College Counseling: Colleges Where You Can Design Your Own Major

Monday, June 15, 2015

Emily Standish, GoLocalPDX College Admissions Coach

Liberal arts colleges and major universities, both, are places of broad discovery for students. They enter as first-year students who have often been constrained to predictable core subjects in high school, sometimes having had very limited exposure to electives. In college, their world expands in ways they couldn’t have imagined: students find mentors in disciplines that they didn’t know about and develop interests that can lead to a specially designed major specific to career goals. In many colleges and universities, it is possible to combine interests into a major unique to the student’s interests. Some colleges pave the way with departments designed to support students as they identify areas of interest and design an academic plan with the help of a faculty advisor. Some individually designed majors might be: Neuroscience, Human Behavior, and Sociology; Music Promotion; Environmental Racism; Biomechanical Design; Law, Energy, and Sustainability….the list is as long as the passions of globally-aware, entrepreneurial, creative college students.

Here are five schools that encourage students, through institutional support and advising, to design their own major:

Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

Interdivisional Programs and Concentrations allows students to create plans of study that integrate the content and methodology of multiple fields of interest.
Ten interdisciplinary majors and 14 interdisciplinary minors along with 24 standard majors create hundreds of combinations such as Political Studies and Medieval Studies, Literature and German Studies, Photography and Human Rights.
By the numbers: Undergraduate enrollment 2000; SAT Mid-Ranges: CR 600-710, M 570-670; ACT Mid-range: Bard College is test-optional.

Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University, New York, NY

In an Intellectual Autobiography and Plan for Concentration, students articulate the academic plans which they will refine over the course of their undergraduate academic career. Students consult with their advisers to develop a program of study organized around a theme, problem, activity, period of history, area of the world or some central idea.
Gallatin’s Community Learning Initiative offers courses that bridge the gap between the classroom and the community by offering students the opportunity to engage in a variety of action-study projects based in New York City.
By the numbers: Undergraduate enrollment: 22,600 (NYU), 1530 (Gallatin); 32% acceptance rate; SAT Mid-ranges: CR 640-730, M 630-740; ACT Mid-range: 28-32.

Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA

The Individual Major (self-designed) requires students to develop an integrated plan of study that incorporates course work from a minimum of two departments or fields and culminates with a senior capstone project that demonstrates the interrelationships among the fields in the major.
Because senior Interdisciplinary Studies majors are conducting amazing individualized research, they frequently have opportunities to present their work at national conferences.
By the numbers: undergraduate enrollment: 2500; 42% acceptance rate; SAT Mid-ranges: CR 600-690, M 600-680; ACT Mid-range: 19-29. Gettysbury College is test-optional.

Miami University of Ohio, Oxford, OH

The Individualized Studies major at Miami offers students the chance to develop their own plan of study by integrating a set of core classes with courses in almost any area of study, culminating in a student-designed project that positions students for entry into graduate school or the workplace.
First-year students study within the Global Miami Plan for Liberal Education, followed by sophomore and junior years in coursework and research around a contemporary issue or problem, followed by a senior capstone project on the chosen topic.
By the numbers: Undergraduate enrollment 15,500; 67% acceptance rate; SAT Mid-ranges: CR 540-650, M 580-680; ACT mid-ranges: 25-30.

University of Redlands, Redlands, CA

The Johnston Center for Integrative Studies brings together students who live and learn together in a complex comprising two residence halls, 15 faculty offices, classrooms, a coffee house, and community spaces.
The Integrated Semester in Oaxaca, Mexico, is designed to bring together Johnston and Redlands students in a 12-week exploration of language immersion, community involvement, along with class time focusing on anthropological and sociological perspectives.
By the numbers: undergraduate enrollment 3600 (Redlands), 200 (Johnston Center); SAT Mid-ranges: CR 510-610, M 520-620; ACT Mid-range: 23-27.

Other colleges and universities that offer students a path to design their own major include Drexel University (PA), Hamilton College (NY), Hampshire College (VT), Hanover College (IN), Marlboro College (VT), Sarah Lawrence College (NY), University of Idaho, University of Maryland, University of Massachusetts/Amherst, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, University of Rochester (NY), University of Washington, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Emily Standish is a partner in Portland, Oregon-based College Admission Coach LLC which helps students identify and gain admission to right-fit schools where they will thrive academically and personally. Contact me at [email protected].