Major I’ve Thought About Declaring

At Carleton, we don’t declare our major until the end of our sophomore year. However, I have still officially changed my major three times. And before that, I was considering many different majors. Here is my ranking of all my perspective majors.

1. Religion

Drone/aerial photos of campus and campus buildings in the evening during peak fall colors.
A drone shot of Leighton Hall

Religion is the major that got away. I have taken several religion classes and I loved every single one of them. I declared a religion major, but ending up switching it and that’s one of my biggest Carleton regrets. All the professors are wonderful and the classes teach you so much about how to engage with material academically. I miss taking religion classes!!

2. Chemistry

Student holds chemical flasks
Me during lab in Principles of Chemistry II!

When I entered Carleton, I was sure I was going to be a chemistry major. I took all the foundational classes, one elective, and even a class meant for majors only. I learned so much about how to conduct research through the hands-on labs and the wonderful, welcoming professors! I also have just always loved doing chemistry problem sets.

3. Studio Art

Drawing
An exercise where we looked at an object and drew it without looking at our paper.

I have only taken one studio art class and I definitely wish I had taken more. I still make art quite often and Observational Drawing with Prof. Dan Bruggeman (a visiting artist/professor at the time) really pushed to grow!

4. Philosophy

Student poses in front of their poster
Me presenting my poster about bioethics after spending the summer as a Hanson Research Fellow!

I love philosophy and philosophizing. I have the Ethics and Medical Ethics courses offered at Carleton and LOVED them. I only didn’t major in it because of the strict class requirements (which they are changing to be more flexible)! The summer I did bioethics research was my first independent research project and it was a great learning moment.

5. Biology

Student presents their senior thesis
Me right before my comps presentation!

I declared biology, so it has to make my top five. Biology is super interesting and I am glad I majored in it, but I think I would have had more fun majoring in a social science or humanities subject. But the professors are very kind and overall really wonderful!

Final Thoughts

There are soooo many options to major in and at the end of the day, you can’t really make a wrong choice. With the flexibility of Carleton’s quarter system, I have been able to continue taking courses in most of the I was considering. My favorite part of going to a liberal-arts college has been the freedom to explore and discover new areas I would have never considered until trying them.

Ronnie (they/she/he) is a senior Biology major from Oak Park, IL. Outside of blogging, she is also an Admissions tour guide and a Student Ambassador for Alumni Relations. You can usually find them in Cowling Gymnasium with the Ballroom Dance Team, practicing for the next competition or chatting with teammates. They also have very strong opinions about food on campus (especially LDC eggs and Burton fried tofu). She is also the commodore of Carleton’s sailing club and a DJ for KRLX, the student run radio station.

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