The process of becoming an English major begins by your asking a member of the English faculty to become your academic adviser. Generally, this person would be someone with whom you’ve already studied; if you’re at a loss for an adviser, consult with the Chair of the English Department for suggestions.

With your prospective English adviser, you then develop a plan for completing your major. The English Department has developed a form for this purpose, Plan for the English Major (pdf), which you should print out, read carefully, and complete before or during your meeting with your adviser. You might fill it out in pencil, in case you decide to make changes. On the form, we ask you questions about your tentative or not so tentative general future plans, explain our goals for your learning as a major, and then take you through the requirements with a few pieces of advice along the way. When you and your new adviser have agreed on your plan, please give a final copy to the adviser for inclusion in your advising folder and make a copy for yourself.

Take a look at 200- and 300-level Courses: Our Best Projection. It sets out our best projection each spring of courses that will be offered in the Department for the following two years. In thinking about your major, you might also find useful the comments of English alumni/ae on the Career Development Office site, Why Be an English Major?.

Because the "Plan for the English Major" is internal to the English Department, you also need to fill out the College "Declaration of Major and Comprehensive Academic Plan," which you obtain from the Registrar’s Office. This more comprehensive form asks for, first, a 100- to 200-word rationale of what you’ve done so far in the way of a liberal arts education and then the goals you set for yourself in your remaining semesters of study. Next, it takes you back over the courses you’ve already completed and forward to the courses you plan to take. Your prospective advisor will also work with you on this comprehensive plan.

The penultimate step in the process is to obtain the signatures of both your new adviser and the Chair of the English Department on the "Declaration of Major and Comprehensive Academic Plan"; those signatures indicate that each has reviewed your plan and tacitly approves it for completion of the major.

You should also bring your copy of your "Plan for the English Major" to your meeting with the Chair. Since the number of prospective English majors is fairly large, be sure to begin this process well before the deadline for a declaration of major so that you don’t find the necessary people can’t see you before you run out of time.

The final step is taking the form over to the Registrar’s Office before the deadline for the declaration of a major.