Interdisciplinary Studies
Self-Evaluation for Prospective Students
If you have not read the information sheet on the individual interdisciplinary
(IDS) major, please do so now, carefully noting various features of this
program.
An IDS major requires considerably more independent work than most regular
departmental majors. In addition to a large investment of your time, it
demands a heavy investment of one of the college’s scarcest resources,
faculty time. To help avoid a premature decision and future disappointment,
as well as loss of valuable time (yours and the faculties), take a few
minutes to review and answer the following questions. Be honest. It’s
your education that is at stake and no one else is going to review your
answers!
- Are you genuinely interested in at least two fields of study that have some common ground?
- Have you reviewed the requirements for the regular departmental majors in these fields?
- Have you already done work or extensive reading in these fields?
- Is at least one of your proposed fields of study covered by a department in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences?
- Are you having difficulty in deciding on a major because you find two (or more) fields equally attractive?
- Are you at least four semesters away from graduation?
- Do you view this program as a means of obtaining your degree more quickly?
- Does your principal academic interest lie in an area outside of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences?
- Is your grade point average very close to or below 3.0?
- Do you find it difficult to choose a major because nothing UF offers you is sufficiently interesting (or appealing) to warrant a heavy investment of your resources?
If you answered most of the questions 1-6 with a ‘yes’ and most of the questions 7-10 with a ‘no’, there is reason to believe that an IDS major is worth your consideration; you must find faculty sponsors and devise a program that the College Interdisciplinary Studies Committee will approve. Students who have a clear picture of their areas of interest, and whose interests lie mainly within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, can usually devise a suitable program. If you answered most of the questions 1-6 with a ‘no’ and most of the questions 7-10 with a ‘yes’, you probably should consider something other than IDS. Experience in this office indicates that individuals who are in scholastic difficulty, those with no well-defined interest, or those whose interest lie for the most part in other colleges, are likely to have trouble with an IDS major. Avoidance of difficult or “uninteresting” courses is NOT a good reason for attempting an IDS major.
