Best Practices for Declaring Your Major

If you haven’t yet declared a major (or if you’re considering changing your major) these best practices and next steps are for you.

Most students declare your major on your application to King’s, even before you arrive on campus. That’s great. But what if you are undecided on a major? Or what if you’ve considered changing your major? There are a couple of best practices and next steps we encourage you to keep in mind.

First, new students are not required to declare a major until you’re registering for your second year at King’s. (This varies, of course, for transfer students.) Since students are primarily enrolled in core courses during your first semester or two, it’s not as essential to know your major in the first year as it is in subsequent years.

Second, if you’re considering which major to select, a good next step will be to look at the program maps for each major to determine which classes are required for each. The 2018-19 program maps can be found on the Advising page of the Student Portal.

When you do find your program maps, be sure to notice the prerequisites for each class. Prerequisites (or “prereqs”) are courses that must be completed before you can enroll in a related higher level course, and they are designated on program maps between the “<” and “>” symbols.

Third, if you’re not quite sure which major will best align with your potential career directions, you have options. Academic Advising or Career Development could be great places to start the conversation, or perhaps you’re already acquainted with a professor at King’s who works in an area similar to your aspired vocation. If so, that’s great. Reach out, and set up a time to meet. Otherwise, consider reaching out to Career Development (careers@tkc.edu) if your questions are more about how to identify what careers may be a good fit, and contact Academic Advising (advising@tkc.edu) if you’d like to explore the courses that compose a major and how that major may work with your degree audit specifically.

Fourth, when you’re ready to make a decision, make it official. You can do so by declaring a major, or changing your major, on the Advising page of the Student Portal. You’ll find the forms at the bottom of that page, and when you submit the form, it will be processed by the Registrar’s office.

Lastly, and regardless of whether you’ve already declared a major or plan to soon, be sure to come to the Advising Kick-Off today, Thursday, August 30, at 6:00pm in the City Room. Dinner will be provided, and we’re excited to introduce you to the advising process at King’s–including how to read your degree audit, program maps and more.