Design your own major
A degree program that's as unique as you
Having difficulty choosing between your passion for art history and your love of chemistry? Feeling faint at the thought of deciding between your lifelong obsession with music and your newfound interest in marketing?
At the University of Minnesota, you don't have to pick between two, or even three, majors that you find fascinating. Students who participate in the University's Inter-College Program (ICP) individualize their college experiences by designing their own majors. ICP students choose two or three areas of concentration from at least two of the University's colleges and combine them into one major program.
So, what is it like to participate in the Inter-College Program? Read about the experiences of two ICP program participants below--Ryan, a current student, and Michele, a 2005 graduate.
Student profile: Ryan Driscoll
Concentration in psychology and life sciences
Sophomore Ryan Driscoll has been passionate about animals for as long as he can remember. As a child, he took countless visits to the zoo and was a fervent reader of animal books. After working at an animal shelter in his hometown of Rochester, Minn., during high school, Ryan was certain that he wanted to work with animals as a career. His next step was to choose a college that allowed him to study animals and pursue his other academic interests.
"I chose the U of M because I knew they had good programs in music, psychology, biology, and animal science...all things I was interested in. But I wasn't sure if, or even how, I could combine them," says Ryan. Now, Ryan is studying ethology--the study of animal psychology and behavior--by combining psychology and life sciences courses in the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) and the College of Biological Sciences (CBS).
"When I first met with my adviser, she pushed me to think about today and tomorrow...It's that kind of direction that was so helpful in figuring out my academic path," Ryan says, adding that his major has given him the freedom to pursue any number of careers after graduation. For now, he's concentrating on his honors research about iconic American dog breeds and on landing his ideal internship--working with dolphins at the Minnesota Zoo.
Alumna profile: Michele French
Concentration in management and Spanish studies
"I had many interests and had a hard time narrowing them down to just one. That's why the Inter-College Program was perfect for me," says Michele of her decision to pursue an individualized major.
"I had the opportunity to do a lot of traveling growing up, which probably sparked my interest in learning a different language," says Michele, who knew that she wanted to incorporate business management and a second language into her degree. "My dual majors in Carlson School of Management and Spanish studies [in the College of Liberal Arts] provided a nice balance," she says.
Michele, like many U of M students, took advantage of the University's incredible study abroad resources to travel across the world and experience a new culture. She spent a semester abroad in Toledo, Spain and says that her experience was a vital part of the Spanish studies portion of her ICP degree. "It broadened my worldly knowledge and gave me a new sense of reality," says Michelle. "I wouldn't trade [that] experience for any other."
Planning a program
When crafting their degree programs, students are encouraged to think about their futures, reflect on their past experiences, explore academic options, and create a plan for success. Students work closely with an academic adviser to develop a structured and academically enriching degree program.
The Inter-College Program is an upper-division major, meaning that students apply to the program after completing four semesters of coursework, or roughly 60 credits. Prior to junior year of college, students applying to the Inter-College Program must work with an adviser to submit a proposal explaining why they are choosing to pursue an inter-college major, including a goal statement, an educational history, and a list of anticipated coursework.
The Inter-College Program is one of a few options for creating your own major at the University of Minnesota. Other opportunities for individualized study include the Bachelor of Individualized Study (BIS) and Individually Designed Interdepartmental Major (IDIM) in the College of Liberal Arts, and the Program for Individualized Learning (PIL) in the College of Continuing Education.
- Want to find out how you can design your own major in the Inter-College Program? Visit http://www.cce.umn.edu/icp.
- To learn more about study abroad, check out http://www.umabroad.umn.edu.
-Chelsy Quiram
