Declaring a Major
In addition to completing 32 credits (with an average above a 74), every student must complete a major to graduate!
Organized by Meghan Jain BA '18, MA '19
At first glance, it may seem like Wesleyan doesn’t have a lot of graduation requirements; the open curriculum is designed to provide students with flexibility in their schedule and encourage students to explore Wesleyan’s vast curriculum. Since each major has its own set of requirements, it is important to take the time to plan out your major as it is a key component of your academic journey.
Explore some of the other ways to supplement your academic experience here at Wesleyan.
Tips for Declaring a Major
- Check out the major declaration website!
- Questions? Concerns? Need some help with the major declaration process? Please do not hesitate to reach out to a peer advisor at peeradvisors@wesleyan.edu.
- Planning
- In your first and second years:
- Take intro classes for majors you might be interested in
- Make a list of potential majors and look into their requirements
- Do you need to complete your gen eds for that course of study?
- Do you need to go abroad for that major?
- Do you need to apply for that major? (see timeline below)
- In your first and second years:
- Timeline
- You must declare a major before pre-reg for your junior fall semester (usually by April in your 2nd semester of sophomore year). Check out the Registrar's Calendar for specific dates.
- There are a few majors that require you to apply, and some that require early declaration
- The Film Studies (FILM) major requires you to apply during your second year
- These majors require you to apply during your first year
- College of East Asian Studies (CEAS)
- College of Letters (COL)
- College of Social Studies (CSS)
- Minors and Certificates
Minors generally consist of fewer classes than a major. There are minors available in subject areas that do not even have a major at Wesleyan.
Certificates include courses from many different departments and programs. For each certificate, there are model curricula that are provided to help students navigate the certificate.
- Get Help!
- Your faculty advisor
- Department chairs, and (some) department peer advisors
- Current majors
- Academic peer advisors
- The Gordon Career Center
- Timelines for majors
- Some major websites have examples of how to navigate the coursework for the major
- Planning your courses
- Browse through WesMaps!
- Use your faculty advisor and the peer advisors to discuss your academic goals and how you can achieve them by planning your classes well!
- Picking a major
- Have an interest but don’t know how to fit it into a major? Reach out to the Career Center or a peer advisor about how you can pursue interests, whether it be through a combination of majors, minors, and certificates, community outreach, or employment and internship opportunities.