Second-year students at Duke University expressed conflicting opinions about the core filing process, pointing to students' ability to access advisors and the time required to file.
Undergraduate students at Trinity College of Arts & Sciences may declare a major at any time during their sophomore year, but no later than the Friday before spring break. Undergraduate students in the Pratt School of Engineering declare their majors the summer before their sophomore year.
Students must complete two steps in DukeHub to officially declare their major. It is a what-if report and requires students to demonstrate that they will be able to complete their intended study plan throughout the remainder of their time at Duke University. Declaration form.
Once students have completed these steps, they will schedule an appointment with their academic advisor. The academic advisor reviews the student's plan and passes the student's plan to the Center for Academic Instruction for final approval. Students must then complete a pre-major advising survey.
Students who wish to change their major or add a minor or certificate after initial declaration must complete an Academic Plan Change Form.
Ariel Kim, a second-year biology major, said she started conversations about declaring her major with her advisor and that they were very important in streamlining the declaration process.
In contrast, second-year chemistry major Emily Post struggled to get a response from her advisor, who works three hours away at the Marine Research Institute in Beaufort, North Carolina.
“It would have been easier if he was on campus and I could have just shown up at his office,” Post said. “I have filled out everything [forms] My last in December…but there was a problem [contacting] my advisor [and making sure he was] on board. “
Amelie Coelho, a second-year psychology major who had previously declared herself a biomedical engineering student at Pratt, said students “don’t really get professional guidance. [they] declare. “
Coelho added that he observed disagreements among advisers based on discussions with friends.
“We all had to report a situation, and some of my friends [also had] “It was to write an essay about what we wanted to proclaim,” she said.
Although Kim found the main filing process to be “quick and easy,” she advises students not to postpone filing until the last minute to make sure they can meet all graduation requirements by the deadline. Told.
Post believes the key deadlines are “a little too late.”
“It was a bit of a shock,” she said, “because by the spring of my sophomore year, I already had a solid schedule of classes, and I was only halfway through my time at Duke.” “So at that point I thought, 'Oh, I might not be able to study abroad or do these things.'”
Post said filling out the What-If report was the first time she thought about each class and planned her schedule for graduation. She said that if she had been required to complete the What-If report sooner, she would have had to consider the remaining requirements more carefully and would have been able to take a “focused” approach when choosing classes. I added.
Coelho said of his experience moving from Pratt to Trinity that he thinks the deadline is quickly approaching “unless you know exactly what you want to do.”
Still, she agreed to set a deadline.
“I think I’m in a good position…all of my freshman year and half of my sophomore year, I have time to decide what I want to do,” she said. “It was really good for me. I was finally able to pick myself up and decide what path I wanted to take.”
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