New open major system implemented in 2018

Freshmen entering Ewha with their College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) scores will be enrolled in HOKMA College of General Education from 2018 as open majors. 
In this new admission system, the students will contemplate their preferred majors throughout the freshman year and finalize their decisions in the sophomore year. Students entering Ewha through the open major system can freely choose from all majors except for those in College of Education, Medicine, Art and Design, Music, Nursing, and Kinesiology and Sports Studies. 
“The open major system will nurture students with interdisciplinary knowledge, preparing them for the fourth industrial revolution via more opportunities to search their interests in various fields,” said the Office of Admissions. “The merits of the new adopted policy are also expected to attract more applicants during the admissions.”
Although adopted with hopes for positive change, students are expressing concerns that the school is failing to prepare solutions for evident problems that would arise. Students are mainly worried that no predetermined quota for open major students, and no GPA requirement for each department may result in an unequal distribution of students.
“We will provide students with seminars, fairs, and classes that provide an introduction to different majors,” said HOKMA College of General Education. 

“HOKMA is still developing programs to minimize the problem of expected unequal distribution of students.”
Curriculums in the development stages include an introductory course to each major. College of Liberal Arts, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Engineering will provide one class respectively, while School of Business, College of Science and Industry Convergence, and Scranton College will provide one combined class. 
Responding to the concerns that the school would not be able to properly address the problems that will arise from the unpredictable distribution of students, HOKMA freshmen will go through frequent demand surveys for their majors. The surveys will take place when they pay their registration fee, orientation day, beginning and end of the first semester, consequently.
Although the open major system has slight differences from the free major system in the previously existing Scranton Honors Program, some students of the Scranton Honors Programs are casting doubt on the necessity for the new system. 
“I don’t see the point of adopting a new system when the Scranton Honors Program already plays a similar role in Ewha,” said a freshman in the Scranton Honors Program who wished to stay anonymous. “It would have been better to keep the original CSAT system and consider expanding Scranton College instead.”
While the school is developing various programs and curriculums to successfully meet the intention of the open major system, students were not notified of specific information about the changed plans. As it was announced last year without any discussions with students beforehand, Starting Ewha, the Student Government Association (SGA) continues to ask for more discussion on the matter with students.

 

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