Graduate – Choosing a Major
Choosing a Major – Spring 2024
Your first important step on your journey is choosing a major. You will look at different available resources and once you have a grasp of what you want you can narrow it all down – no problem!
Explore, understand, and narrow down your choices!
Plan of Action
Start: January 01, 2023 | Complete: January 31, 2023
To setup your journey for success, follow the plan of action below. Do your best to follow the calendar dates indicated for maximum effectiveness.
January 1st to January 15th
Explore Majors.
You probably have a pretty good idea of the field of study you’re interested in. However, it may be called by different names.
As you explore different universities, your goal is to identify the major (specialization) you’re interested in pursuing.
Different institutions may have a different name for what essentially is the same major. Make note of these various names and be mindful while making your selection.
As an example, Master of Computer Science may be offered as Master of Arts in Computer Science, Master of Science in Informational Technology etc.
January 1st to January 15th
Understand Curriculum Details.
Now that you have a better understanding of universities and majors than you did earlier this month, you want to take a deeper dive to understand the curriculum details that each of these majors offer.
Your goal is to ensure that the major you’re interested in, does in fact offer the courses you want to study.
January 15th to January 31st
Narrow down to 2-3 Majors.
By now, you will likely end up with 5, 6 or even more majors that match the area of study you’re interested in. Based on your understanding of curriculum you will know subtle differences between them.
Your goal is to narrow this down to 2 to 3 majors that align closest to the area of study you’re interested in.
Depending on the field of study, not everyone ends up with 5 to 6 majors at the beginning on this step. If you just have 1, 2, or even 3, don’t think you’re doing anything wrong.
Wrap Up
Choosing a major is an important step. Now that you’ve made your selection you will need to determine which University you would like to attend.
January 1st to January 15th
Visit 10 – 15 University Websites.
Don’t just skim them. Spend an hour or two on each one of them to familiarize yourself with the details such as “About Us”, “Graduate”, “Academics” etc.
Your goal is to start getting a general sense of each of the universities.