My freshman year of college, when I would go through the cliché introduction questions, people would always ask me “What’s your major?”, to which I would reply “I don’t know yet! I’m in the Exploratory Program.” They would always look puzzled, then ask “What do you mean? What is that?”, and I would have to explain what the Exploratory Pathways program was. I realized, after many of these interactions, that people aren’t aware of what the Pathways Programs are or what they do, and since I loved my time in the program so much, I figured I should educate the people, because maybe someone has no clue what they want to do for a major (it can feel like a lot, I know). So, let me make it easy for you and explain what the Exploratory Program is and how it works.
So, for those who don’t know, Ithaca College offers a series of programs called Exploratory Pathways. What that entails is that you come into college without a declared major, and you work with your advisor to figure out what major you want by taking courses from different schools and majors.
There are four sections of the Exploratory Program: Business Pathways, Humanities and Sciences Pathways (also known as H&S), Park Communications Pathways, and Pre Health Professions Pathways. I was in the Humanities and Sciences Pathways, and that meant I could freely take any course I wanted in the Humanities and Sciences, while also taking courses in areas I was interested in from other schools within the college.
I eventually ended up declaring my major at the end of my freshman year (BA Theatre Studies, if anyone wants to know). But in the program, you can wait to declare up to the end of your sophomore year, or specifically when you get 60 credits. At that point, you must declare a major and switch into said major. I luckily got out of that stressful situation before it happened, but it really emphasizes that figuring out what your major is your primary focus.
Now, if I was going to talk about all of the things I like about the Exploratory Pathways program, we would be here all night, so I will summarize the main points for you lovely readers:
- It is flexible. The entire point of the major is to provide you with support to figure out your major, and that can allow you to be very flexible with your schedule and what classes you want to take. It is also flexible in the sense that you can try many different things and still be cushioned by the program.
- “Get out of Jail Free Card.” You can take almost any class in your Pathways School and most basic level courses from other schools within the college. You can submit an override request to get into courses that are major specific as well, but it’s not guaranteed that you will get in.
- Great support system. In my entire time in the program, I never had a moment where I felt like I was alone in figuring out my major. If I was confused or stuck I felt like I could always reach out to my advisor or friends or my seminar teacher.
- Not a big deal to not have a major. I never felt like it was that bad that I hadn’t picked my major yet, because I was in the process of figuring out my major and nobody made me feel rushed when making my decision, which was a great relief.
The only con that I can think of was what happens when you finally pick a major. Each major has a set amount of courses that you have to take to get the degree. Unfortunately, since in the Exploratory program focuses on putting your eggs in all the baskets, that doesn’t allow you to accumulate the credits you would have gotten from that major, so you may have to crunch the major into a shorter timeframe, or, if you pick a BFA or similar intensive major, you would have to add an extra year to complete the major. In my opinion, it is worth it because you would be studying what you want to.
I am grateful for my time in the Exploratory Program, because it helped me focus and discover what I wanted to study in college. All the friends and faculty I met helped point me in the right direction for what I wanted to pursue, and I can’t think of a program better than that.
So if you are sitting here, reading this and thinking to yourself, “I have no clue what I want to major in in college,” just remember that it’s okay not to know right now, and that you can figure it out as you go. Like a friend of mine said: “At the end of the day, we are all on a rock floating in space. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t know right now. The exciting part is when you finally figure it out.”