I Want to Major in English
| Congratulations! English will prepare you for just about anything you might wish to try after college. Click here for some career information. Since you learn to think critically, you’ll be in demand by schools of medicine, law and business as well as most any graduate program. Your communication skills will stand you in good stead in these fields and the world of business. So now all you have to do is pick a specialization. Before we go any further, let me point out that the English Dept offers two majors: Technical Communication and English. The information here is primarily for the English major. Those interested in Technical Communication should view their website (link is in previous sentence). The advisor for Technical Communication majors and minors is Dr. Miles Kimball (miles.kimball@ttu.edu). The English major is divided into three specializations and you must choose one: Additional requirements: As an English major you will earn a Bachelor of Arts degree that will be conferred by the College of Arts & Sciences. You will also need to complete the additional requirements that are detailed on my Graduation Requirements worksheet. The General Degree Requirements for the College of Arts & Sciences are part of those requirements and you must also choose and complete the requirements for a minor or an additional major . Also you must accumulate at least 120 Earned Hours of which 40 must come from 3000 or 4000-level courses. You must also be aware of and not exceed the limit on the number of hours taken in coursework that is "outside" of the College of Arts & Sciences. Paperwork requirements include the completion of a degree plan and an Intent to Graduate form. Do remember that your English advisor does not certify you for graduation! He/she helps you meet the requirements, but when it gets down to the wire, it is the Arts & Sciences advisor you must answer to. Your English advisor does not have the special training to make sure you have completed your graduation requirements. He/she will help as far as their knowledge in this area has evolved, but the last word lies with the College of Arts & Sciences. You will need to learn the graduation an/or certification requirements in order to manage your program. Toward that end you are given handouts and worksheets to help you. Frequently Asked Questions:Do I have to choose a specialization? Yes. There is no “general” English major. The one that is the most broad and most like what we think of when we imagine a general English major is Literature and Languages. The other two have special focuses: Creative Writing and Teacher Certification (for those who want to teach high school English to grades 8-12. May I major in one English specialization and minor/double major in another? No. Nor may you double major or minor in both English and Technical Communication. May I use the credit that I earned by examination (AP, CLEP, etc.) for freshman and sophomore English toward my major? Yes. Click here to go to information to help with this question. How do I change my major? If you are already in a major that is in the College of Arts & Sciences, you go to Holden Hall 102 and fill out a change of major form. If you are in another college and have at least a 2.0, also go to Holden Hall 102, but fill out a change of college form. The same procedure is used whether you are changing to or from English. How many hours does the English degree take? I hate this question. It has too many meanings! 1) You might be asking how many courses are required by the English Dept for a major. Even that is hard since 12 hours double count. Your freshman and sophomore English classes also apply to the Arts & Sciences General Degree Requirements. On top of that you will need to complete the requirements for your particular specialization. All the specializations require 9 upper division English courses. So the number is either 27 or 36 hours. 2) You might, however, be asking for the total number of hours to complete the degree. In order to graduate with an English major, you have to complete the major requirements, choose and complete the requirements for either a minor or another major, meet the requirements as laid out in the Arts & Sciences General Degree Requirements, and also acquire a total of 120 hours, forty of which must be junior/senior hours (hours at the 3000 or 4000 level). The classes you take for your major and your minor at the junior/senior level all count toward the 40. Since a number of courses might double count for various requirements, it's impossible to answer except to say that the minimum is 120 hours. How many hours are required by the Arts & Sciences General Degree Requirements alone? Impossible to answer. Some courses that count for either the major or the minor might also count for a General Degree Requirement. Some courses count for both the Multicultural requirement and another requirement, Both the Foreign Language and the Natural Science requirements depend on what you took in high school and what you choose to take here at Texas Tech. The minimum number of hours by my calculations is 73 hours. The maximum number is 86. Most students will fall somewhere in between. So CLEP credits and AP credits count toward the total? Yes. Which catalog am I in?/Which catalog rules do I go by? Normally this would be the catalog given to you when you first entered Tech, but there are some exceptions. If you transfer from another college within Texas Tech or are otherwise not enrolled for 3 or more semesters, your catalog will change to reflect your entry/re-entry into the College of Arts & Sciences. Also your catalog will expire after seven years. When you begin determines the specific year. For example, if you entered in either Summer or Fall of a particular year or the Spring of the following year, you will be in the catalog of the academic year that began that Fall. Academic years are indicated with a slash, for instance, 2009/2010. The shorthand for that year is "2009". Obviously, if you begin in Fall 2009, you are in the 2009 catalog. You are also in the 2009 catalog if you entered during Summer 2009 or Spring 2010. |