Chris Armstrong, Assistant Director, Admissions &Honors: "I think one of the best things about being in Division of General Studies is jut all the opportunities that are available to the student, opportunity to meet with an advisor and talk about a lot of different interests that you might be having, opportunities in terms of the different majors that you could potentially explore, the open curriculum that you can take advantage of."
Janelle Jones, Communication ‘11: "You get a chance to explore different majors and get a feel of where you want to be or the things that you like to do."
Brandi Marinko, Communication ‘11: "I wanted to make sure that when I picked my majors someday, it would really fit what I wanted to do."
Yuri Kleban, Advertising ‘11: "After high school, you kind of have that “oh you have to choose your major,” but you’re not sure what you’re going to do. So I’m like, “I want to come here, but still check it out.” The DGS program was definitely what I was looking for."
Julian Parrott, Director/Assistant Provost: "We’re interested in the fact that you have multiple interests and multiple abilities."
Chris Armstrong, Assistant Director, Admissions &Honors: "I think there’s a misconception or a myth that students who are selecting DGS are in some way, you know, academically not on par with the rest of campus, and in my experience, I’d say that’s completely not true. A lot of what we emphasize as part of our advising in DGS is that students strategically select courses that not only explore the areas that they’re interested in, but a lot of times those courses are also going to fulfill general education requirements as well, regardless of what college your major that they are going to go into."
Lori West, Assistant Director, Academic Achievement Program: "You have an opportunity to explore things that you’re good at academically, as well as those things that you have a passion for. Our goal is to kind of find a way to connect those two things."
Alexander Crisci, Electrical Engineering ‘11: "The benefits of being Undeclared is you’re allowed to take any classes you want, so you are not stuck taking classes that the colleges tell you to take. You can explore different majors and make sure you’re going down the right path you want to later in college."
Brandi Marinko, Communication ‘11: "So while you’re taking classes in sciences, math, English, all the basics, as well as some of the more unique topics, you’re fulfilling requirements that you need for graduation while also learning about what you’re truly best at."
Jenni Kotowski, Academic Advisor: "So there’s not that wasting of time that some parents have concerns about, that they really are able to take classes to help keep them on track, but that also fulfill general education requirements."
Bethany Carmien, Linguistics ‘12: "I think I’ve had better relationships through DGS than some of my friends have had in their colleges."
Lori West, Assistant Director, Academic Achievement Program: "There’s really a much closer relationship not only than some of the other colleges, but actually closer than what the students have experienced many times with their high school counselors."
Janelle Jones, Communication ‘11: "Like I go see her more than I see my advisor as a communication major, and she just helps me a lot."
Julian Parrott, Director/Assistant Provost : "Every student comes in with this entire, sort of different individual sense of who they are and what they want to do."
Yuri Kleban, Advertising ‘11: "I have friends that started in DGS and went to engineering and I myself went to media, the College of Media, and it’s tough to get in, but if you do it what you have to do, you know, you’ll get in."
Janelle Jones, Communication ‘11: "I found out it’s okay not to know what I want to do because in the end I could just take it slow, explore, and then actually be in a major that I like and want to be a part of."
Brandi Marinko, Communication ‘11: "Being a Division of General Studies student, you don’t just get to experience one excellent part of the University, you get to have a taste of all before making your final decision."
Julian Parrott, Director/Assistant Provost: "It is the best place to start your academic career at Illinois."