For many students, coming to college knowing what career they envision puts enough pressure on their shoulders.
For Jenni George, financial pressures have been piled on top of an academic need to succeed.
George, a freshman studying pre-nursing, is considering changing her major to applied nutrition after falling in love with science courses related to dietetics, but would be a semester behind students who came to OU with a declared major.
“I am kind of stressed to be a semester behind,” George said. “I'm paying for college on my own, so it's hard to see a semester's worth of tuition basically just go down the drain.”
Paying for college out of her savings, George, a first-generation college student, believes the transition into her new program will be fairly simple and plans to declare her major sometime next semester, but is still worried about meeting the major’s requirements.
“I am definitely concerned because I'm afraid it will be hard to catch up,” said Libby Evans, a freshman who is undecided.
Evans, unlike George, came to OU as a member of University College, a college designed to help undecided students acclimate to college life and choose a major.
“I think (University College) was the right choice because going into college I had so many different ideas of what I wanted to do, so it was good having that time to decide without feeling rushed,” Evans said.
As for cost, Evans said she was concerned but still felt coming to OU undeclared was the right choice.
“I think as long as I'm headed in the direction I need to go then (the cost is) just something I'm going to have to accept,” Evans said. “At this point, I'm just happy I've decided what I want to do so I don't have to continue taking classes I'm not interested in.”
Besides the Honors Tutorial College, changing or declaring a major is universal for students across campus, said Greg Lester, assistant dean for University College.
Though this process leads to different experiences in different colleges, Lester added, University College has a common experience designed to help students “launch their college careers.”
Learning communities and a freshman seminar are at the core of introducing undecided students to OU’s various majors and minors, while helping them better handle the college experience, Lester said, though any freshman at OU can participate in a learning community.
Academic advising, which Evans and George both said proved helpful in declaring or changing majors, is also key to students making the right decision for their academic future, Lester said.
“I do not expect transferring or changing majors to be more difficult on semesters than on quarters,” Lester said.
OU’s admission requirements for selective majors have stayed the same, Lester said, while students will take two fewer courses under the semester system each year.
“Students will still be able to complete degree requirements in four years if they declared a major early, take classes according to advisor recommendation and make steady academic progress,” Lester said.
dd195710@ohiou.edu
