“To err is human” is something we all know. No one is perfect and so, humans are bound to make a plethora of mistakes in their life. But humans constitute the apex of the thinking hierarchy. Humans are given the sixth sense, which no other living being on Earth has, to decide which is right and which is wrong. Humans are the only living beings who can think and decide for them. That is why humans must learn from their mistakes and avoid repeating them in their future.
Humans today are exposed to a lot of information which is both a boon and a bane. I call it a boon because, in today’s scenario, people are given a variety of options to choose from and hence can learn more and then decide. At the same time it is a bane because, people tend to make wrong choices easily. This wrong choice many occur due to a variety of reasons as follows:
- Looking at the scope of a subject
- Considering other’s opinions into consideration
- People may force their kids into a subject
- Making a choice without thinking whether it will suit him/her
In short as the saying goes, don’t judge a book by its cover, here it is don’t make a decision with a subject’s scope, other’s views and without proper analysis.
Once a person chooses a wrong area of study say for his Bachelor’s degree, can he come out of it? YES, a student is allowed to change his stream and college in his first year. But after first year, he is only allowed to change streams within the same college only if vacancies in that particular major is available. But this involves great procedural task.
Making a wrong decision may result in different outcomes as follows:
- Frustration
- Hatred towards learning
- Poor grades
- Lack of interest in jobs
And the list is long. Consider the following scenario: A person has taken Bio-Maths group in his high school and wants to pursue medicine. Due to poor marks he is forced into an Engineering college. And let us consider the stream he has picked Computer Science (CS). This person has 2 major ways in his life as:
- Making CS his passion and continue with his life.
- Get a CS degree with great effort as he doesn’t like the subject and plan to pursue Masters with medicine degree.
So, what does Master’s degree offer to a person? It offers not only a change in a stream within the same major but a switch between the majors itself. But this is applicable with most of the universities abroad.
Before change:
- Plan and then make a decision
- Extra stuff
- Funds
- Take a moment to think of your circle
- Dig deep
- Dare and be ready to face
- Ask experts
Plan and then make a decision:
A decision to change a stream can happen overnight, but the process of making the actual change happen can take some time. So, a person must consider whether
- Is the change is needed?
- Will this change make my life better?
- Will I be able to manage the sudden change and keep up with existing student?
- What is the scope of the new field?
The list is long again depending on the person. A proper plan must be designed on how to learn the new subject and cope up in the new field. Only when we have a proper plan ready to implement, one can opt for a change with guts and become a super success.
Extra stuff:
A person may have to do some homework on switching his streams in Master’s. A person making a decision to change may have to cope up with a new field and must become an equal with a student who has already done his Bachelor’s degree in the same stream. For this purpose, transfer students are asked to take up extra papers in their first year of their Master degree which may be a bit difficult to manage at first. Apart from this, a transfer student must make sure he learns the basics of the subject before his change. All these prior learning and extra stuff will make it easier for him to thrive in the new environment.
Changing the entire stream may involve a heavy extra learning stuff. This problem can be overcome by learning the basics and doing some certification if possible.
Funds:
Doing a Master’s degree is expensive. Doing it abroad is way very much expensive despite being very valuable. A person though wanting to change his stream in his Master’s must take a moment to think about his financial situation and his family’s financial situation. Of course there are always educational loans and scholarships available. A person gets a scholarship only when a person excels in his subject. But when a person is changing his stream it is really difficult for a person to excel in his first semester. So, a person must first think about his monetary status and then make a decision.
Take a moment to think about your circle:
When a person leaves a job, his team is affected. Similarly, when a person is changing streams, this person may have a circle of people who would get affected by it. Consider if the parents wanted their child to work after his Bachelor’s and support the family. But their child decides to pursue with Master’s making adding the parent’s expense rather than supporting it. So, parents for the circle here as they are directly affected by the person’s decision. Take a moment to think about your circle before making a decision.
Dig deep:
A transfer student must really be careful as this is his second chance in life. He has already made a mistake of choosing his Bachelor’s stream and hence he must be twice as careful this time. A transfer student must first ask himself a question:
- Will I be able to handle this change?
If the answer is a definite YES, then he must start working and get a rough sketch about the scope, its future improvement etc. Only if all answers are favorable then, it is good to opt for a transfer.
Dare and be ready to face:
After considering the above factors and making a decision for yourself, never look back. Dare enough to face its consequences. Never repent on your decision ever. At first it would be really difficult to accept this change but, it is better to dare and change rather than regret that you have not changed.
Ask experts:
A student wishing to transfer can also speak with some experts in that field and discuss various factors like growing topics, future scope and can calculate mentally whether that field will suit him/her or not. This step is important because, people working on site and experiencing that field will be able to provide a vivid, clear picture about the insights of the field.
How to switch streams?
In Bachelor’s degree, switching streams in same college may involve a set of procedural tasks to be done. Most probably, the chance of getting your stream changed is 90% positive. But switching a stream in your Master’s is a bit difficult. Generally, transfer students are asked to write a Statement Of Purpose (SOP) to get an admit into an university. In SOP, a transfer student must convince the admission department about his reason for switching majors to get an admission into the university. Only on getting an admit, a transfer student can proceed with his degree.
What should you write in your SOP to switch majors?
An SOP is the only way to tell about ourselves when we apply for a university abroad or for PG. SOP is made up of a student’s answer to the following questions:
- Why you would like to pursue your degree in that university?
- What is the reason for switching your majors?
- How will doing that course change your life?
- What will be your contribution to that field in the near future for the university?
- Will you be able to cope up on changing your major?
- Are you financially capable of paying your tuition fee?
The more convincing your reason for change is, the more is your chance of getting admitted into a university which has your stream. Doing a lot of research on the field, university, faculty research pursued can increase your chance of getting an admit into the university.
Are you the only one who is switching majors?
The answer is NO. People tend to change at different stages of life and also easily lose interest in fields. That is why a meticulous consideration of all factors before
making an important decision for their lives. The chart below lists the % of students switching their majors every year.
Stream change in job:
A person can change his stream in the case of work too. A good example is Engineers getting hired for BPO. People may have to go for this change without a choice, but can always get a job in their field. Some people may adapt to their new field and may develop a liking towards it and settle down. But everything is within the person. This is the most common stream change that is seen in today’s scenario.
The main contributors of the condition above are unemployment and over population. 65% of youth are Engineers and all of the Engineers try to get into IT rather than their cores of ECE, MECH etc. This is also a type of stream switching which every Non-IT engineer has to undergo. So, it is important to decide right from the beginning to have a bright future.
Will my change of majors change my life?
The answer is within YOU. If you keep up the same enthusiasm and learn your new field, you can succeed. One thing to keep in mind is that, there is always another chance in life and hence a person must never get frustrated with life and his decisions. Most importantly, a person must have the guts to make a decision for himself and must be daring enough to accept any consequences of his decisions rather than blaming others.
Good Luck!!!
You Might Want To Read:
College Of Horticulture Vellanikkara Kerala, Cat Case Study 30, Jee Main Advanced Mathematics Definite Integration Notes Part 1, International Schools, Education Sample Question Paper 7 2014, Professional Academy, Industrial Engineering Question Paper 1 2012, Mathematics The Point Straight Lines, Defense Strategies Question Paper 2 2010, Ca Book Accounting