Making Major Decisions
Does it seem that everyone else besides you knows exactly what they’re doing? Do your classmates all seem
set on their majors and their plans for the next four years? Are you feeling “major” anxiety?
Never fear. You are not alone. And there are ways to start figuring it all out. Here are some strategies for
choosing your major as you move through your Foundation year and beyond.
Explore yourself.
You are the best place to start! As you continue through this year, start a personal inventory that can be
related to majors. As your inventory grows you will gain insight into majors that might be a good match for
you. Consider some of these questions:
 Which projects have excited you and why? Equally so, which projects did not interest you, or
frustrated you, and why?
 Which skills do you already have, and which skills would you like to learn? Do you have affinities for
certain media?
 How do you like to work? As part of a group, for a “client”, or on your own? By independently
realizing your own vision or sharing ideas?
 What’s important to you in making art? Communication? Being an agent of change? Personal
expression/investigation?
 Do you like the structure of a particular curriculum or prefer something more free-form? Do you
want individual exploration or the challenge of a specific project?
The Foundation year’s curriculum offers all students opportunities to consider their options, learn new media
and ideas, and be exposed to differing approaches to art making and thinking about art. Your inventory will
likely change as you gain more experience, and your choice of major may then change as well.
Explore MICA.
Take what you’ve learned about yourself and start seeing how it aligns with MICA’s majors. There are lots of
paths to discovering more about majors. Some good, basic materials include the descriptions of each major
and its curriculum in MICA’s 2009-20011 Academic Bulletin and website, www.mica.edu . After that, try some
of these:
 Visit departments. Visiting the spaces can give you a good feel for the department, its students,
and faculty.
 Meet with faculty. If you’re interested in learning more about specific majors, try meeting with the
departmental chairs or other faculty who teach in that major. Go to the departmental offices to
learn how to get in touch with the faculty.
 Check out exhibitions. Every department exhibits work during the year and seeing the work
currently being made by students and faculty can give you ideas of how you might work within that
major.
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Talk with upperclass students. Your fellow students have a unique perspective on their majors.
Many of them have gone through the same process as you, so don’t be timid about approaching
them!
Attend departmental events. Many departments host lectures, programs, trips or other events
that may be open to everyone on campus.
Visit Career Development at MICA. See what kind of internship or job opportunities you might
have as a student within a particular major.
Explore beyond MICA.
You may already have ideas of careers post-MICA—or not! See how those ideas link up with the majors you
are exploring, or learn about career paths and job opportunities in those majors. Consider some of these
topics:
 Non classroom experiences. What kind of internships or outside projects might you do in this
major? What types of jobs might those experiences lead to?
 Educational requirements. What kind of education is required for your careers of interest? Is a
graduate degree necessary? Are there alternative paths to reaching that goal?
 Alumni directions. Career Development can show you what former students in these majors have
done since they’ve left MICA. This can provide a model for your own future.
Talk It Out.
Take what you’ve learned and share it with friends, family, your Elements teacher and other instructors. See
if they’ve noticed aspects of you and your work that might work well with specific majors. Ask about their
own experiences as students and their journeys to being professionals in their fields.
Now…Confirm Your Major.
All Foundation students declare their majors March 1st. If you are still undecided at that point you can stay
undeclared or try a major that you’ve considered with some of the above strategies. Just remember—you
can always change your major! It is not uncommon for students initially to declare one major, and then
change it sophomore – or even occasionally junior – year. Sometimes this requires additional semesters of
study but oftentimes it does not. You will find the major that best fits YOU!