Major General Donald E. Jackson, Jr.!

Jealous of those “I declared” buttons you’ve seen on the Instagram stories of friends from across Broadway? Yeah, you should be, those are only for Barnard students. 

Sophomores in CC or GS, it’s time to deeply contemplate your academic interests and life goals. That’s right, major (or concentration) declaration starts today!

For the most part, you can declare your major online at this website. Some majors require departmental approval, which just means you have to fill out a form, get it signed by the appropriate department, and then bring it to the Center for Student Advising.

Remember, to graduate from Columbia, you don’t actually have to pick a major – just a concentration. Points-wise, a concentration is somewhere in between a minor and a major. On the other hand, special concentrations must be paired with another program of study. Because they’re smaller programs with fewer faculty, they can’t stand on their own.

The online form allows you to declare up to two programs of study. Over 50% of Columbia students graduate with only one program of study, like, one major or one concentration. Two programs is the max: you can double major, but you can’t do a major and two concentrations, for example.

Additionally, this decision isn’t binding. Provided you can fulfill all the requirements, you can technically change your major at any time. Feeling unsure? The list of all possible majors and concentrations is available here.

Major registration is open until Friday, March 15th, at 11:59 pm. (What happens if you don’t declare in this time period? We genuinely don’t know! Maybe you’ll get harassed by your advisor?) And if you’re feeling celebratory, there’s a major declaration event in Roone Arledge Auditorium today from 11 am to 3 pm. There’s a cute photo booth and snacks!

Different kind of major via US Army Corps of Engineers.