Coming into focus - what your major means

The Yale College Programs of Study, better known by students as the "Blue Book," will arrive in your mailbox in a few weeks. Maybe you'll toss it aside, or maybe you'll sit down immediately and mull over all the classes you want to take during your first semester at Yale. Hopefully, though, you won't obsess too much over the prospect of choosing a major.

Eighty majors are currently offered at Yale College, and new ones are added nearly every year. Students are asked to declare their majors by the end of sophomore year, but there is the opportunity to switch majors after ward, as long as it is possible to com-plete all the require-ments by graduation. Sometimes, for some of the more intensive majors, students are strongly encouraged to declare their majors by the end of their first year.

Majors vary a great deal in terms of the number of courses required, the number of prerequisites needed, and the freedom given to students to choose courses. For example, if you think chemical engineering might be the major for you, you should start working on the requirements right away. This is by far Yale's most demanding major in terms of the number of courses needed. There are 20 term courses required on top of nine semester-long prerequisite classes. If this doesn't sound difficult enough, 16 of the 20 courses for the major are required, leaving students with the chance to choose only four electives.

You are not alone if the requirements for the chemical engineering major leave you feeling intimidated or depressed. Only six students in the Class of 2000 majored in this subject, and there are plenty of other possibilities with much less demanding requirements. History was the most popular major for the class of 2000. At least compared to chemical engineering, its requirements seem like a breeze: students must take only 12 term courses that can span the globe and the ages, and disciplines ranging from military to cultural to political to intellectual history.

Another requirement for most majors is the senior essay, an independent project that allows students to finish their studies at Yale by focusing on a specific topic within their major. Students work closely with a faculty advisor and spend either one or two semesters completing their research and senior essay.

Science majors often do research in lieu of a senior essay, but all Yale graduates must complete a substantial senior project of some sort.

Certain majors develop stereotypes among Yalies in terms of their supposed levels of difficulty as well as the types of people they attract. Economics, with its requirement of only nine term courses beyond prerequisites, is often referred to as one of Yale's easier majors. The class of 2000 did have 150 economics majors, which may lend credence to this generalization. Prospective economics majors should beware, however, of the required term of econometrics, a difficult course that is often the bane of an economics major's existence.

Some majors in the sciences have developed a particularly strong reputation for attracting especially driven and future-oriented students. Molecular biophysics and biochemistry (MB&B) is also very attractive to pre-medical students because many of the courses required for the major are also mandatory pre-med courses.

While MB&B has a very competitive reputation, not all majors in the sciences involve such cutthroat competition. Avery Patton, DC '00, was a geology and geophysics major. "I think those people are the most laid-back of all of the science majors," she said. "There is absolutely no competition for grades whatsoever. Everyone will help anyone else with labs and problem sets if they have questions." An added perk of the geology and geophysics department is that tea and cookies are served every afternoon at three o'clock for all faculty and students in the major.

Every major has its strengths and weaknesses, and your freshman year is meant to be spent figuring them out. Adopt trial and error as a philosophy: enroll in a range of classes, balancing interesting classes you want to take with less-interesting classes you might be required to take. Whatever you do, calm down and try not to think too much about majors yet. You will have plenty of time for that later.

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