How Do I...Get Started Exploring Majors?

Change of Major occurs 3 times a year at Virginia Tech, which means changing majors requires planning. See the dates via the link on the right navigation.

At Virginia Tech, there are two types of majors, restricted and unrestricted majors. Restricted majors have specific criteria students must meet to be eligible to declare. Please review the restricted majors website for a complete list of restricted majors and their criteria. Unrestricted majors do not have specific requirements. 

Students choose majors for a variety of reasons, but according to the Department of Education, nearly one third of all students will change their major; one in ten students change their major more than once*. These numbers are only students who reported formally changing their major, which indicates that changing majors is a normal process.

We recommend changing your major by the time you reach 60 earned credits (this includes AP, IB, and Dual Enrollment credits) or less to avoid graduating late. AP (Advanced Placement), IB (International Bacculearaute), and Dual Enrollment credits transferred to Virginia Tech count towards your total number of earned hours. The more credits you transfer in, the less time you may have to decide on a major.

Use this exploration website to learn about the variety of majors at Tech, meet with your academic advisor, and make your major decision.

* Department of Education. (2017, Dec). Data Point. Retrieved at https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018434.pdf