I'm a 22 undergrad struggling with a major I'm very passionate about, should I change it?

If you like it, stick with it. If you don’t like what you’re doing, you probably won’t do it as well as you can.

Communication Studies is a fascinating and versatile field, but it doesn’t have any immediate career prospects – you need to specialize a bit. I got a kick out of public relations, myself. It might be likened to the Liberal Arts equivalent of a General Education degree.

It does not really matter what you major in. All of it is going to be a challenge. I say If you are that fare in you should stick it through and finish. and if you like your next degree you can try majoring in something else. But for now I would strongly advise you to finish what you have started. It just sounds to me that you just need to have a stronger focus for your schooling. Try asking yourself if there is something in your life that is distracting you? Try blocking it out.

Majoring in Information Technology, 1 year left.

@se7en Have to call you on the drama.

”...it will define me”

You’ve seen too many movies. We rarely know what will define us when it happens. To project what WILL define you is silly.

If you’re not willing to do the work, you aren’t going to pass the class. What difference does the major make? You’re lazy and disorganized. Join the club.

Welcome to Fluther.

You seem to think that you’re “passionate about having a college degree”, yet you “skim” textbooks, miss final exams (plural?!) and blame your failings on “less than stellar” professors.

It seems to me, reading only what you wrote, that you want the degree as some sort of status symbol, but you’re not really into the studying bit or the work involved. I’m not going to be accused of a pot calling a kettle ‘black’, here. I quit college myself after my junior year, but not because of failure.

I might have gone on, but I just saw @6rant6‘s response, so there’s little need. Kudos on the ‘drama’ call: “will define me” ... sheesh.

@6rant6 @WasCy
I wasn’t being dramatic. I can’t get the type of jobs I want without a degree, not in today’s world. The people I know that are successful have degrees and my family wants me to have a degree. Maybe in your world it’s different but in mine it’s what makes or breaks you.

and yes I didn’t take my college education very seriously at first but at the start of the 2nd semester Sophomore year that changed unfortunately by then it was too late. Now I’m stuck with the option of trying again with the same major I had been so set on or trying something new, fresh and possibly a little easier.

@se7en But you ARE being dramatic. Lots and lots of people drop out of college and work for a while and go back and finish. Or maybe they don’t. Or maybe they enlist. Or maybe they get pregnant or go to jail, or meet Jennifer Tilly. These are all things that could define you should they come your way. You’re being dramatic to make this appear to be such an irreversible watershed. And what the hell are you doing here instead of STUDYING!

@se7en Having a degree is no guarantee of anything. My sheepskin says that I received a BA in Communications (emphasis in Public Relations, Minor in Marketing), that I graduated Cum Laude. Three years ago, I was going to be a junior executive in a respectable public relations firm by 2014. But you know? I now fill my days preparing meat-stuffs for the unwashed, frequently uncouth masses, while I plot my eventual takeover of Wal-Mart, Inc. I’m looking for the path into corporate, really.

Life doesn’t always play out like you’d expect.

@6rant6
I understand there are other things in life besides college that can define a person but in MY world (maybe not yours) it is the single most important thing that will define me. So it’s not an option to give up or look for other things to define me. I respect your point of view though.

@Nullo
It isn’t a guarantee but it’s a booster. and eventually one day you WILL take over Wal-Mart (or at least reach high on the corporate ladder). Without a college degree you can’t say it would be a possibility for you.

I’ve been in IT for many years. My thought – until you change your work habits and attitude, you aren’t going to make it out there, degree or no degree. Your degree will be a big help getting your first job. But after that, it’s what you’ve done and what you know. And sometimes, who you know.

@se7en Oh, I’m not downplaying the value of a degree. I’m saying that sometimes life comes at you crab-wise. For the record, you can climb pretty high in Wal-Mart without a degree. One more thing that I like about ‘em: they’re not driving this insane degree inflation.

It sounds like you need motivation and better study skills? If you know that merely skimming the text book isn’t a good idea, you should probably change that habit and perhaps actually read it.

If you really are passionate about this major, then work hard at it. It sounds like you are very capable, but just need motivation to keep on going.

Don’t just strive for a degree, get the degree for what you want! Don’t worry too much about your age either, you have the rest of your life to work after college/ university.

But really, IMO, I think you should stick it out… don’t give up too easily. Stop looking for an easy way out.

