Skip to content

Exploring Interests & Majors

 

LEARN ABOUT YOURSELF

  • Connect with the Student Career Center (SCC) and meet with a career specialist

 

 

  • Continue to reflect on your interests, values, and strengths
    • Explore your interests:  What kind of work do you enjoy doing?
    • Understand your values:  What kind of impact do you want to make on the world?
    • Embrace your strengths:  What are you naturally good at?

 

EXPLORE MAJORS

 

 

  • Explore the UC Merced Catalog
    • Select Academic Programs in the left column to browse:
      • Requirements for every major and minor at UC Merced
      • Sample 4-year graduation plans in each major
    • Select Course Descriptions in the left column to read about classes in different departments

 

 

  • Review requirements for your intended major using MyDegreePath (MDP)
    • Learn more about using MDP
    • Under the Audits tab, use the function to Select a Different Program to run "What If" audits for majors of interest
    • Under the Audits tab, use the Program Matcher to explore majors suggested for you based on courses you have already completed
    • Use the Plans tab to create preliminary graduation plans for different majors

 

RESEARCH CAREER OPTIONS

  • Learn from career and industry experts

 

 

 

 

ENGAGE IN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT-RELATED ACTIVITIES, NETWORK, AND EXPAND YOUR RESUME

 

  • Expand your leadership skills
    • Attend the UC Merced Leadership Conference on Saturday, September 24, 2022
      • Annual conference for students in all majors and class years held each September
    • Bobcat Leadership Seminar
    • BOLD:  Black Students Organizing for Leadership & Development
    • EMPOWER:  Womxn's Leader Development Program
    • LEAD Pre-Health
    • Yosemite Leadership Program
    • Apply for the University of Chicago Becker Friedman Expanding Diversity in Economics Summer Institute
      • Designed to identify and support talented undergraduates from a broad range of backgrounds interested in the study of economics
      • 3.5-week summer program
      • Includes stipend of $1200 (stipend is increased to $2400 for Pell Grant recipients) upon completion of program
      • Summer Institute pays for participant travel (flights), housing, meals, and group activities in both Chicago and Washington, D.C.
      • Actively recruits applicants who identify as African American, Latino, Native American, or first generation college students
      • Applications open in October and are due in early February
        • Ideal applicants are college first years or sophomores
        • Cumulative GPA must be 3.30 or higher
      • 2024 program dates (must attend entire 3.5 weeks):
        • Thurs. June 6 - Fri. June 21 at the University of Chicago and
        • Sat. June 22 - Sat. June 29  at the Brookings Institution's Hutchins Center in Washington, D.C.
        • Meet the 2024 cohort (45 students from colleges across the U.S.)
    • Participate in the UC Summer Institute for Emerging Managers and Leaders (SIEML)
      • UC system-wide initiative for undergraduates designed to increase diversity in graduate business programs at UC schools
      • All-expense paid immersive business and career leadership program
      • Applications usually open in September with a due date in late December
        • Must be currently enrolled in sophomore or junior year at UCM
        • Open to all majors with cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher
        • Open to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or undocumented students with AB540 or DACA status
      • 2024 program dates and location:
        • Mon. May 20 - Fri. May 31, 2024
        • UC Davis Graduate School of Management
      • SIEML alumni are eligible to receive up to two years of full tuition and fee fellowships at any of the six UC graduate business schools (to complete MBA or other graduate business degree)
      • Watch the 3-minute video about SIEML

 

 

 

 

  • Volunteer or complete projects that benefit the community
    • Community Engagement Center
    • Engineering Service Learning (open to all majors)
    • Donald A. Strauss Scholarship Foundation Award
      • Application open to UCM sophomores or juniors with 3.70 or higher cumulative GPA
      • Maximum of 3 applicants nominated by UCM each year
      • Applications typically due in February
      • Project proposal is a major factor in the selection process
      • $15,000 award for a student-generated public service project to be carried out in junior or senior year
      • See UCM Strauss Scholarship contact
    • Good Tidings (GT) Foundation Ventures Grant
      • Application open to students age 24 or younger who reside in California and identify as Black, African American, or of African descent
      • One-time cash award of $10,000 to be used as start-up capital for talented Black youth to develop their own nonprofit or business venture
      • Recipients also have access to mentoring from a network of industry leaders
      • Applications accepted on a rolling basis with annual winner typically announced on Juneteenth (June 19)