When Should A Student Pick A Major?

As the spring semester begins, many families ask if their undecided student should be picking a major. Others ask if it’s OK if their student changes their major.

These are common questions. Many students are undecided or change their major while at UWM. In fact 21% of this year’s first-year class was undecided.

In general, students should declare a major by the end of their sophomore year to ensure they can still graduate in a timely manner while meeting all of their program requirements. A great place to begin is with take some self-assessments – https://uwm.edu/careerplan/career-assessments/, then the researching of majors and careers, then meeting with a career counselor.

But, each case is different and students should talk with a CPaRC counselor to help them navigate making a decision about their major and career path as well as their Academic Advisor (their current one assigned or one in the school/college they hope to declare in) about when to officially declare their major as each program has different requirements. For a student who isn’t sure where to start, here are a few tips.

• Review all the majors UWM has to offer (http://www4.uwm.edu/academics/programs.cfm)
• Research and Investigate Majors and Careers using tools offered by the Career Planning and Resource Center (https://uwm.edu/careerplan/research-major-careers/)
• Take Ed Psy-110: Planning Your Major and Career

Published Jan. 11, 2021