Take advantage of the activities listed below to enrich your college years. Discuss how to incorporate these activities into your education with your academic advisor, a Piper Center coach, or other faculty or staff.
First Year
- Explore your academic interests through intentional selection of varied courses and activities.
- Use multiple resources to maximize your undergraduate experience (advisors, student organizations and more . . .)
- To learn strategies for exploring various majors, attend a Choosing a Major Workshop through the Piper Center.
- Mid-year, evaluate your first semester and how your interests are developing. Meet with an advisor to discuss/clarify.
- Explore off-campus study options by attending an International and Off-Campus Studies open house.
- Plan for a productive summer. Consider your first year goals and identify what you need to clarify your interests and goals. Talk to a Piper Center coach about internships, employment, informational interviews, volunteering, and more.
Sophomore Year
- Develop a tentative timeline for gathering information and making decisions regarding your academic program.
- Meet with a faculty member in the major(s) that you’re considering.
- Focus your interests by studying one of them in more depth.
- Attend an Identifying Vocational Interests Workshop through the Piper Center to learn how your interests, personality, values and strengths are related to your academic goals and career options.
- Create an Experiential Learning Plan to complement your academic program in an individual meeting with a Piper Center coach. Be sure to include experiences that will help you clarify your goals and interests (research, informational interviews, job shadowing, off-campus study, internships, volunteer experiences).
- Plan for an international or domestic off-campus program that will complement your academic program. Talk to the staff of the International and Off-Campus Studies and your academic advisor about options.
- Explore connections between majors of interest and potential careers by using the Piper Center’s Majors and Careers web links.
- Officially declare a Major/Concentration/Emphasis with the Registrar’s Office. It is highly recommended that you declare a major by the end of your sophomore year; major declaration is required by the end of the first semester of your junior year.
- Consult with a faculty member in your major area(s) of study in order to plan coursework.
- Enhance your experience by selecting a summer job, internship, research, or volunteer opportunity related to your interests.
Junior Year
- Refine your Experiential Learning Plan in light of your identified academic goals.
- Discover how your interests and skills apply to the world of work; use the Assessing and Exploring Careers web links on the Piper Center’s student page.
- Complete an academic internship, or another experiential learning activity, related to your academic goals.
- Engage in independent study or research to enhance your experience in your field (highly recommended if planning graduate study).
- Network with people who work in a field of interest to you; use Alumni Resources to identify alums in fields of interest.
- Research multiple career options to find best fit by engaging in focused informational interviewing.
- Identify education and/or additional skills necessary to your field of interest; begin to research graduate school options.
- Complete your identified off-campus study program. Upon your return, reflect on how your experience impacted your academic and career goals.
- Be able to articulate what you’re studying and why, and the skills you’ve developed through your academic and experiential learning.
Senior Year
- Review your Senior Degree Audit, available at the Registrar’s Office during the Fall, in terms of graduation and general education requirements; consult with the Registrar’s Office with questions or problems.
- Complete the Graduation Application and the Name Pronunciation forms, available at the Registrar’s Office, in October.
- Consult with your academic department(s) regarding completion of your major requirements.
- If you haven’t already done so, consider an independent study or independent research as part of your course load.
- Define post-graduate goals and create an action plan for your senior year.
- Attend Piper Center workshops, events related to your goals.
- Research employment, post-graduate volunteer, or grad school options and start applying.
- Understand the skills employers and graduate/professional schools seek; be able to articulate your skill set.
- Be able to market your skills and education to employers through a targeted resume and well-honed interview skills.
- Be open to possibilities; be proactive and continue assessing your options.