Emily comments on College discussion thread - Less Wrong
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I don't know if this applies so much in America, where you don't choose your degree ("major"?) until after starting university ("college"?), but I'm sure there are other UK/elsewhere people reading too, and perhaps this has some broader relevance as well. So... one thing that I wish I'd borne in mind when I was making decisions and torn between going into several different fields. Switching between fields (mid-degree, after your degree, for your graduate degree(s), whatever) is totally possible and loads of people do it, but a general pattern I think I've observed is that it's a lot easier to switch from a more technical field to a less technical field. So, all else being equal, if you find yourself wavering between two or three choices of study area, I would be inclined to advise you to pick the most technical one. (I'm aware that there's some potential handwaving here about what "technical" actually means. I think the useful interpretation of it probably correlates very strongly with more maths.)
I was completely unaware of this pattern myself and have now managed to orchestrate two successive switches from a less to a more technical field, so it's absolutely not impossible, and I don't regret the path I've ended up taking for various reasons. But I reckon academically/career-wise I'd have made things a bit smoother for myself, and given myself more choices, if I'd started out with the most technical of the things that I love.
If you don't mind, I have a few questions to ask you:
Any information would be helpful, as I am currently considering a switch myself. Thank you.