Individualized Major at UPenn

While there are over fifty majors offered in UPenn’s College of Arts and Sciences, students can also design their own individualized major, as “The Daily Pennsylvanian” reports.

Did you know that you can decide your own major in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania? Well if you didn’t, you do now! Indeed for students who aren’t satisfied by the majors offered through the College of Arts and Sciences at Penn, they can come up with a whole new major of their own. It’s called the individualized major (an appropriate name for sure!). But of all of the students currently enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences at Penn, it’s interesting to note how many students are actually taking advantage of this rather interesting offering: one. Caroline Ohlson.

The individualized major in UPenn’s College of Arts and Sciences sounds cool. But it also sounds complicated if you ask us. There’s likely a reason only one currently enrolled student has opted to follow this path…

Ohlson is intersected in the business side of the entertainment industry and so she designed a major she calls “Arts, Entertainment and Popular Culture.” As reports Kelly Heinzerling for “The Daily Pennsylvanian,” “‘I have always loved music, film and TV and thought that I wanted to work in the entertainment industry,’ Ohlson said. ‘I felt there was nothing offered here that was really getting at what I was really interested in, which is the business and more practical sides of entertainment and arts.’ After struggling to find a major that fit her interests, Ohlson decided to submit an intensive application detailing the plans for her major in the spring of her sophomore year.”

From its description, it sounds very complicated for a student to design his or her own major. And, as an alum who completed the individualized major candidly points out in the piece in “The Daily Pennsylvanian,” there’s a whole lot of bureaucracy involved since each individual course change needs to be approved in advance. Indeed that student recommends current and future students avoid creating an individualized major and instead choose from the more than 50 majors and 80 minors already offered through the University of Pennsylvania’s College of Arts and Sciences. While creating an individualized major sure does sound cool, perhaps students would be happier and find their college experience a whole lot more enjoyable if they heeded this student’s advice. After all, there’s enough bureaucracy later in life. Who needs it in college?

What are your thoughts on the individualized major at UPenn? We’re curious to hear from you so post a Comment below and we’ll be sure to jump in on the conversation.