Declare Your Major
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UNDECIDED? All first-year students enter Linfield without declared majors and are considered “undecided.” Transfer students who are undecided are assigned a faculty advisor who will assist them in course selection and exploring their interests. Below are some additional resources that can help you understand and explore
Assess your Interests, Personality, Skills/Abilities and Values
Start with making a list:
- Activities that you enjoy and interests you choose to pursue
- Classes you enjoyed - and why you enjoyed them
- Things that are important to you – that you value and/or motivate you
- Things that you are good at
- Majors that you think you may enjoy
- Majors that you know you don’t want to pursue
Research majors of interest: Consider your lists. Based on the information that you’ve written about yourself, begin researching majors by:
- Consulting your faculty advisor
- Meeting with faculty advisors in departments of interest
- Taking exploratory classes
- Reading the catalog sections on majors/departments of interest
Explore career opportunities in your majors of interest: As you consider careers opportunities, ask yourself questions including:
- What are the tasks performed by this occupation?
- Will I be happy doing this kind of work?
- What education does this career require?
- How much money will this career pay? Is this important?
- What is the future of this career?
- What are the normal work hours?
Additional Resources for Career Exploration
- Visit the Office of Career Development in Melrose 010
- Initiate informational interviews with professionals in your field(s) of interest
- Complete an internship. The Office of Career Development has information about all types of internships
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WHEN TO DECLARE A MAJOR All Linfield students must declare a major upon completing 45 semester credits. Students who have reached this credit limit without declaring a major will be blocked from the next semester’s registration until a major is declared.
Transfer students typically declare a major upon enrolling at Linfield and are assigned a faculty advisor in the department of their major.
First year students are able to declare their major and/or switch advisors after they have registered for their second semester/term at Linfield (typically after the November registration cycle). Transfer students will typically declare their major prior to arriving at Linfield.
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HOW TO DECLARE A MAJOR Complete the Etrieve Declaration/Change of Academic Program form online.
For current students declaring a major, the most up to date way to identify a new faculty advisoris to check the faculty listings in the catalog section for their new major.
- It is most common for students to change advisors at the same time they are declaring a major or minor.
- Students are recommended to have a faculty advisor for each major and minor they declare.
- Students need approval from faculty before they can add them as advisors. More information will be provided when filling out the declaration form.
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HOW TO SWITCH MAJORS AND/OR FACULTY ADVISOR Students are welcome to switch majors at any time after their first semester as long as they find a new advisor in that field who agrees to work with them. The change is made by completing the Etrieve Declaration/Change of Academic Program form online. Once Academic Advising processes this change, the student’s advising information will be forwarded to the new advisor.