UNIVERSITY STUDIES: A smart way to start
Sometimes new college students choose majors for the wrong reasons: they feel pressured to make a decision, they're worried that they don't have career plans, they feel they need to pick something that will help them make a lot of money, or they want to just select something off a list and be done with it. Most of the time, these students end up changing majors...sometimes more than once.
In University Studies, our specialty is working with new MSU students who want to explore their options before declaring a major. When students who begin in University Studies do declare a major, they tend to stay in that major at a higher rate than those who declare a major right away.
In University Studies, we help you with your major exploration in two ways:
Academic Advising
The advisors in University Studies are all professional advisors trained and experienced at working with students who are in the process of deciding on a course of study at MSU. They are acquainted with all the departments across campus and are familiar with the requirements of their majors. University Studies advisors are also experts at helping students do individual self-assessment in order to discover their personal and academic strengths, interests and goals.
Whether you are coming to MSU with a couple of ideas of what you might want to major in or no idea at all, our advisors will help you explore your options and decide on an academic program that is a good fit for you.
First Year Seminar
Most new students in University Studies will take US 101 First Year Seminar during Fall semester. US 101 is the University Studies version of the course that all MSU students will take to fulfill their core University Seminar requirement. US 101is limited to 18 students and is structured around a discussion format. Students learn academic ways of seeing the world through reading a range of different texts from ancient philosophy to contemporary social theory, developing their writing skills through composing academic papers, and working on individual research projects. Unique to the US 101 seminar is the exploration component: In this course, you can connect what you are learning to your individual interests and goals to help you discover the academic track that makes the most sense for you.
To learn more...
...about University Studies and how our program can help you get off to a successful start at MSU, take a look at the rest of our website or call us at 406-994-3532.
