Concurrent Major or Unsure of Major

This is a rare case, so if after reading, youʻre not sure if this page is for you, it is probably not :)

Everyone must graduate UH with a major, and a few students each year attempt majors in very different academic subjects in different colleges at UH Manoa.

This page is NOT for:

• People who want 2 (or more) business majors: 2 business majors are fairly possible for many students without needing to make special adjustments in the first year (the business majors are Accounting, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Human Resource Management, Management, Management Information Systems, Marketing---and International Business which can only be a second major).

• People who might want to do a combined Bachelorʻs-Masters program in business (so a BBA in Marketing and a MS in Marketing Management, a BBA in Management Information Systems and a MS in Information Systems, a BBA in Accounting and a Masters in Accounting, or a BBA in Finance and a Masters in Finance). For most such students, the planing is in the junior year, not the first year.

• Students who might add a minor in a non-business area in addition to their business major. A "minor" is a set of about 5 courses that give a lighter coverage of an academic subject; as the name suggests, it is lighter/smaller than a "major."

• If you fit the above three categories, this page is NOT for you. You do not need to do anything special in your first semester other than pick the courses shown on Page 1: Picking Classes.

Who this section IS for:

• a student who wants to complete BOTH a Business major (see above) and a non-business degree/major in another UHM College (so Economics in the College of Social Sciences, Japanese or Art in the College of Arts, Languages, and Letters, etc.) before graduating.

• In this rare case, you may want to
  (1) contact the other program to see if they allow concurrent degrees between their major and a BBA business major. Many do, but some (some education programs, etc.) do not allow this.
  (2) check out the PLAN TEMPLATE for your possible second degree/major and see what requirements they have in bold for your first semester. You may want to combine some of the bolded courses for that major with 1-3 pre-business requirements.
  (2a) For example, a student who wanted to attempt a BBA in a business field with a BA in Chemistry would see from the Chemistry Program Template that the bold items for that major are CHEM 161, CHEM 161L, and MATH 241. You could still combine these with a few of the pre-business requirements to get a 14-15 credit semester for fall.
  (2b) Most business requirements donʻt need a placement exam, but if youʻre venturing outside business, you need to check if the "intro"/starting courses for that program require a placement exam: https://manoa.hawaii.edu/registrar/registration/placement-exams/

• Please note that you need to petition to be allowed to do this AFTER you come to campus, and will need at least a 3.25 cumulative GPA, a strong academic reason, agreement from both majors, (you may also need junior standing and admission to Shidler), and a detailed course plan.There may be other restrictions as well (such as the second -language requirement), not listed here for brevity.

• It is not guaranteed that a plan for a concurrent major can be completed in 4 years.

If youʻre not sure you will do a business major, we take no offense!

Check out the PLAN TEMPLATE for your possible other degree/major and see what requirements they have in bold for your first semester. You may want to combine some of the bolded courses for that major with 1-3 pre-business requirements.
(2a)For example, a student who wanted to attempt a BBA in a business field with a BA in Chemistry would see from the Chemistry Program Template that the bold items for that major are CHEM 161, CHEM 161L, and MATH 241. You could still combine these with a few of the pre-business requirements to get a 14-15 credit semester for fall.
(2b) Most business requirements donʻt need a placement exam, but if youʻre venturing outside business, you need to check if the "intro"/starting courses for that program require a placement exam: https://manoa.hawaii.edu/registrar/registration/placement-exams/