The major declaration deadline for Fordham sophomores, the midway point in the spring semester, is nearing passing. The declaration deadline is the second week of February for sophomores in Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) and the second week of March for sophomores in the Gabelli School of Business (GSB). If students do not declare a major by the deadline, a hold will be placed on their registration for the following fall. 

The process of declaring a major looks slightly different for FCRH and GSB students. 

To declare, GSB students meet with a dean to discuss the major that they are considering and how it will help achieve their future goals. Within this conversation, students also discuss possible minors and concentrations. Following the meeting, the dean submits declaration paperwork, which updates Fordham’s records of the student’s major and ultimately updates their DegreeWorks page. 

FCRH students declare majors through a scheduled meeting with the program advisor or associate chair of the department for the major in which they are interested. The meeting includes a conversation about the list of courses required for their intended major. After the meeting, the program advisor or associate chair completes the major declaration form and assigns the student a major advisor.

Assistant Dean for Sophomore and Transfer Students, Luz Lenis, said reminders regarding the declaration deadline were sent to undeclared sophomores and posted on the FCRH Instagram.

Fordham also provides a wide variety of resources to help undeclared students narrow their major search. Lenis described resources provided for FCRH students, saying, “The FCRH Dean’s Office coordinates with academic departments to host open houses for prospective majors and partners with the Career Center to workshops aimed at helping students pick a major.”

Megan Decker, assistant dean for sophomores, mentioned various resources provided by the GSB to help students declare their majors. 

“Each spring we record a series of videos featuring the head of each of the business disciplines explaining options for majors/minors/concentrations in their fields, as well as potential career path options, which incorporates any curricular changes or innovations (the introduction of our new Credit concentration or the revamping of the Marketing major, for example),” said Decker. 

Decker also highlighted several workshops, hosted by the Personal & Professional Development advising team (PPD), that allow GSB students to explore all possible major options.

“The career path options for various majors is complemented by advising from the Personal & Professional Development advising team, who organize a range of workshops targeted at various industries,” Decker said. “PPD also runs several Scholars programs, including the Finance Scholars, Marketing Scholars and Information Systems/Digital Media & Technology Scholars, to allow students a deeper dive into these fields.”

Sol Mendoza, FCRH ’25, attended a major declaration webinar hosted by the Department of Communication & Media Studies.

“I thought the process was pretty easy,” Mendoza said. “On the Fordham website it says you have to meet with the department chair, but I guess during the declaration season they just have one big zoom to explain the major. At the end of the zoom everyone filled out a form so that the department could receive and change the majors.”

Lenis and Decker both said that the spring deadline is integral to the major declaration process.  

“The deadline is in February as there are various internal processes involved with assigning students to their major advisor. These processes must be sent in motion early so that students are able to meet with their advisors before the Spring registration deadline,” said Lenis. 

“March 10 is also an ideal time as it’s several weeks before fall registration,” Decker said in regards to the GSB deadline. “Fall registration is the time when most GSB students are registering for their first major classes — in order to register for the fall appropriately, they need to be declared so they know what to take.”

“I always like to note that students do have flexibility — it’s possible to change/add/drop/tweak majors, minors and concentrations after the ‘deadline.’ Many of our students will utilize summer internships to help cement their academic plans, so it can be comforting to know that you’re not locked in forever with what is declared now,” said Decker.