Music Major Maggie Stiffler (composition track) is a Dietrich School Peer Advisor helping to guide and support newer students as they acclimate to Pitt. She recently contributed a column on how to choose a major to the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences newsletter The Pitt Pride. She recounts her own decision to major in music as she prepares for medical school and offers some guidance to undecided students on how best to approach picking a major. Stiffler writes that,

“The plan was always medical school for me—graduate high school, go to my dream college, attend med school, and then live out my life as a doctor. It all seemed fine and dandy until someone told me I needed to actually pick a major because premed is just a set of prerequisite courses. Biology and chemistry just didn’t feel right for me, and I was under the impression that I needed to stick with what others were doing. I’m here to tell you that you can pursue anything that you wish! When I realized that music was my real passion and finally accepted it as a path for myself, everything became easier. I was excited to learn again.”

Read Stiffler’s practical advice for her fellow students here (pdf, p. 3).