The Individualized Major Program is available to undergraduates in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) or the College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources (CAHNR). Acceptance into the Program is based on the submission of a formal application, for approval by the Individualized Major Advisory and Admissions Committee.
The application must include all items, including two faculty-advisor endorsements, before it can be submitted.
Before you apply to the program, you should do the following:
- Meet with a program advisor as early as possible. This advising meeting will allow you to learn more about the program and assess whether your interests are best met through an individualized major.
- Enroll in our one-credit, online gateway course, UNIV 2600 Individualized Study Across Academic Disciplines (recommended, not mandatory). This course will guide you through the application process and introduce you to how knowledge is organized in the university and to the opportunities and challenges of taking an interdisciplinary approach to learning.
Once you have applied to the program, the Admissions Committee makes decisions based on two broad criteria:
- Academic standing. You must be in “good standing” and have a GPA of 2.0 (for a major in CLAS) or 2.5 (for a major in CAHNR) in order to apply to the program. To graduate with an individualized major (in both CLAS and CAHNR), you must achieve a major GPA of 2.5. Therefore the Committee will consider whether you are likely to meet the GPA requirement for graduation.
- The coherence, rigor, and feasibility of the proposed major. The committee will evaluate whether the major theme (as presented in your statement of purpose) and plan of study form a cohesive and conceptually-sound degree. It will also evaluate the academic rigor of the major to make sure that it is on par with other majors at the university, and evaluate whether it can be completed as planned.
The individualized major plan of study needs to contain the following elements:
- A minimum of 36 credits of courses at the 2000-level or above, of which at least 18 must be from the college granting the degree (CLAS or CAHNR).
- Courses from at least two different departments.
- A research methods course in a discipline represented in the plan of study. Additional training in information literacy and research practice is provided through the capstone requirement.
- A capstone. The capstone requirement can be fulfilled by taking UNIV 4600W Capstone Course (offered by the Individualized Major Program) or UNIV 4697W Senior Thesis. An IMJR thesis is typically a year-long, six-credit research and writing sequence. More information is available on the Capstone page.
- A writing-intensive course in addition to the capstone.
- We also strongly encourage experiential learning such as study abroad, internship, research or other field experience.
Applications to are made here in the Quest Portal. The terms of use and privacy statements for this software apply to your use of it and to the information you provide in your application. Before proceeding with your submission, please review their terms and privacy statements linked below.
Individualized Major
The Individualized Major Program is available to undergraduates in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) or the College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources (CAHNR). Acceptance into the Program is based on the submission of a formal application, for approval by the Individualized Major Advisory and Admissions Committee.
The application must include all items, including two faculty-advisor endorsements, before it can be submitted.
Before you apply to the program, you should do the following:
- Meet with a program advisor as early as possible. This advising meeting will allow you to learn more about the program and assess whether your interests are best met through an individualized major.
- Enroll in our one-credit, online gateway course, UNIV 2600 Individualized Study Across Academic Disciplines (recommended, not mandatory). This course will guide you through the application process and introduce you to how knowledge is organized in the university and to the opportunities and challenges of taking an interdisciplinary approach to learning.
Once you have applied to the program, the Admissions Committee makes decisions based on two broad criteria:
- Academic standing. You must be in “good standing” and have a GPA of 2.0 (for a major in CLAS) or 2.5 (for a major in CAHNR) in order to apply to the program. To graduate with an individualized major (in both CLAS and CAHNR), you must achieve a major GPA of 2.5. Therefore the Committee will consider whether you are likely to meet the GPA requirement for graduation.
- The coherence, rigor, and feasibility of the proposed major. The committee will evaluate whether the major theme (as presented in your statement of purpose) and plan of study form a cohesive and conceptually-sound degree. It will also evaluate the academic rigor of the major to make sure that it is on par with other majors at the university, and evaluate whether it can be completed as planned.
The individualized major plan of study needs to contain the following elements:
- A minimum of 36 credits of courses at the 2000-level or above, of which at least 18 must be from the college granting the degree (CLAS or CAHNR).
- Courses from at least two different departments.
- A research methods course in a discipline represented in the plan of study. Additional training in information literacy and research practice is provided through the capstone requirement.
- A capstone. The capstone requirement can be fulfilled by taking UNIV 4600W Capstone Course (offered by the Individualized Major Program) or UNIV 4697W Senior Thesis. An IMJR thesis is typically a year-long, six-credit research and writing sequence. More information is available on the Capstone page.
- A writing-intensive course in addition to the capstone.
- We also strongly encourage experiential learning such as study abroad, internship, research or other field experience.
Applications to are made here in the Quest Portal. The terms of use and privacy statements for this software apply to your use of it and to the information you provide in your application. Before proceeding with your submission, please review their terms and privacy statements linked below.