By CHRIS WARBINGTON

Staff Intern

The one thing that haunts many students entering the college life is deciding on a major. It can sometimes take longer than expected for some, who wind up undecided. Whether they have no clue or can’t decide between different areas of interest, the undecided student is not alone when it comes to planning their future.

Heidi Emery is sophomore at Oakland University and is undecided in her major. Emery has tried several different majors ranging from education to science and can’t seem to find a major that fits.

“I am undecided, and its not like I don’t know what to do; it’s just I have too many interests,” said Emery. “You name it, I’ve tried it.”

Of the 14,090 undergraduate students that attend Oakland University, about 1,010 — or seven percent — of them are undecided.

The numbers of undecided students in comparison to the top three program choices are 2,238 undergraduates in the School of Business, 1,826 undergraduates in the School of Nursing, and 1,529 undergraduates in the School of Education & Human Services.

The national average of incoming undecided freshmen is between 20 and 50 percent, compared to three percent of undecided freshmen at OU.

“Both the student that doesn’t know what to do and the student that has too many interests are the two typical undecided students we encounter,” said Carmen Etienne, M.A., the advisor for the School of Engineering and Computer Science.

The university’s decentralized advising plan is intended to help students choose a career path that is best for them.

A student can have a declared major but still be undecided in what career they want to study. In this case the student would be sent to their declared major’s advising department.

Advising plans differ from major to major with each program having its own advisors. When a student knows what type of major they want, they are directed to that major’s set of advisors. After meeting with the advisors, students decide what career to pursue in that major. If a student decides that the program is not for them, they can go to the Advising Resource Center to find another major.

Kim Schultz is the director of the Advising Resources Center and offers a method to help undecided students.

“[We do] do some focused exploration,” Schultz said. “We want to really expose [students] to all options that are offered.”

Schultz explains that focused exploration is a method which helps the student to focus more on their interests and what they are good at and apply what they find to the decision of their major. Focused exploration is a one on one, or group advising self-searching tool.

According to Schultz, the goal at Oakland is to keep the student moving and learning about new programs they can choose. The purpose for keeping students on the move is to help them learn about new ideas so the chances of them dropping out are not as great.

These services are available for all students enrolled at Oakland.