The McDaniel Plan is a one-of-a-kind learning experience that frames your four academic years at McDaniel. It’s the way you’ll put your college education together, from the First Year Seminar you’ll take in your first semester to the capstone course you’ll take at the end of your chosen major, encompassing everything in-between.
The McDaniel Plan gives you the opportunity to follow your interests and personalize your learning. You will explore the big picture of the liberal arts curriculum by taking courses that expand your horizons, like a quantitative reasoning course, for example, or one that focuses on cultural understanding. We won’t tell you which specific courses you have to take, but rather which ones meet each requirement, and you are free to choose the things that interest you while still fulfilling the broad-based liberal arts education core courses. You can participate in an interdisciplinary experience your sophomore year, and you’ll need to plan on taking at least one Jan Term- a concentrated course experience taking place, obviously, in January. You’ll want to decide if a research project with a faculty member is important to your future career, or whether an internship better suits your needs, or studying abroad—or all three. The McDaniel Plan will help you coordinate it all.
You can choose your major any time- as soon as you are ready. If you have one already selected, that’s great. If you need to test out several options before making a decision, that’s even better. And if you don’t have a clue yet, well, that’s normal too. The purpose of the McDaniel Plan is to expose you to everything possible, and help you make informed choices—all the courses you select in the first year will meet graduation requirements four years later regardless of the major you choose. Of course you also have the option of choosing a minor, or a double major- it’s all up to you to maximize your options and get the most out of the four years you’re at McDaniel. You can think big or small, stay near campus or travel far. Whatever you decide, McDaniel can help you make it happen.