In your first year at the University of Waterloo you are admitted to a general program, such as Arts. If you want to pursue an honours degree specifically in English, you need to declare your major by the beginning of April at the end of your first academic year so that you can select the appropriate courses for the fall term of your second year.
Both Victoria Lamont, the English Undergraduate Chair, and Jenny Conroy, the English Undergraduate Administrator, are available to help you with the declaration of your major. If you have questions at any point about your English degree, contact them or drop in to the English undergraduate office (HH 222).
To declare your English major, do the following by the beginning of April:
- Download, print out, and complete the Plan Modification Form. Follow these instructions to fill it out:
- If you are an Arts student, check Plan Modification. If you are in another faculty and are transferring to Arts to major in English, check Application for Internal Transfer.
- Under Current academic plan, list your current plan as it is recorded in your Quest profile (e.g., Honours Arts) and check the appropriate boxes.
- Under Requested academic plan, enter Honours English and the program you want to enter: 1) Literature; 2) Rhetoric, Media, and Professional Communication; or 3) Literature and Rhetoric. If you are planning to do a Co-op degree, check the appropriate box.
- Under Reason for Request, enter "Declaring my major."
- Drop off the form to the English Undergraduate Administrator (HH 222).
You should attend both the Faculty of Arts information session and the English Language and Literature information session for potential majors, which both take place in March. For more information on how to declare your major and specific dates for information sessions and submissions, see the Faculty of Arts Declare your major page.