Self-Assessment

To the student: Please complete this activity to reflect on your goals, interests, strengths, and values. Knowing more about who you are will help you and your Penn State adviser as you talk about your ideas and reasons for choosing a major. Upon submitting, you will receive a copy of your responses in your Penn State email. It WILL NOT be sent to an adviser. You are responsible for sharing this information with an adviser if you wish to have a conversation about exploring majors.

To the Adviser: The purpose of this assessment tool is to provide a set of visual notes for the student regarding their interests, goals, and values. It can then be used as a conversation starter during an appointment. This assessment is not designed to create direct links to majors or careers, nor is it meant to solicit right or wrong answers. Please think of this assessment no differently than a set of notes a student is bringing to you to help guide their major exploration.

Student First Name *

Student Last Name *

Student Penn State Email *

Please use your Penn State email address.

How important to you are the following reasons to be in college?

To learn more about subjects that interest me

To be able to get a good job

To experience the social opportunities of college

To meet expectations others have for me

To gain a well-rounded, general education

To make me a more cultured person

To prepare myself for graduate and professional school

Please rate your strength and interest in each academic subject area below.

Academic Subject	Strength	Interest
Academic Subject Writing/Communications	Strength	Interest
Academic Subject Quantification (e.g. Mathematics, Statistics)	Strength	Interest
Academic Subject The Natural Sciences (e.g. Biology, Chemistry, Physics)	Strength	Interest
Academic Subject Technology/Computers	Strength	Interest
Academic Subject The Arts (e.g. Art, Music, Theatre)	Strength	Interest
Academic Subject The Social Sciences (e.g. Psychology, Sociology, Economics)	Strength	Interest
Academic Subject The Humanities (e.g. History, Philosophy, Literature)	Strength	Interest
Academic Subject Health and Wellness	Strength	Interest
Academic Subject World Language	Strength	Interest

Click on all of the houses you’d consider making your academic home.

What type of major interests you?

Click on all that apply to you:

I would like a major that...

has upper-level quantitative subjects like math and statistics.

has upper-level sciences like chemistry, biology, and physics.

includes a world language.

has a main component of reading and writing.

is flexible and allows for a lot of choice in my courses.

Your Values

When choosing a major, it is important to consider your top values. We can think about our values in the working or career world, but also on a deeper and more personal level. Let’s look at some definitions of the word “value”:

the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something.
a person's principles or standards of behavior; one's judgment of what is important in life.

Click on 5-7 values that are personally important to you. You can then begin to reflect on how these values might relate to your academic choices.

Self-Reflection Question

short-answer question 1 options

Q1 answer

Self-Reflection Question

short-answer question 2 options

Q2 answer

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Self-Assessment

How important to you are the following reasons to be in college?

Please rate your strength and interest in each academic subject area below.

Click on all of the houses you’d consider making your academic home.

What type of major interests you?

Your Values

Self-Reflection Question

Self-Reflection Question

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DUS Information

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