{"id":990,"date":"2025-05-12T11:28:42","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T16:28:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/pathway-advising\/?page_id=990"},"modified":"2026-03-26T12:12:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T17:12:28","slug":"declaring-a-major","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/pathway-advising\/student-resources\/declaring-a-major\/","title":{"rendered":"Declaring a Major"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"a0\">How and When to Declare a Major<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We recommend that Pathway Advising students complete at least one semester with us before declaring a major \u2014 we want to be sure you have an opportunity to settle in, explore options, and demonstrate a minimum level of academic success before moving on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you have decided on a major and have a UWM GPA of 2.00 or higher, we\u2019ll assist you with the process of declaring a major. &nbsp;(Please note that some UWM majors are selective, and may require specific classes, GPA, or a combination of requirements for declaration.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Declaring your major means that you\u2019ll progress from your metamajor pathway into one of the degree-granting undergraduate majors offered by UWM\u2019s Schools and Colleges. &nbsp;Consult with an advisor if you plan a double major, or want to pair your major with a minor or certificate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The steps towards declaring a major depend both on where you are in your overall enrollment process and what major(s) you\u2019ve decided to declare, but we encourage all of our students to declare a major sometime prior to the start of their second year (or third semester) of college work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"a1\">Declaring a Major in the College of Letters &amp; Science<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are declaring a major offered by UWM\u2019s College of Letters &amp; Science, you should first switch your affiliation to the college through the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/college-of-letters-and-science-change-of-program-request\/\">College of Letters &amp; Science Change of Program Request<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not sure if the major your intend to declare is in L&amp;S?&nbsp; Use&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/academics\/?_schools_and_colleges=college-of-letters-science\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">this filtered list of L&amp;S majors<\/a>&nbsp;on our Academic Programs page. &nbsp;(If you don\u2019t see your major on that list, your planned major is in a different UWM School or College \u2014 see \u201cDeclaring All Other Majors\u201d below.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once switched to Letters &amp; Science, talk with your new L&amp;S advisor to discuss the required steps to declare your chosen major.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"a2\">Declaring All Other Majors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are currently at a 2.00 GPA or higher and are ready to declare a major offered by any of UWM\u2019s other Schools and Colleges, your Pathway Advising advisor will help you with the declaration process. &nbsp;You can review&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/academics\/?fwp_schools_and_colleges=college-of-engineering-applied-science%2Ccollege-of-health-sciences%2Ccollege-of-nursing%2Chelen-bader-school-of-social-welfare%2Cjoseph-j-zilber-school-of-public-health%2Cpeck-school-of-the-arts%2Cschool-of-architecture-and-urban-planning%2Cschool-of-education%2Cschool-of-freshwater-sciences%2Cschool-of-information-studies%2Csheldon-b-lubar-school-of-business&amp;fwp_per_page=24\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">this filtered list of all non-L&amp;S majors<\/a>&nbsp;if you\u2019re not certain whether this process applies to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Steps:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Contact your Pathway Advising advisor to affirm your interest in a particular major.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Your advisor will send an alert to the UWM School or College that houses your major.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Monitor your UWM email for a response from the School or College.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you don\u2019t hear from a representative from that School or College after a week or so, please let your Pathway Advising advisor know so that we can follow up with your intended program.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"a3\">Newly Admitted Students<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes students apply to UWM as \u201cUndecided\u201d and later decide they\u2019d like to declare a specific major prior to attending orientation. &nbsp;If this is true for you, you can utilize the Change Your Major function in your UWM Admissions portal&nbsp;to request that our Admissions office re-review your application materials for consideration in your intended program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How and When to Declare a Major We recommend that Pathway Advising students complete at least one semester with us before declaring a major \u2014 we want to be sure you have an opportunity to settle in, explore options, and &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":0,"parent":981,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"class_list":["post-990","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pathway Advising<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how to declare a major at UWM, including requirements, next steps, and how Pathway Advising supports your transition.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/pathway-advising\/student-resources\/declaring-a-major\/\" \/>\n<meta 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