DUS News - November 26, 2018

News: 
Do Minors Matter?

You know that choosing your major is an important decision in your college career; it will shape your education and experiences during your time at Penn State and beyond. But what about your choice of a college minor? Do minors matter? Minors have many benefits, and are great way to enhance your education and explore a new subject. When thinking about your minor choice, it is important to reflect on your goals, interests, and how your minor will complement your major coursework. In addition, some majors at Penn State require a minor. To search Penn State minors, take a look at the Bulletin for inspiration and visit with your adviser to talk about planning a minor!

Entrance to Major

Have you already decided on a major? If so, you may be able to enter that major now. You can declare many Penn State majors as soon as you have earned a 2.00 GPA and completed at least 29.1 credits. This can be done through the "Update Academics" function in LionPATH. To see what the Entrance to Major requirements are for your intended major, visit the "How to Get In" section of the program page for that major in the Bulletin . As soon as you meet the entrance criteria, you can go on to Update Academics on LionPATH to officially declare your major.

Planning on a major with Enrollment Controls? Make sure you take a look at the Credit Window, GPA requirements, and course requirements closely. And if you haven’t spoken with your assigned adviser yet about potential Entrance to Major requirements, now would be a great time in the semester to do so. 

Important Dates: 

More events at dus.psu.edu/calendar.

Resource Spotlight: 
Update Academics:

Ready to declare your major (and possibly add on a minor)? You can do this through the “Update Academics” page on LionPATH. Visit the LionPATH Help page here for step-by-step instructions on how to change/update/declare a major, minor or certificate: https://tutorials.lionpath.psu.edu/public/S_UpdateAcademics/ .  

Events and Announcements: 
Group Advising Sessions
University Park

DUS will be holding Group Advising Sessions throughout the fall semester as a way to discuss popular advising topics with groups of students. These sessions are open to all DUS students and will help you to learn more about the topic and to ask questions in a friendly, open environment.  For more information on each session, including dates and times, visit https://dus.psu.edu/group-advising. All sessions are held in the Grange Building Lobby, unless otherwise listed on the website.

Topics include:

  • Exploration Workshop (multiple dates/sessions)
  • Smeal Entrance to Major (multiple dates/sessions)
  • Study Skills and Time Management
  • Marketing Your Transferrable Skills
  • Schedule Planning (multiple dates/sessions)
  • Constructing Your Story: Minors, Involvement, Internships, and more
  • Major and Career Planning (multiple dates/sessions)
  • Goal Setting and Decision Making
  • DUS Students and Study Abroad
Med Prep & PA Prep Group Advising
University Park

Interested in entering the health professions field? Beginning Fall 2018, all first-year students interested in meeting one-on-one with a health professions adviser are required to attend a large-group advising session (Med Prep or PA Prep) prior to scheduling the advising appointment. All other students are encouraged to attend these sessions as well, as they contain valuable information about how to get started (e.g., prerequisite coursework, extracurricular experiences, etc.). 

FA18 Med Prep & PA Prep Group-Advising Schedule (all sessions are the same - attend one):

PA Prep: Coursework, skills & experiences needed for Physician Assistant programs

  • Nov. 29, 6 - 7 pm, 201 Thomas

Additional information about health professions advising is available on our website: http://science.psu.edu/premed/advising