Am I in the Wrong Department?

David Epstein's *Range* dismantles the myth that early specialization guarantees success. The data tells a different story: fifty-two percent of mathematics majors switch fields, yet lifetime earnings within a single major vary tenfold. Norway's centralized placement system reveals that major choice matters, but the spread within a field dwarfs the spread between fields. Epstein's case for late specialization rests on a timing problem: the decision gets made at the moment of least knowledge. Fit isn't discovered; it accumulates through deliberate experimentation.

You'll learn:

- Why the two-week test beats years of deliberation

- How first-generation students defy the prestige-doesn't-matter finding

- What the reversibility threshold reveals before any major switch