Selecting Courses

Once you have a theme and description in mind, the next step is to draft the list of courses that will constitute your major. This will mean a session with the Course Descriptions and your transcript.

First, go through your transcript and make a list of any courses already completed that relate to your theme. Then search for courses in the Course Descriptions. Start at the beginning of the course descriptions and search all the way through to the end, looking for departments and course descriptions that relate to your theme. You might be surprised by what some departments offer. Another approach is to use the Search box to locate keywords in the Course Descriptions. As you go along try not to edit too much. Add the courses you find, with their credits, titles, and any prerequisites, to the list you started from your transcript.

Add this to your theme and description and you have the first draft of your major.

Editing Your Course List

Organize the list of courses. Group related courses. Cross off some that are less central to your theme. Keep the following guidelines in mind as you edit your list of courses:

Your major must total at least 55 credits, including the 5-credit course INDIV 493: Senior Study. This is the minimum. Most acceptable Individualized Studies proposals include at least 70 credits of academic coursework.
The courses must be drawn from at least two different departments. There is no upper limit on the number of departments you can include.
At least 30 credits of your program, not counting INDIV 493, must be upper-division courses (i.e., 300- and 400-level). More than one (and usually all) of the departments included in your proposal must be represented by upper-division coursework. Again, this is the minimum, and most acceptable proposals include at least 40 credits of upper-division coursework.
Be sure you plan to take the prerequisites to any courses you include. List the prerequisites as part of your major only if they relate to the theme of your major.
There must be some balance among the departments you include in your major, particularly among the upper-division courses. For example, a major that consisted of 45 credits of sociology and 10 credits of communication would not be approved; it would be too similar to the existing sociology major. A major that included 25 credits of sociology, 20 credits of communication, and 10 credits of anthropology would be in better balance.
You may build some flexibility into your program by grouping courses and including a statement such as "four of these six courses." This is often a good idea if you are including courses offered infrequently, and/or courses with restricted access.
Remember to include courses which emphasize the theory, research methods, and history of a field as well as, if you wish, its practical applications.

A sample proposal for a Medieval Studies major is available, to show you what an Individualized Studies proposal should look like.

Restricted-Access Courses

Next to inventing a theme, the most difficult problem encountered by Individualized Studies majors is registering for courses. Unfortunately, including courses in your Individualized Studies major does not give you any special access to these courses. Many departments at the UW restrict some or all of their upper-division courses to students who have declared that major. If you include any of these courses in your program you can expect problems, ranging from minor complications in registering for the courses all the way to rejection of your Individualized Studies proposal. Some problem areas:

Business

Most of the space in upper-division business "core" courses, the specific courses every business major must take, is reserved for business majors. There are a number of upper-division business electives, however, that are sometimes more available to non-business majors. These are typically restricted to business majors in Period 1 and 2 registration and the remaining space, if any, is available in Period 3 to juniors and seniors with an add code.

If you include upper-division business courses in your Individualized Studies major, you can expect problems registering for almost every course. There is so much competition for some business courses that students are not allowed to include them in Individualized Studies majors. Other courses are relatively available.

Courses generally not allowed in Individualized Studies majors:

Accounting (upper-division) (ACCTG)
Finance (FIN)
Information Systems (IS)

Courses allowed, but space is limited:

Business Communications (B CMU)
Business Policy (B POL)
International Business (I BUS)
Management (MGMT)
Personnel (MGMT)
Marketing (MKTG)

If you plan to include business courses in your Individualized Studies major you should try to attend one or more summer quarters, when the courses are more available.

Another option is "Business Fundamentals," a 3-course sequence available to non-business majors. These courses are 3 credits each, and are offered autumn, winter, and spring, respectively. They are: 1) BA 470: Accounting; 2) BA 471: Marketing; and 3) BA 472: Human Resources.

Another option is "Business Advantage," a 10-credit, 4-week long summer course that covers finance, legal, negotiations, accounting, marketing strategy and human resources.

Communication

Several years ago, the Department of Communication eliminated its Broadcast program. Since there is little remaining coursework in this area, you will not be allowed to design Individualized Studies majors on these topics.

Currently, many COM courses are restricted to COM majors, and almost all COM courses fill rapidly. It is recommended that you include few, if any, COM courses in an Individualized Studies major.

Art

Art History courses are readily available. Studio art courses are not. With the exception of basic drawing, design, and photo classes, nonmajors are not allowed to take most studio art classes, and so you are generally not allowed to include these courses in an Individualized Studies proposal.

Computer science

Except for CSE 142, 143, and a series of upper-division courses intended for nonmajors (CSE 373, 410, 413, 415, 417), CSE courses are generally not available to nonmajors. Since the Information Systems courses in Business are also not available to nonmajors, it is not possible to design an Individualized Studies degree in computer studies, systems analysis, etc.

Law

Courses in the law school are not available to undergraduates. The only exceptions are special courses offered each summer by the School of Law on general-interest topics such as international law or community property. The topics are different each summer.

Foreign languages

Foreign language instruction is considered a skill, not an academic area. (Requirements for foreign language majors, for example, start at the 300 level, after you are considered to be relatively fluent in the language.) You may include foreign language instruction in your Individualized Studies proposal, but the courses will not be counted in the minimum 55 academic credits required unless they are 300-level or above and are integral to your theme. You are not allowed to pursue an Individualized Studies major that consists only of learning several languages.

Physical education/sports/athletic training

Although there is much student interest in these areas, the UW does not offer enough coursework for a major. Occasionally a student presents an Individualized Studies proposal consisting of the courses we offer in combination with courses transferred from another college. A few of these proposals have been accepted, but because of the difficulty in obtaining faculty sponsorship, students proposing majors in these areas are required to obtain faculty sponsors for the major proposal and for the senior study before the proposal for the major is approved.