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The Fourth Wall
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Students admitted to Penn State
who are planning to obtain a
baccalaureate degree are initially
assigned to a campus at which they
will remain until it is academically
necessary for them to continue
their degree program at another
campus. In most cases, students
are expected to remain at their
initial campus for two years.
Most students working toward an
associate degree finish at the
campus at which they were
initially admitted. Generally,
students who begin at a campus
that has their degree program will
remain at that campus until degree
completion.
Entrance to Major (ETM) is the
process that students go through
to request their major and the
campus location at which they
intend to finish their degree. ETM
occurs during spring of their
sophomore year. There are a few
exceptions, but generally
baccalaureate degree seeking
students are admitted into a
College at Penn State, not directly
into a major. During the end of
December and the first few weeks
of the spring semester,
sophomores must'go onto eLion
and select “Entrance to Major.”
They then enter their three major
preferences, in order of their
preference. There are many
majors in which students must
have successfully completed
specific courses and must have
obtained a specific cumulative grade
point average (gpa) in order to get
into their desired major. Students
typically receive the results of their
ETM request in the first two weeks
of March. If successful, they will
enter their major and, if appropriate,
will change campus location the
following fall semester.
Students must work with their
academic advisor to be sure that
progress and have completed all
necessary conditions for enrollment
into their major by the time they go
through ETM. The following web
site lists all Penn State majors and
the academic requirements for each
major: http://
www.registrar.psu.edu/progsumm/
index.html. All students should be
using a Degree Audit to help track
their academic progress. Students
may print a Degree Audit on eLion
or obtain one at the Records Office
in Conklin. Degree Audits may be
run for any major, giving students
the option of exploring different
majors and knowing how the
courses that they have already
completed will fulfill specific
requirements for that degree.
There are some majors in which
students must change locations
earlier than two years. In those
cases, there is a clear academic need
to go to another campus. Students
in that situation should meet with
their academic advisor for help in
completing a “Change of
student and advisor sign the form,
and then the student is
responsible for taking it to the
Registrar’s Office in Conklin for
signature and processing. The
Advisor and the Registrar must
both sign the form before the
request will be processed. The
receiving campus must then
accept the student academically in
order for the student to move to
that campus. The receiving campus
may deny the request. If needed,
students should obtain housing at
their new location, but should
never assume that obtaining
housing means that they have
been accepted by that location; the
academic CHOA form is the only
location other than ETM. ~
If students want to remain at
their initial campus longer than the
expected period of time for their
major, they may request to do so.
These requests will be granted as
long as the student is able to
maintain good academic progress.
Students who are in a College
and want to change into another
College may do so prior to going
through ETM. This is
accomplished by meeting with an
advisor in the College in which
they wish to move into and
completing a “Change of Major”
form and taking it to the Records
Office in Conklin. (There is a list
Records Office web site: http://
www.ma.psu.edu/Academics/
registrar.htm?cn21A.) It is best,
and in some cases mandatory, that
students be in the College (or in
The Division of Undergraduate
Studies - DUS) in which their
desired major is located before
going through ETM. The Smeal
College of Business
Administration is an example of a
College that will not accept
students into one of their majors
unless they are actually in the
College or in DUS prior to going
through ETM.
Students may take summer
courses at any Penn State location
of assignment process. Students
are then expected to return to their
initial campus for the following fall
semester. Taking a summer course
at another location does not change
a student’s location.
We will consider requests for
early change of assignment to
another Penn State campus, but in
most cases they will be denied
unless it is academically necessary
or there is a financial reason or an
extenuating circumstance. In many
cases, students will be requested to
submit documentation for
extenuating circumstances.
If you have questions about
Entrance to Major and/or Change
of Assignment, feel free to stop by
the Records Office for answers or
by phone or e-mail. (717-749-6191
or LSM4@psu.edu)
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