Choosing a Major

The Explore Program (EXP): An Undeclared Advising Program

Undeclared students have the option to participate in the Explore Program (EXP), a targeted advising initiative for undeclared or undecided students who need additional guidance on how to change or declare a major. EXP uses intentional, cross-campus collaborations to help students decide on a major that fulfills them academically, professionally and personally.

EXP helps students accomplish this by:

• Exploring potential topics of interest through one-on-one and group advising sessions
• Encouraging students to reflect on their experiences both inside and outside of the classroom
• Connecting students with offices on campus to create a Stonehill safety net of support
• Developing an academic action plan to see academic goals to fruition
• Enrolling students in a one-credit, applied learning course to further guide their academic reflections

Exploratory Students

Incoming undeclared, first-year students are automatically connected with a professional advisor in the OAS who will serve as their primary academic advisor and guide them through the EXP process.

Undecided Students

For current upper-class students (sophomores, juniors and seniors) who have yet to declare a major, or are considering a major change, EXP offers structured support to guide students through the major exploration process.

One-Credit Course

Students can enroll in a one-credit course that will provide further guidance on ways to select a major while earning credit toward graduation.

Know Your Options

Start With the Basics

What majors does Stonehill offer? Explore our areas of study to get a better sense of what each major entails. If you're starting from scratch, it can be useful to begin by eliminating those you know are definitely off the table.

Review the Required Courses

Look into each course of study by major as laid out in the Hill Book. Do these courses interest you?

Use the myAudit Function in myHill 

Current students should use MyAudit, which allows you to play with "what if" scenarios and reconfigure the classes you have already taken into a new major. You'll see how it affects your degree progress and view specifically which courses you have left to take. (Go to myHill > myAcademics > myAudit)

Consider Creating Your Own Major

If you can't find a major that works for you, creating your own interdisciplinary studies major might be an option. You will need to create a proposed course of study in consultation with a faculty advisor and the program coordinator. This will, again, be a collaborative experience that provides oversight and guidance for selecting and/or creating a major. 

Choosing a Major and/or Concentration

To learn more about choosing a major and/or concentration, please visit the Registrar's Office.

Know Yourself: Resources to Help you Define Your Goals

There are two online self-assessments you can take, which can help you evaluate major options and direct you to careers compatible with your personality and interests. Visit the Career Development Center to access these assessment tools.

Take the Strong Interest Inventory

You take the Strong Interest Inventory on your own time, and then meet with a trained Career Planning Program student intern. This intern will review the results of your assessment and connect you with resources on campus based on the outcome of your conversation.

Take the FOCUS-II

This assessment takes approximately 40 minutes, and you can spend additional time researching different occupational choices, and checking out the 300+ occupational videos. You do not have to do the assessment all at once; it is self-paced and you can log back on to FOCUS at any time.

Explore Online Resources

There are a number of great websites connecting majors to careers. You can take a bottom-up approach (look at particular majors and how they connect to careers) or a top-down approach (look at particular careers and see what majors usually enter them).

Check out Handshake 

The Career Development Center teamed up with the folks at Handshake to bring you a new experience in searching for jobs, internships and mentors. You can access your Handshake profile from any computer or mobile device.

Use Career and Industry Profile Websites

• Becomeopedia
• The Occupational Outlook Handbook (maintained by the U.S. Department of Labor)
• What can I do with this major?

Talk to People and Get Out There

People to See

Contact the Office of Academic Services & Advising to discuss options and strategies for selecting your major.

• Other students: Talk with peer mentors, TAs, tutors and friends.
• Professors – Talk with your professors, especially if you are looking for advice on graduate school programs … they all did one! Department chairs are great to start with if you are thinking of joining a major.
• Academic Advisors – You have an assigned advisor for your major(s). If you prefer, you can make an appointment with a professional advisor in the Office of Academic Services & Advising at any time (Duffy 104; 508-565-1306).
• Career Counselors – If you want to explore how majors relate to careers fields, make an appointment with a counselor in the Career Development Center (Kruse Center in Cushing-Martin Hall; 508-565-1325).

Things to Do

• Contact Career Development to discuss job shadowing, internships and occupational interviews.
• Job Shadows – A job shadow is usually short-term – anywhere from a day to a month – and is not done to gain experience in a certain field, but rather to witness a certain profession firsthand.
• Internships – An internship (usually about 3 months long) not only makes you more marketable as a job candidate, but gives you the opportunity to gain greater understanding about your chosen field.
• Informational Interviews – Informational interviews allow you to ask for career and industry advice from someone in the field. It allows you to ask the questions you need to know in order to gather information on the field.