UNDECIDED MAJOR
at Meredith College
Entering as an undecided major, you will explore your academic interests through Meredith’s general education program and have the opportunity to receive personalized advising to help you find the right major for you and your career goals.
“I was opened up to opportunities I would not have known about such as careers and majors, along with my own potential.”
Discover the Right Path for You
Many students enter college as undecided majors. A recent survey by Ellucian found two-thirds of students feel overwhelmed with the process of selecting a major. And even students who enter knowing their major change their minds – more than half of students change majors at least once.
College is a time to explore your strengths and passions. Luckily, Meredith College has plenty of resources, such as Academic Advising, StrongPoints®, and the Student Success Center, to help you do so. Whether it’s deciding what classes to take, what major best suits you, or what career you should pursue, Meredith will assist you every step of the way.
About Undecided Majors
At Meredith, our dynamic general education program, Core Connections, gives every student a firm foundation in the liberal arts and sciences, world citizenship, and academic research. As an undeclared major, you will be able to explore several areas of interest while making progress in completing graduation requirements.
You will be encouraged to declare your major any time after your first semester. You may complete up to two years of study at Meredith before declaring a major.
To declare a major, you will consult with the department head or other faculty in your chosen field of study and submit a Declaration of Major form to the Office of the Registrar.
Academic Advising
At Meredith, we have academic advisors for all students. You’ll build relationships with your faculty advisor, student advisor, and academic advisor to create and achieve your personal academic goals.
As an undeclared major, your academic advisor can help you identify academic areas of interest to find the right major for you. You’ll also be paired with an upper-level student who will introduce you to Meredith student life and traditions, support you in developing an academic plan, and act as a mentor to you.
Upon declaring your major, you will be assigned a faculty advisor within your program of study who you will work with for the remainder of your time at Meredith.
Learn more about Academic Advising
StrongPoints®
Meredith provides, at no cost to you, a unique advising and personal coaching model that begins even before you start orientation. StrongPoints helps identify your CliftonStrengths®. You’ll learn how those strengths can help you shape your academic goals, your experiential involvement, financial planning, and career choice.
Student Success Center
Every Meredith student has access to the Student Success Center (SSC). The SSC is committed to maintaining a culture of care and support for all students. The Center provides advising, success coaching, peer tutoring, and mentoring.
Success Coaching has been proven to have a positive impact on retention and graduation rates, students’ GPAs, time management, study skills, self-awareness, and goal-setting.
Yes! Being undecided about your career interests is fine – because that’s where the Office of Career Planning (OCP) steps in. Career planning begins during your first year and OCP can assist you in selecting a major, assessing your skills and talents, securing internships, and participating in mock interviews.
Yes. The self-designed, or contract, major allows highly focused and motivated students to design a unique course of study. This option is ideal if you would like to combine coursework in several disciplines or pursue a specific topic in depth within or across disciplines.
All self-designed majors must be approved by the Academic Council, which oversees the curriculum at Meredith.
Strong Stories
Mei Li Moo King, ’23, is a planner with an aptitude for mathematics. As an international student at Meredith, she found opportunities to explore her interests and, with minors in statistics and data science, accepted a position after graduation at Credit Suisse as a risk analyst.
Transferring to Meredith College was the best decision for Laura Anne Hatcher, ’17, who built self-confidence and strength during her time at Meredith.
Emily Kelleher found support in developing her long-term plan through the general education program and StrongPoints.
