Mount Mary takes off pressure to decide
Program helps freshmen find major, stay on track
“We’re really making sure that we get to know each student and making sure that they’re taking the classes that they need to but also taking time to explore right away, their first year.” Katie Dougherty career development specialist who works with Compass Year students
Veronica Andrade-Gomez feels a lot of pressure to stay on track in school.
The freshman at Mount Mary University is one of three college students in her family this year: Her brother is pursuing an engineering degree at the Milwaukee School of Engineering and her sister is starting graduate school. Andrade-Gomez has an interest in math and accounting but isn’t totally sure what she wants to do.
“Why is it that people want us to decide our lifelong career at 18 years old?” she asked, joking that just a year earlier she was still required to raise her hand and ask permission to use the bathroom.
Andrade-Gomez’s family moved to the U.S. when she was 7, making her among the first generation in her family to navigate the American higher education system. She’s paying her own way through school, acutely aware of the cost of delaying her time to graduation. But at the same time, she wants to explore her options — to make sure she is investing in something she really loves.
As an undecided student, AndradeGomez is far from alone. Surveys show about one in three college students come to college undecided about their major. Up to 80%, by some estimates, will switch majors at some point during their college career.
But at Mount Mary, Andrade-Gomez has a unique opportunity to explore the courses the university has to offer without fear of falling behind. The university’s Compass Year program, launched in 2019, is tailored specifically toward helping undecided students discern the career path that best fits their passions.
In two years, the Compass Year program has seen growing interest from students, doubling its enrollment from 16 students to 30 this coming school year.
The program provides specialized support for students, bringing them to campus a few days before the start of their freshman year to help them get acclimated.
Then, students enroll in two major and career exploration courses, one in each semester of their first year. After the first semester, students declare “metamajors,” which campuses across the country are increasingly using to allow students to explore multiple similar majors within the same subject areas, by making sure they have the same prerequisite courses.
“We’re really making sure that we get to know each student and making sure that they’re taking the classes that they need to but also taking time to explore right away, their first year,” said Katie Dougherty, a career development specialist who works with Compass Year students.
All of this happens while staying on track to graduate within four years.
‘It’s OK to be undecided’
Not only is the Compass Year program growing in popularity, but students are seeing success in it. By the end of their first semester, more than 62% of students chose a major. By the end of the yearlong program, only one student remained undecided.
Despite popular belief that being undecided is a waste of time and money, there is some evidence that being flexible and open-minded in college is
a good thing. One 2016 study, conducted by the D.C.-based consulting firm EAB, found students who changed their majors during college actually graduated slightly faster than those who chose one to start and stuck with it, Inside Higher Ed reported.
Some of this stigma may be rooted in the fact that at many colleges, students who are undecided about their majors lack the resources and support to guide them toward their best fit. Some may even feel obligated to just declare a major outright, even if they’re unsure.
“You have two-thirds of (college freshman) who don’t really know what they want, but I think colleges and parents have basically drilled into their heads: Pick a major, pick a major,” said Jim Wiseman, director of undergraduate admissions at Mount Mary. “And it’s a big decision and it shouldn’t be rushed into. I think you’re seeing more students saying it’s OK to be undecided.”
To encourage more students to enroll, the university started offering $1,000 scholarships to all new Compass Year students this fall. As of early March, the university’s total applicant pool for Fall 2021 included 894 potential students, and 144 of them —16% — were undecided.
That makes Compass Year the most in-demand program at the university.
More than just a major
Freshman Paires Smith of Milwaukee remembered it being hard to choose a major when she was required to do so as a student at Golda Meir High School. But when she came to Mount Mary and started exploring her passions and possible careers through assignments, skills assessments and guest speakers in the Compass Year class, she realized she wanted to study business and graphic design.
“All of our assignments were rooted and based around what you like to do, or how you feel and what you feel in your heart is a career you can pursue,” Smith said.
Kaltumo Hassen, an international student from Somalia, is the first in her family to go to college and was always told she had three career options: be a doctor, a nurse or a lawyer. When she started to home in on psychology as a possible major, she was able to explain all the possibilities that career path held to her family, challenging their assumptions that being a therapist was the only option.
“They were so amazed,” she said. The educators and students in the Compass Year program said the work has taught them the importance of investing in student support all the way through college. Beyond choosing a major, Compass Year students have opendoors access to their advisers, get training in time management and other study skills, and also guidance around applying for internships and career opportunities.
Kaitlyn McKnight of Oak Creek came to Mount Mary after earning an associate degree in human resources from Milwaukee Area Technical College. Now, the senior is on the path to graduate school, through a brand new dual-degree program offered by Mount Mary and the Medical College of Wisconsin. She’ll earn a bachelor’s in business administration and her master’s in public health.
McKnight said having the support of her advisers and other undecided students helped her in more ways than simply choosing a career. It helped her fit in and make the most of college.
That sense of community is helping Compass Year students combat the feeling that there is something wrong with not having every detail of their college years planned out.
“The first question that anybody asks on campus is: ‘What’s your name and what’s your major?’” said Wendy Weaver, dean of humanities, social sciences and interdisciplinary studies, which includes the Compass Year program.
“And if you don’t have that other piece of your identity to share, then it makes you feel less than. Here, even before our program started, a couple (students) said ‘Compass Year.’ They had a label. They had a belonging.”