<p>I put undecided as my major when I applied. If I get accepted when do I select my major. Also, does this mean I will have limited options when it comes to major choices and class selection.</p>
<p>I think you have until the end of your sophomore year to declare a major? You will not have limited options when it comes to major choices OR class selection, especially in your first 2 years. If you choose a major that is part of an LEP, you’ll need to apply and will have to have a good GPA in order to get into those. You’ll need to complete your CORE requirements with all the basic classes…assuming you are not coming in with a bunch of AP/IB credit, those classes will take up much of your classes early on anyway.</p>
<p>I don’t know but someone I talked to who didn’t enter as a Japanese major said that since majors are given first pick for it, he wasnt able to get into a certain Japanese class (I don’t know which) his freshmen year before he declared it as his major.</p>
<p>That may be the case for some majors such as languages, music/arts, etc., and some science/math classes specify that they are or are not for certain majors. However, the majority of CORE classes really don’t matter and if someone REALLY didn’t know what they wanted to major in, it wouldn’t be that bad.</p>
<p>When deciding which university you want to attend, after you get all your acceptances, you should go in and check the actual course schedule for the last couple of semesters, not just the online course catalog that just lists the descriptions of the classes. That way, you can see prerequisites, major/only classes, as well as the number and variety of different sections available for certain classes. </p>
<p>For Maryland, it’s in Testudo…
<a href=“http://www.testudo.umd.edu/ScheduleOfClasses.html[/url]”>http://www.testudo.umd.edu/ScheduleOfClasses.html</a></p>
<p>BTW, This is also a fun way to kill time while you agonize over when the decisions will be available…it’s amazing to see the vast number of different things that are available…</p>
<p>Our DS is required by the military to take 3 semesters of foreign language. His 1st choice was Persian, 2nd was Chinese, 3rd Russian, he was unable to get into any of those classes and had to go to German. Kokeshi is correct language majors get to choose 1st and since there aren’t alot of classes they fill up quickly. DS even waited until his soph yr to start hoping his number would be high enough to get in, the fact is that there are many others who also try to slide in that way and even as a soph the intro classes fill up quickly because those who are in that major get preference.</p>
<p>The foreign language department seems to have many more limitations in terms of the # of sections they offer, etc. D1 is a German minor, but came in with a really high # of AP credits (and high German placement), so she has never had a problem. </p>
<p>However, D2 is double majoring with one of her majors as Spanish. As an entering freshman, she had to waitlist to get the level of course she needed, and cleared the waitlist right before classes began. For this semester, although her credit hours gave her an edge on registration dates, she was not immediately able to register for -any- Spanish classes…She waitlisted for 3 different (300-level) classes, for something like 5 total options (for multiple sections), and she <em>is</em> officially a major… Before classes started this week, she cleared 2 waitlists, and is waiting until Friday to see if she clears for the class she most wants to take (she’s currently #4 on the waitlist for a class of 18 people…in the beginning she was #13). I think that the foreign language department, while the faculty is great, they don’t have the funding to offer more??? Either that or they experience a lot of people dropping when they realize that they are in over their heads, so this is their way of keeping full classes??? That’s all I can come up with…(She also has been given or come across at least 3 conflicting lists of what courses are required for a Spanish major, which is also a bit challenging right now for her). </p>
<p>We haven’t got a good answer to this one…</p>
<p>Wow this makes me nervous! As a (hopefully) incoming freshman majoring in Japanese, I know I would be really, really upset if I couldn’t take a course in subject I’m going to college to study in the first place 0.0</p>
<p>Keep in mind: waitlists aren’t the end of the world (though they may seem like it). If you do get on a waitlist – GO TO CLASS! A lot of students I know don’t go to class until they get into the class (or just end up dropping the class), and then you’ll be behind in all the coursework. Talk to the professor, explain you’re on the waitlist, and go to class. A lot of people drop foreign language classes in the first week, and the professor can request an override, and your advisor (should) be able to let you oversubscribe to the class as well. </p>
<p>I can’t speak specifically for Japanese, but a lot of the languages work the same at UMD (all under ARHU). There is hope… on Sunday, I was 10th on the waitlist for one of my Spanish classes, and I just got into the class an hour ago.</p>