If your school is anything like mine, a lot gets conveyed in class. Keep your ears open and your pen on your paper, and you’ll automatically do pretty well.
Every single major has its filler courses. In Communications, they included basic science, some business classes, some marketing, some psychology, some Humanities, and the Gen. Eds.
If you’re having a hard time with a class, you could try taking it at the community college – which, in my experience, typically requires less of you – and then transferring the credit over to your alma mater. Generally, your core classes must be at the university. That’s how I managed to pass Chemistry.

What stood out for me in your post was “I failed Accounting I once and Macroeconomics twice mostly because I only skimmed the book, had less than stellar professors and I accidentally missed the final exam.” You failed because you didn’t put the effort in. Don’t blame your professors. Even if they weren’t great, unless everyone else in the class also failed, you could have passed with more effort.

To get a degree, you don’t need to be passionate about the topic you are studying but you do need to be determined and committed. You can’t ‘accidently’ miss exams. You need to be organised. Does you university have learning advisers? People who can help you to develop better study skills? Go and see one and listen to what they say and apply their advice. Get serious about your studies and don’t blame anyone else if you don’t pass. By all means admit your heart wasn’t in it and you just didn’t apply yourself but take ownership. Also as Nullo said, failing will not define you. Well unless you let it. Unless you let it hang around your neck. Plenty of people drop out of university because it wasn’t really what they really wanted. They are only a failure though if they then spend the rest of their lives using it as an excuse for who they could have been.

Hi, @se7en , welcome to fluther! I agree with many of the other responses…
Although you are correct, college is important, you are most likely going to need to change some behaviors (missing finals, skimming textbooks). People who don’t graduate aren’t failures, college isn’t for everyone. It’s a lot of work. People who don’t want to put forth the effort will not do well. In terms of changing your degree to something “easier”, political science is not easier. it wasn’t my major, but I did take classes in this subject
I don’t think any majors are easy. Does your university have services that could assist you (a writing center, career services, etc.)? I recommend using these. They are free to students and could potentially help you.
Whatever you decide, good luck to you. I understand this is an important decision and I hope it all works out for you.

Anything worth having – requires work. No surprise you’re failing if you’re simply skimming text books. A degree is going to require you to actually read the books, and then wider reading on top of that.

All you need to do is decide you want it. That is half of the battle. If you want it as much as you say, spend more time preparing – think of the end result. Visualise graduating, getting the job you want, all that helps you to mentally be able to do the work which is required. A big part of a degree is putting in the hours required for it, slogging through a lot of topics which you aren’t necessarily very interested in. Most of it is just the ability to persevere, thats really what sets those in a degree apart.

Oh – and from my own personal experience, I decided I would concentrate on nothing else but my degree until it was over. I moved to a very quiet part of town, away from the distractions of student night life, and minimal traffic noise. Making my life as nerdy as possible, for the time being has really helped me actually learn to sit down and do my work. When there are no distractions, and not many other things to do you’ll be surprised how interesting your subject can become. I quit my very time consuming and demanding hobbies too. I found that they were taking precedence over what was really important. Not to say that you need to take such a drastic measure, but it is an example of what you can do to help yourself if you are particularly someone who is easily distracted. You have to help your self to do well! If there is anything in your life that you can change to point you in a more academic direction, do it!

I am hoping that sacrificing a few years of fun and intoxication will pay off at the end. I’ll let you know how it goes when results are back, lol.

It seems to me that the problem is that you’re not giving it your all. So if you change majors you probably still won’t be doing your best, but you’ll just be studying something you’re less than passionate about. Answer: Knuckle down. Quick.

I think some of my intent in my previous response was omitted when I saw @6rant6‘s answer and discontinued my thoughts.

The most important thing about the degree is not the degree itself. It’s the education behind it. One of the primary differences between me and you, I think, is that I decided to abort the “get a degree” process… but I got the education. Because of circumstance and hard work (and some luck, I’ll admit) since then I’ve been able to get and keep great jobs despite the fact that I state very explicitly on my resume: “attended [well known engineering school] for three years; did not attain a degree”.

To be blunt, if you attain a degree by “skimming” course work, and otherwise half-heartedly pursuing the education that a degree is supposed to represent, then you will be a fraud. Don’t be a fraud.

I understand that in many cases the degree is important (for others) in the fact that it will open some doors for you that you may not be able to approach without the paper. But what’s behind the degree is ultimately more important to you.