Choosing a major is one of the most challenging decisions students will make during the course of your undergraduate career. The decision process can be a cause of great stress for many students. The Office of Undergraduate Academic Advising is here to help you navigate this process and choose a major that aligns with your career goals.
If you’re having trouble deciding on a major, here are a few steps you can take:
- First year students are encouraged to visit the Office of Career Education to meet with a Career Education Specialist. Consultations are available by appointment. For more information, call 304-696-2370 or contact career@marshall.edu.
- Career Exploration: Explore, Experience, Evolve is offered through the Office of Career Education and allows students to job shadow or conduct informational interviews with professionals in a variety of careers of interest. Complete an application to participate.
- If you have an idea of what major you would like to complete, but aren’t sure what career opportunities will exist after you graduate, you can visit What Can I Do With This Major? for more information about major and career exploration.
- Until you have chosen a major, be sure you are taking courses which will work towards your completion of the General Education Requirements. This way, no matter which major you ultimately decide to pursue, you will have already made progress toward graduation.
- The best resource for information about specific majors is the Undergraduate Catalog.
- If you need additional guidance, contact advising@marshall.edu.
An undecided student may remain undeclared until the semester in which he or she reaches 30 earned credit hours. At that point, a student will be required to select or declare a major prior to registration for the next semester.
Once you have made a decision on which major to pursue, you will need to officially declare that decision. While the proper steps to complete your declaration can vary by college, in general it is necessary to meet with your academic advisor to get the process started.
Your advisor will give you the necessary form(s) to complete, and direct you to the college in which your major is contained. There, you will need to have the forms finalized and submitted.
Please note, if your major declaration happens during an add/drop period, you may need to meet with your new advisor to create an updated schedule that meets your new program’s requirements.
Some majors require a certain level of academic progress before you can officially declare for that major. In these cases, you can still become a part of the college which offers the major. Once the additional requirements are completed, you will officially be recognized as majoring in that field. An example of this is within the College of Education and Professional Development: incoming freshmen and transfer students pursuing a teaching career, are designated as Pre-Teacher Education majors until some requirements are met.
The Undergraduate Catalog provides all the necessary policies and procedures for each major. It will guide you through the process, and what requirements need to be met before you can declare your major.
Once you are prepared to declare your major follow the steps outlined in the Student Guide to Intercollege Transfer.
*Conditionally admitted students are not eligible to declare a major until all conditional requirements have been met.