Custom Design Your Own Major

The Weissman Arts and Sciences ad hoc major is appropriate for students who find that the conventional majors at Baruch do not quite match their educational goals.  Students create this major by combining courses from two or more departments into an integrated field of study with a clear liberal arts focus. There is no ad hoc major within the Zicklin School of Business or the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs.

Effective Fall 2022:  To declare an ad hoc major a student must have an overall GPA of at least 3.0.

The Ad Hoc Major Proposal

An Arts and Sciences ad hoc major must:

1. Contain thirty to thirty-three (30-33) credits, with at least twenty-four (24) liberal arts credits.
2. Contain courses from at least two different Weissman departments, with a minimum of three (3) courses [9-12 credits] from each of those two departments.
3. Contain no more than three (3) non-liberal arts courses (only Zicklin courses from the approved list may be included).
4. Contain no more than two courses from the discipline in which the student intends to complete a minor (those one or two courses cannot be used toward completion of the minor).
5. Be approved at least one semester prior to graduation.

Note:  If you intend to include Zicklin courses, the proposal must be fully approved before you will be given permission to enroll in those courses.

Students must complete all necessary course prerequisites. As with all majors, at least 60 percent of the major credits must be taken at Baruch College.

Your application should be one- to one-and-a-half page(s) in length. You must explain how the courses you select combine to form an integrated knowledge base that could not be achieved through an existing Baruch major, and how this area of study supports your educational goals.

The application form is available here.

Contact

Sonya Wahab in the Associate Dean’s Office, 646-312-3890

Students with questions about the status of submitted major forms should email WSAS.MajorForms@baruch.cuny.edu