Pre-Major | uhmac

Are you a pre-major student?

The pre-major category exists because students cannot declare these majors until they meet the admission requirements of the specific college or school to which you are applying . A pre-major is not a major, declaring a pre-major only indicates interest in pursuing that major.

If you have not been fully admitted to a college or school within UHM and have not decided about your major, you are considered an exploratory student. Go to the exploratory students page.

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Pre-Health

(Pre-Medicine, Pre-Pharmacy)

Pre-Law Students

Pre-Major Students

(Pre-Communication, Pre-Math)

Pre-Professional Schools and Colleges

(Pre-Business, Pre-Social Work, Pre-Dental Hygiene)

About each category

Students in these categories need special long-range planning since they will need to continue on to professional school to pursue their career paths. While taking pre-requisite courses and preparing for admission to their professional school, students in these categories will declare majors and will simultaneously fulfill degree requirements.

Students in this category need special long range planning since they will need to continue on to graduate school to pursue their career path. While there is no set major recommended for pre-law students, students will want to select their majors and individual courses taking into consideration the type of law they may want to pursue.

Students in these categories must fulfill pre-major requirements (courses, GPR, etc.) before they can declare their majors. With the exception of Pre-Psychology, these students should visit the Mānoa Advising Center every semester to ensure that they are on track and can declare in a timely manner.

Students in these categories must apply into these schools, usually after they have completed pre-requisite courses and met a GPR requirement. Admission to most of these schools and colleges is competitive, so students may not be admitted, even if they fulfill all the requirements. Shidler College of Business is the exception; the college accepts all students who meet their pre-business requirements. College of Engineering also accepts high school students who meet their requirements straight out of high school.) Students in these schools and colleges must do well in order to be competitive applicants.

What should I do?

Pre-health students are highly encouraged to seek regular advising with their major advisors as well as the Pre-Health and Law Advising Center (QLC 101) in order to create a comprehensive academic plan for their future.

Pre-law students are highly encouraged to seek regular advising with their major and college as well as the Pre-Health and Law Advising Center (QLC 101) in order to create a comprehensive plan for their future.

Take an introductory course as soon as possible and make sure you do well in it. If the initial course confirms your interest in the field, you should find out what further requirements you need to declare the major.

You should come to MAC. You will need to have a very clear understanding of the prerequisites and come up with a clear plan in terms of when you will be doing what. If your pre-major requires a certain GPA, you should learn how to figure this out and keep track of your progress.

What do I need to keep in mind?

It is vital to plan ahead. Take placement exams early to be sure to get into appropriate math and science courses. Since many of your science and math courses may be pre-requisites for higher level courses, you need to start many of these sequences as early as possible. Many of these fields are highly competitive, so it’s crucial that you do well. As a result, course selection and a well-thought out schedule are crucial.

Law is an extremely popular field. Students interested in pursuing law need to think ahead in terms of what will enable them to stand out as an applicant. Students need to plan ahead in order to prepare for application to law schools.

For Communication, you will need to take COM 201 and earn a B or better in order to be able to declare the major and to take any further courses in the major.

For Math, you should take your math placement exam as soon as possible and start working on the calculus sequence courses. The major starts at the 300 level.

Once you get into the program, you will have 2-3 years’ worth of courses in that field to take. As a result, the sooner you can be admitted, the better. It is essential you make sure that you have taken all the pre-requisites and fulfilled the other requirements (in some cases, exams, GPR, fieldwork) prior to applying. Meeting deadlines is crucial. If you miss the deadline to submit your application, you may need to wait a semester or even a year before you can apply again