Aggie Explorers
All Undeclared/Undecided students are encouraged to join the College of Letters and Science Aggie Explorers program. This 1-unit seminar series, offered in Fall, Winter, and Spring Quarters, provides students with an informative, interactive introduction to Major Exploration, Career Exploration, and Research Exploration. The program is designed for students who have not yet declared a major, those who are unsure of the major they have declared, and every student who wonders how their major can prepare them for a career. Students use self-assessments and learn about tools to help explore majors, and careers that are a good fit. Representatives from a variety of university services will share their insights.
Goals for Students
- Examine academic and personal interests, strengths, and passions.
- Expand horizons through active exploration of a wide variety of academic opportunities.
- Integrate learning to successfully transition to their chosen major by the end of their 5th quarter of enrollment (before 90 units).
- Utilize campus tools and resources to build a foundation for success.
Program Overview
- Fall Quarter: Major Exploration
- This Fall Quarter seminar introduces the wide variety of majors offered in the College of Letters & Science. This specially designed course is for students who have not yet declared a major and those who would like to explore their options.
- Students will explore their interests and values and utilize campus tools and resources to explore majors that are a good fit
- Representatives from the College of Letters & Science will share their insights
- Students will have the opportunity to get to know other first-year students and connect with academic advisors and faculty members from across campus
- Participants will receive personalized academic planning based on their interests to help guide their undergraduate path at UC Davis - Winter Quarter: Career Exploration
- This Winter course is for students who would like to learn about the career decision making process and its influence on choosing a major.
- This is an opportunity to explore career possibilities and make academic choices for future success
- Students will discover how natural talents, interests, and personality relate to career paths and learn methods to explore career options. - Spring Quarter: Research Exploration
- This Spring course introduces students to the wide range of academic research being conducted by the faculty and graduate students of the university.
- Through tours of laboratory spaces, group meetings, and speaker series students will learn about the fundamentals of research.
- The course will introduce students to campus resources that support Graduate and Professional school considerations.
Student Testimonials
Josie Peinemann
"Aggie explorers helped me find my place on campus both academically and socially by providing strong opportunities for self, major, and career exploration, all while facilitating my connections with my peers, campus resources, and future opportunities. I truly believe joining this connection was one of the best things I did in my first year, and the experiences I gained and people I met from the class have both transformed my college experience and made a positive difference in my everyday life."
Tess B.
"Meeting other students who were going through a similar process and getting advice from staff and older students was really helpful in figuring out what I wanted to do. It was nice to realize I wasn't the only one who didn't know their major yet, and engaging with the community helped me ask the right questions."
Aggie Explorers was a supportive environment to explore all your options on campus! The class gave me confidence in the resources on campus and academic & career trajectory beyond major. - Logan
It gave me a better understanding of how UC Davis is like, some other pathways that may peak my interest, and helped me to be comfortable with my first year at Davis. - Anonymous
I have really enjoyed this class and was able to learn a lot about how many majors and different paths I can explore here. It was a really reassuring class that taught me how many other students are in the same situation as I am - Anonymous