Around 50 percent of first and second-year students at the University of Rhode Island change their majors, according to Angela Quagliaroli, a career education specialist at URI.
Students typically switch their area of study between the fall and spring semesters, according to Quagliaroli. She based this conclusion on her past personal experiences as an academic advisor within the Harrington School of Communication and Media.
Students primarily switch out of majors because of academic struggles, such as not performing well in classes or being unable to keep up required courses, according to Sokhoeun Khoy, the academic advisor for undeclared and exploring students at URI.
Many students switch out of majors heavy in science, technology and math courses, such as engineering and nursing, according to Khoy.
“I don’t want to say anything negative about high school, but sometimes I don’t think students have their own accurate representation of what math skills are required for some of these fields,” Quagliaroli said. “The biggest obstacle [for students] are those math or STEM-related courses.”
Specifically within the College of Business, Quagliaroli said that newer students might not fully understand the expectations of required math courses.
“The pipeline from the College of Business to the Harrington School, in particular, had a lot to do with the math requirements that the College of Business has,” Quagliaroli said.
Family pressures could be a possible influence in the major a student chooses to pursue, according to Khoy. She believes that students might think they need to follow in the footsteps of their parents.
URI already has a “streamlined” way that they handle the process of switching majors, according to Quagliaroli.
URI has a University College of Academic Success that first and second-year students participate in, according to Quagliaroli. Students meet with an advisor, learn more about their chosen major and its requirements, and then they fill out a form to declare that major. After the end of the academic year, or once they move into a degree-granting college like the College of Arts and Sciences or the College of Business, the student declares the new major.
Khoy wants students that are considering switching majors to not feel stuck in an area of study they think they might not be interested in anymore.
“If they’re going through the process [of the course] and then midway through the semester or towards the end they don’t feel they can complete certain courses and start to rethink their major, if they take that next step and talk to someone, I think that can put them into a different perspective,” Khoy said.
For Quagliaroli, she feels that first-year students may come into college either not knowing what they want to do or thinking they know exactly what they want to do.
“I think the best thing that [students] can do for themselves is just to take everything with a grain of salt and try to step away from some of that pressure and ask questions where they feel comfortable,” Quagliaroli said.
Students interested in declaring or switching majors can visit Roosevelt Hall or schedule an appointment on Starfish through the University College for Academic Success website .