Exploratory Track
Upon first entering UMass Amherst, many students are not ready to choose a specific major or want to find out more about the many majors offered. First-year students who are undeclared or undecided on their major are placed in the Exploratory Track program. This program allows students to explore majors and enables them to take advantage of the advising and support programs embedded within schools and colleges.
Undeclared or undecided students are placed into an Exploratory Track based on the ranked choices indicated in their applications. This track is intended to guide students toward majors they are most suited to, but does not restrict students to majors within their Exploratory Track's school or college. Students will be provided with advising assistance and support programs—including a first year seminar—through their Exploratory Track to help them with this exploration.
Humanities & Fine Arts Exploratory Track
The Humanities and Fine Arts Exploratory Track encourages students to discover a major that allows them to pursue their passions—in art, literature, design, music, language, history, and many other areas of study—while gaining valuable skills. Striking this unique balance means today's students of the humanities and fine arts will develop into tomorrow's artists, teachers, creators, inventors, and leaders.
Students of the humanities and arts prepare to be citizens in a rapidly changing world by being challenged to engage, think, and communicate with precision. By exploring languages, art forms, ideas, stories, and shared human experiences, our students are transformed into innovative problem solvers and thinkers ready to tackle careers in a number of fields, including business, law, medicine, education, media, and the arts (among countless others). They develop useful and durable skills—like creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability, and emotional intelligence—that are sought after by employers.
