When I was a senior in high school, I heard horror stories about college. Rumor had it that everyone would contract athlete's foot from the dorm showers, I could have a roommate who stole my underwear, and the food would give everyone food poising. Luckily, none of that happened, but the worst story I heard turned out to be true. Majors are competitive.
From my sophomore year in high school onward, I knew I wanted to be a creative writing major. It was the only major the truly interested me, and I knew that by getting my creative writing degree I could become a publisher and read for a living. It's my passion, but in the last few years it never occurred to me that I would have to compete to be accepted into my major.
Picture this: during your freshman year of college, you walk onto the shiny new campus thinking the next four years are going to be awesome. You'll get to study something you love and whether that is biology, business, creative writing or oceanography you'll be able to learn your heart out. Then, you discover that after applying and being accepted to school, you now have to apply to be in a major. What happens if you don't get in? What happens to those dreams? The first few friends I made at my school all ended up transferring the second semester and one reason was because they didn't think they would be able to get into their majors at a larger school.
The work force is competitive. That's a fact. However, should college majors be competitive? College should be a time to study what you want and perfect your craft in something like nursing or literature studies. You shouldn't be turned away because of capacity issues, or not fulfilling certain academic requirements. Schools want the best of the best students. Though to get them by weeding out people who might have more passion in a subject, but don't test well isn't the way to go.
Students pay to go to college to study in the field they want. Some students scour the country trying to find the perfect school for what they want, and then after a year or so of attending, learn that they can't be accepted into the program. It happens. It shouldn't. Studying a major shouldn't be competitive because everyone learns a different way. Who knows, the potential doctor to cure cancer could be turned away from pre-med because they didn't make that B in Chemistry.
College is a test of skill, much like the rest of the world. Maintaining GPA, good disciplinary standing and studying is up to the student. That shouldn't change. Majors should accept anyone who wants to be in a particular major, not just because they have the right credentials. A lot of people switch majors because of how competitive their desired one is, and while that might end up for the better, changing majors should be because a student wants to and not because they have to.
College majors shouldn't be competitive, but society needs to see that -- not just me.