Many candidates for graduate degrees find that the existing degrees offered by their institution may not fully satisfy their academic needs. Depending upon the university, certain programs may be too broad in their academic scope, or a student may also want to design an interdisciplinary program for himself that better suits his future educational or career goals. Designing your own graduate degree program does not need to be an intensely laborious task, but it does require a good level of preparation to ensure that your work is not done in vain.
Instructions
1. Set up an appointment with the head of the department in which you will concentrate your primary studies. During this appointment discuss your intentions to design your own graduate degree program and explain how your self-designed course of study differs from the institution's existing programs.
2. Go through your school's course catalog and decide on which classes you feel are pertinent to your self-designed major. You may also look in the course listing for other departments for classes that may crossover into your field of study.
3. Fill in any gaps in your own graduate degree program by designing independent-study courses. Meet with faculty advisers as necessary to set up an appropriate course load for each of these classes.
4. Visit with the department head again, and possibly with the head of another department if your self-designed degree requires interdisciplinary studies. Show them the curriculum you have designed for yourself and how it encompasses the required range of knowledge for the degree you intend to create and attain.
5. Speak with the university's registrar about the frequency of courses in order to establish the time frame that will be needed in order to attain your self-designed degree. Consider classes that may only be offered during one semester or quarter of the academic year or those that may be offered every other academic year.
6. Design an academic schedule around your self-designed curriculum and present your final proposal to department heads and faculty advisers for approval.
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