Choosing Your Major

1
Choosing Your Major

• Second Year Course Registration
• FSS Program

2
Different Program Types

• Honours
• Honours with specialization
• General Bachelors
• Major
• Minor

3
Choosing a Program of Study

• Are you already registered with a major? If yes,
  did you find it interesting or are you thinking
  about changing programs?
• Did you take any electives which you found
  particularly interesting?
• Are you particularly interested in something
  outside of school that could be applied to your
  studies?
• What kind of career would you like to pursue?

4
Choosing a Program of Study

• While choosing a program of study keep in mind
  whether you would like to do a double major, a
  joint honors degree, a major or a minor, or
  whether you would simply like the freedom to
  explore elective courses.
• Also, take a look at the course requirements for
  the major you wish to take and see if the courses
  are of interest to you! (http//www.socialsciences
  .uottawa.ca/eng/prem_cycle_sequence.asp )
• Each program also has its own website you can
  consult, and student associations you can go to
  ask upper year students what they think of the
  program!
• Remember that you can pursue studies as a major
  or a minor outside of your faculty. To view an
  entire list of available programs visit
  http//www.uottawa.ca/academic/info/regist/calenda
  rs/programs/byType.html

5
Beyond your undergraduate

• Also think about if you wish to pursue graduate
  school or any type of professional schooling
  after your undergraduate degree (including Law
  School or an MBA program). This may require
  certain courses or programs of study!
• If you are interested in teachers college, you
  should think about what grade level you wish to
  teach, as well as teachers college requirements
  associated with this.
• All of these should have an impact on your
  ultimate decision.

6
Still undecided?

• Take a close look at the different lists of
  programs, some programs are only offered as a
  minor (ex. Globalization, Social Sciences of
  Health)
• Think about whether you are interested in the
  co-op program, only certain programs are eligible
  for admission.
• Do you want to do an international exchange? Look
  to see what programs are offered with the
  international office, and which programs sound
  interesting to you!
• See what the university suggests by completing
  its activity at http//www.socialsciences.uottaw
  a.ca/eng/ugrad_program_selection.asp

7
Declaring your Major

• You must inform the Faculty of Social Sciences
  Academic Secretariat (DMS3101) of your decision.
• There is a form you must fill out and submit it
  may have already been emailed to you by the
  faculty.
• Dont fret. If you end up realizing you dont
  like your program it is possible to change,
  although depending on the courses youve taken,
  it may lead to more time to complete your degree.
  Its easier to change a minor than a
  specialization.

8
Course Registration

• The first day to register for your course for
  next fall and winter is June 17th.
• Remember that you are registering for both FALL
  and WINTER. Dont forget to register for BOTH
  semesters.
• Courses fill up, so dont wait to register.

9
How to Register

• The University uses as online course registration
  system called Rabaska.
• On Rabaska you can see which courses are
  mandatory in order to complete your degree.
• If you have required courses in upper years, make
  sure you take the prerequisites (listed in course
  descriptions) so that you will be able to
  complete those courses later on.
• You can find this out my using the audit
  function.

10
Course Selection

• To register into a course and create a schedule,
  search for the course you wish to take (or have
  to take), and add it to you cart(NB you are not
  registered in the course yet)
• The program automatically places this course
  times into a schedule for you, and places in a
  cart. You can select several courses as a time,
  however you can only register into 5 courses per
  semester. If you wish to register into more go
  and see an academic advisor.
• Once you have chosen your courses (and desired
  sections) remember to REGISTER into the course.
  You should receive a confirmation number. Adding
  courses to your cart does not mean you are
  registered!

11
Registration for 1st years 2009

• Registration times are based year of study (3rd
  years go first), and then on last two digits of
  your student number. Student number ordering is
  randomly selected each year.

12
Get ahead!

• It is a good idea to organize you schedule ahead
  of time.
• The university publishes all course offerings
  (including times) on their website months before
  registration time.
• If you have the courses and sections already
  chosen ahead of time you can register very
  quickly. (https//web3.uottawa.ca/coursetimetable/
  CourseTimetableEngine/en.html)
• During registration, Rabaska may be very slow. If
  you already know which ones you want to take then
  you dont have to do an in-depth search on
  Rabaska, all you have to do is select the courses
  that you wish.
• It is also good to have back up courses
  (especially if you have a late registration
  time), these can be selected in advance to fit
  your schedule.

13
Rabaska Tutorial

• The university also offers a Rabaska Tutorial if
  you are unsure how to use the system.
• Here is the link
• http//www.registrar.uottawa.ca/Default.aspx?tabid
  2775