Prepare to Declare Your Major!
You will be assigned to an academic adviser based upon the major you indicate on the One Book website. Please check below for more information and to see if additional steps are required to be admitted to your major.
Important Policies to Know
1. 30 credit policy
In accordance with university policy, if you are transferring 30 or more credit hours to JMU, then you must choose a major. If you have fewer than 30 credit hours, and are undecided about your major, then you may choose Undeclared. All students who declare a major will be advised by a faculty member from that department.
2. Being undeclared
If you choose Undeclared, your adviser will be a staff member in Career and Academic Planning who will assist you in the process of choosing a major.
How to choose a major
There's a lot to consider when choosing a major. That's why we've provided a huge amount of information right here. It's all here: majors, careers, requirements, pre-requisites, degrees, etc… You name it and there's probably a link to it below. Please read this information carefully prior to making your decision.
Your JMU transfer credit evaluation and your JMU major will help your academic adviser make course recommendations to you so that you can pre-register during Transfer Springboard. If you have received an appropriate Associate degree from a Virginia Community College, then you will have fulfilled JMU's General Education program requirements and the courses you register for at Transfer Springboard will be courses that help you to progress through major, degree and/or pre-professional and minor requirements.
Please note: Some majors at JMU require that you declare the major and/or that you be fully admitted to the program before you can take any courses in that major. Other majors require you to fulfill course pre-requisites and additional admission standards before you are fully admitted as a major. A list of all JMU majors and admission and progression standards can be seen here in early April.
First: Consider the following when choosing a major
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Interested in Business? You must select one of the majors in that college. |
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Some majors sound alike, but are very different. Click here to learn more. |
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Interested in Studio Art, Music or Musical Theatre? You must submit a portfolio for review and be fully admitted into the Studio Art program before you can declare the major and take studio art courses. For more information on portfolio review dates on the JMU campus go to the following link: http://www.jmu.edu/art/.
You must pass an audition for admission to the School of Music or the Music Theatre and Dance concentrations in Theatre and Dance.
Interested in Media Arts and Design? Media Arts and Design (SMAD) admits a limited number of majors in March of each year. If you wish to apply to the program in January 2009, you will need to declare SMAD and enroll in SMAD 101. This is the only course available to you prior to being admitted into the major. For more information please go to the following link: http://smad.jmu.edu/. |
Second: Consider which subject areas interest you
Third: Gather information
Click on the majors of interest to link to information about the major including admission and progression standards for the major, a description of the major, types of related career fields, questions and answers about the major, etc.
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Fourth: Pre-Professional programs
Fifth: Being undeclared
If you choose Undeclared, your adviser will be a professional staff member in Career and Academic Planning who, over the course of your first year, will assist you in the process of choosing a major. Career and Academic Planning offers a number of programs and resources to help students identify major and career options that best fit with their values, interests, and abilities. For more information on these programs, visit www.jmu.edu/cap and click on Choosing a Major/Career.
Sixth: Teacher Education
programs
You should major in the discipline associated with your specific teacher licensure area of interest. Please refer to the table below.
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Teacher Licensure Area |
JMU Undergraduate Major |
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Art Education |
Art |
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Early Childhood Education |
Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies |
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Elementary Education 1 |
Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies |
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Middle Education 1 |
Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies |
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Music Education |
Music |
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Physical and Health Education 1 |
Kinesiology |
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Secondary Education 1, 2 |
Select the major that represents your content area of interest |
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Special Education 1 |
Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies |
1 These are five-year teacher licensure programs with a required master's degree.
2 Students who wish to pursue teacher licensure in secondary education should select one of the following majors: Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, English, History, Math, Modern Foreign Languages (French, German, Russian or Spanish), Physics, Political Science
Seventh: Sound alike majors
Communications
• Communication Sciences and Disorders
• Technical and Scientific Communication
Computing
• Computer Information Systems
International