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Using Coursework to Explore and Enhance Your Degree

There are many ways to explore majors, and taking coursework in a variety of areas can be one of the best!  For each meta-major at Ohio State, we have recommended coursework to take in your first and second year.  You can also explore majors by taking requisite courses, completing General Education (GE) requirements, and making strategic choices for each course you select.  Your academic advisor is here to help you review and investigate your options. 


Courses to Explore Majors Guide

This guide reviews courses you can use to explore majors in all of the colleges and schools at Ohio State.  In many cases, the recommended courses serve as requisites for majors AND complete General Education requirements.


Freshman GE Guide

Whether you're new to OSU or just frustrated by the brief course descriptions in the course catalog, it can be hard to sift through the many options and find exactly the right course to fulfill a General Education requirement. So we've worked with departments across the university to build the Freshman GE Guide, where you can get the insider scoop on General Education courses you may be interested in. The courses presented here are hand-picked for appropriateness to new first year students, as well as to current students interested in finding GE classes that have few or no prerequisites. In it you'll find rich course descriptions, selling points, transferrable skills, terms typically offered, and many other nuggets that we think will help you choose the perfect course.


Use the GE to Explore Areas of Interest and Personalize Your Degree

There are many ways to enhance your degree at Ohio State!  Are you interested in the great outdoors or issues of war?  We don't offer a major or minor in either area, but there are ways to use your General Education requirements to gain information and skill in variety of thematic areas.  The information sheets available on this site show you how to strategically select your General Education courses to explore areas of passion and interest.


OSU Majors By Holland Code (RIASEC)

The Holland Code (RIASEC) Inventory is a trusted work interested inventory that can help you get insights about your strongest areas of interest. While the Holland Code is primarily designed for career e​xploration, we've created this supplementary guide to help you interpret your results as you explore OSU majors. We suggest a handful of majors to consider based on the top two letters of your code. Your Holland Code results can be a helpful starting point for exploring majors, especially if they suggest potential good-fit majors that you haven't yet considered. If you're a current OSU student, you can find your Holland Code by completing the FOCUS assessment available for free here. If you're not an OSU student, you can take a free assessment similar to the Holland Code at https://www.mynextmove.org/.​


Transferrable Skills and the General Education Curriculum

The General Education core at Ohio State helps you gain skills in a wide array of areas.  If you are looking to gain skills in specific areas, such as communication, math and logic, understanding people and cultures, and so forth, reviewing the transferrable skills guide can help you select courses in the GE that will be good skill builders for you.  The guide also describes each GE category and expected learning and skills outcomes.