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Class of 2024 declares majors

40% of first-years in computing, Courses 10 and 20 see enrollment surge

9604 pie chart
The two most popular majors among the Class of 2024 were 6-2 and 6-3.
William Xu–The Tech
9605 major enrollment change
Course 20 had the largest percent increase, followed by 10 and 10-B.
Arun Wongprommoon–The Tech

The Class of 2024 major declaration form was due April 30. The first, second, and third most popular major choices were consistent with last year’s class’s choices: 201 first-year students (18.8%) declared Course 6-3, Computer Science and Engineering; 92 (8.6%) declared Course 6-2 (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science); and 78 (7.3%) declared 2-A (Engineering as recommended by the Department of Mechanical Engineering).

Course 20 (Biological Engineering) and Course 18 (Mathematics) were fourth and fifth in popularity; 74 students (6.9%) declared Biological Engineering, while 60 students (5.6%) declared Mathematics. They were fifth and fourth last year, respectively. Course 20 also saw the largest absolute increase in first-year enrollment; its share increased two full percentage points from last year (4.9%).

Courses 10 (Chemical Engineering) and 10-B (Chemical Biological Engineering) saw the largest absolute increases after Course 20, as well as two of the largest relative increases in first-year major declarations. Course 10’s share tripled from just under 0.6% of first years (7 students) last year to almost 2.0% of first years (21 students). Similarly, Course 10B’s share doubled from 0.9% (10 students) to 1.9% (20 students).

Other majors with large relative increases in enrollment include Course 17 (Political Science) which was only declared by one first year last spring but three students this spring; and Course 12 (Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences) which saw first-year enrollment jump from three last year to seven this year. Course 21A (Anthropology), Course 24-1 (Philosophy), and Course 2-OE (Mechanical and Ocean Engineering) saw no new students last year, but had one or, in the case of 2-OE, two new students each this year.

Courses 2 (Mechanical Engineering) and 6-2 each decreased by over one percentage point in popularity from last year: 3.1% (33 students) compared to 4.6% (51 students) and 8.6% compared to 9.9% (110 students). Courses 6-1 (Electrical Engineering) and 6-3 also saw smaller numbers; for Course 6-1, this represented a 40% reduction from 15 first years (1.4% of the class) to nine (0.8% of the class), Course 6-3 remained the most popular major with a 0.6 percentage point reduction from 19.4% (215 students) to 18.8% of first years.

Courses 9 (Brain and Cognitive Sciences) and 4-B (Art and Design) were declared by a third as many students this year as last year, four (0.4% of students) compared to 12 (1.1% of students) for Course 9, and one compared to three for 4-B.

Four majors saw no new first-year students this year but one (Course 21, Humanities), two (Courses 21M-1, Music, and 24-2, Linguistics), or three (Course 21S, Humanities and Science) first years last year. Courses 10-C (Bachelor of Science as recommended by the department of Chemical Engineering), 21G (Global Languages), 21H (History), 21L (Literature), 21M-2 (Theater Arts), and CMS (Comparative Media Studies) had no first-year students either this year or last year, although all of them have upper-year students enrolled.

The School of Engineering retained its first place in terms of first-year enrollment, with its share increasing from 67.9% (751 students) to 69.5% (744 students). The School of Science captured 20.4% of this class’s major declarations (218), slightly more than those of the last, at 19.3% (214 students). The Sloan School of Management was chosen by fewer first-years: 2.8% (30 students) compared to 3.0% (34 students) last year. The School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences and the School of Architecture and Planning each saw substantial decreases in enrollment, from 22 (2.0%) to 15 (1.4%) first years and from 15 (1.4%) to 11 first years, respectively, although these numbers tend to fluctuate significantly across years. 

First-year students in Courses 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, 6-7, 6-9, 6-14, and 11-6 are also enrolled in the Schwarzman College of Computing and together comprise 39.7% of this year’s major declarations (421 students) and 40.7% of last year’s (449 students).

Eight first-years (0.7% of the class) designated no major, a decrease from 20 (1.8% of the class) last year. 44 students (4.1% of the class) did not submit a major declaration form, a decrease from last year’s 50 students (5.0% of the class). 

The Class of 2024, with 1070 students, is slightly smaller than the Class of 2023, with 1106 students.