The Sophomore Year

Sophomore year is a pivotal year in your college career, as you develop your academic focus; deepen your engagement with campus, local, and global communities; and explore new and longstanding curricular and co-curricular interests.

It is also the year to declare your major. The first step is to discuss with your current academic advisor your selected major and identify a faculty member who could serve as your major advisor. Choose an academic advisor with whom you have a strong connection and cultivate a relationship of openness and trust, so that your advisor can answer your questions and help you see possibilities in your development you may not be fully aware of. You must declare your major by February of your sophomore year (or at the midpoint of your 4th semester, if that is not in the spring).

Some important academic objectives in your second year:

• Review the St. Lawrence University curriculum, making sure you are making appropriate progress toward fulfilling general education requirements and preparing for your intended major, and that you are fully aware of important policies and procedures
• As you are deciding on your major, reflect on the kind of advising relationship you wish to have, which should inform which professor you ask to be your major advisor
• Consider taking a sophomore seminar, signing up for programs specifically designed for sophomores in the Center for Career Excellence, and participating in other SLU programs designed to help you reflect on who you are as a person, where you are in your intellectual and professional development, and what you want to get out of the rest of your college career
• Explore options for off-campus study, community-based learning, volunteering, and student organizations, which will help expand your sense of community

See the website of the Sophomore Success Initiative for news and information relevant to sophomores.