Declaring A Major

In many cases, the optimal time to declare a major is by the end of your freshman year, although in some cases, choosing a major by the end of your sophomore year is also fine. Your choice of major is important so that you can begin to plan your future academic class and co-op semesters as well as to coordinate a plan with financial aid, if you are an aid recipient. In some majors there is enough flexibility in the curriculum to allow students to matriculate as late as the end of their sophomore year. In other more structured majors, matriculating after the end of your freshman year may mean a delay in graduation. If you plan to participate in co-op, you will need to be in a major for at least one semester and complete a 1 credit co-op course before you can begin a co-op assignment.

If you are not interested in co-op, and you do not ultimately decide on one of the structured majors, you may have until the end of the spring semester of your sophomore year to declare a major.

All of this may seem overwhelming when you don't know what you want to do, so the key is to seek advice from your advisors in 1 Meserve and to actively begin exploring and researching potential majors early on.