When exactly should you declare your major?
In general, sooner is better but it depends on the subject. Some students wait until the beginning of their junior year to declare but this can limit your options and create some headaches.
You can declare sometime in your sophomore year, this is for most majors. If you’ve already taken some required classes, those will count toward your degree. If you’ve spent lots of course credits on electives in other subjects, those will still count as elective credits, something you need in almost any major.
Some programs are not so flexible. Remember engineering, pre-medicine and architecture? At certain schools, the more rigorous programs like these require students to declare in their freshman year. That is because these majors have lots of very specific pre-requisites. You will need to get started on those right away to graduate in four years.