« Financial Aid Tution Promise | Main | Faculty to Studen Ratio »

westernoregonuniversity.info

 

Majors & Minors

category: Main Page, 

 

Students attending college usually come in three varieties: those who know what they want, those who don’t know that they want, and those who think they know what they want. Fortunately for all three, Western Oregon University offers a large number of academic majors and minors and everything in-between.
For students who know exactly what they want, Western is a perfect destination. We offer 45 undergraduate majors and over 50 undergraduate minors. We have a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), a Bachelor of Science (B.S.), a Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.), and a Bachelor of Music (B.Mus.). Whatever it is you as a student are looking for, there’s a very good chance that WOU can meet your needs and exceed your expectations.
For students who don’t know exactly what they want, Western is a perfect destination. One aspect of WOU that is particularly unique within the Oregon University System is their broad requirements for core curriculum. Although this may at first seem tedious, it serves a very necessary end: providing Western Oregon University graduates with a detailed and well-rounded base on which they can confidently stand. Students studying in fields as concentrated as studio art, dance, or theatre will learn how the flow of history, the composition of a poem, or the laws of science relate to their field. In this way, students are enriched by taking part in an academic community where they can complement each other’s strengths and help overcome each other’s weaknesses. The other excellent by-product of this far-reaching core curriculum is that it gives students without a direction a thorough survey of the possibilities. They may feel at home in a math class or science lab, a lecture on eastern religions or a seminar on American short stories, a dance studio or a tennis court, but regardless of where they eventually find their niche, Western Oregon will be sure that every base is covered.
Finally, for students who think they know exactly what they want, Western is especially perfect. WOU is an uncommon blend of small university size with big university opportunity. Due to the closeness of this school community, it is not uncommon to find history majors auditioning for the winter musical, or art majors writing for the school newspaper. Western has a high standard of excellence, but the school itself isn’t so large that a person with a diverse range of talents must be pigeonholed into one discipline or the other. That’s why WOU offers such an attractive suite of extra-curricular activities funded by the university. That’s why they offer double majors, double minors, or even double baccalaureates.
When I began at Western Oregon University, all I knew was that I wanted to teach English. With a plan to teach high school literature, I came into college with very few details left unconsidered. Looking back now, I didn’t really know what I wanted—but I thought I did. To my great pleasure, Western showed me a multitude of opportunities. Chance had opened doors through which I never would’ve thought I would walk. Now, I have gone from an English major with no minor to a double baccalaureate, majoring in both English and Theatre, with a minor in Writing; I will graduate in 2010 with two B.A. degrees. I am writing poetry, training in theatrical directing, and planning on teaching college literature and creative writing.
The choices offered at WOU are unlike those at any university. When, at larger schools, math students are confined to classrooms and music students to rehearsal halls, Western is small enough to allow for interdisciplinary combinations. Hard work is required for those who seek to reap the benefits, and the university has a very high standard of quality. But our promise to you is to never fill the orchestra with only music majors, or fill an upper-division math lab with only math majors. At a small school with big standards (and even bigger opportunities), the only limit is your imagination.


Comments

Post a comment




Remember Me?

(you may use HTML tags for style)

Recent Entries

 

 

 

Syndicate this site (XML)