Declaring Your Major or Minor

Students may declare a geology major or minor if they are in good academic standing (2.0 or higher).

Students are encouraged to declare their geology major as early as possible! By declaring the major, students will gain access to the department listserv and faculty advising.

Geology major and minor declarations are completed remotely via Zoom. Please click on the program you are interested in at the bottom of this page for detailed instructions on how to declare.

 

Note: Due to a high volume of registration requests, the Geology Department does not declare new majors or minors during Phase I registration. 

Pre-majors (Phase I Majors)

NOTE: The preparatory courses do not need to be completed before declaring a geology or geophysics pre-major (Phase I major); students can declare the Phase I major at any time as long as they are in good academic standing.

Students who wish to earn a BS Geology or BS Geophysics degree must complete a set of preparatory courses for admission into these degree programs. Students must earn a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher in this set of preparatory courses, and be in good academic standing to qualify for admission. Priority for admission will be given to students who have a GPA of 2.5 or higher in these preparatory courses; students with a lower GPA will be admitted on a space-available basis.

Students who declare and complete a BA in Geology or a BA in Education Earth Science or Earth Science/General Science do not need to declare a Phase I major or complete preparatory courses; they will be admitted into the full major upon declaring.

  • Geology 211: Physical Geology w/ Lab (can be substituted with Geology 101 + 211A)
  • Geology 212: Historical Geology
  • Geology 213: GIS
  • Math 124: Calculus and Analytic Geometry I
  • Chemistry 161: General Chemistry I

And ONE of the following: 

  • Geology 306: Mineralogy 
  • Geology 310: Geomorphology
  • Geology 318: Structural Geology
  • Geology 352: Intro to Geophysics
  • Geology 211: Physical Geology w/ Lab (can be substituted with Geology 101 + 211A)
  • Geology 352: Intro to Geophysics
  • Math 124: Calculus and Analytic Geometry I
  • Physics 161: Physics with Calculus I
  • Physics 162: Physics with Calculus II 

Majors (Phase II)

Once you have received passing grades for all of your preparatory courses (minimum grade required: C-), the Program Coordinator will move you to Phase II of your major. If you have not been moved to Phase II but have received your grades for the prep courses, please contact the Program Coordinator. 

Which program are you interested in?

To declare your Geology BA or BS major, please schedule a remote appointment with the Geology Undergraduate Program Coordinator here: https://calendly.com/parkh23/geology 

Once you have selected a day and time, you will later receive an Outlook invitation from the Program Coordinator to your WWU email that contains a Zoom link for the meeting. During this time, you will complete major declaration paperwork, review departmental information and address any questions you may have about the major. 

See the BS Geology Program Requirements

See the BA Geology Program Requirements

Declaring a Geophysics Major 

Step 1. Schedule an advising appointment with one of our Geophysics Faculty Advisors via email. 

Step 2. Once you have met with a Geophysics faculty advisor, please schedule a remote appointment with the Geology Undergraduate Program coordinator to declare the geophysics major: https://calendly.com/parkh23/geology 

Once you have selected a day and time, you will later receive an Outlook invitation from the Program Coordinator to your WWU email that contains a Zoom link for the meeting. During this time, you will complete the major declaration form and review important departmental information. 

See the BS Geophysics program requirements.

Declaring a BAE Major

Step 1. Schedule an appointment with one of our Earth Science Education faculty advisors via email.

Step 2. Once you have met with an Earth Science Education faculty advisor, please schedule a remote appointment with the Geology Undergraduate Program Coordinator to declare the major: https://calendly.com/parkh23/geology. 

Once you have selected a day and time, you will later receive an Outlook invitation from the Program Coordinator to your WWU email that contains a Zoom link for the meeting. During this time, you will complete the major declaration form and review important departmental information. 

See the Earth Science, Elementary BAE program requirements. 

See the Earth Science, Secondary BAE program requirements. 

See the Earth Science/General Science Secondary BAE program requirements. 

Please schedule a remote minor declaration appointment with the Geology Undergraduate Program Coordinator.

Once you have selected a day and time, you will later receive an Outlook invitation from the Program Coordinator to your WWU that contains a Zoom link for the meeting. During this time, you will complete the declaration eform, and review information about the minor.

See the Geology minor program requirements.

The minor in geology is designed for students who want some preparation in geology to accompany their major course of study. Students majoring in Biology, Environmental Studies, Environmental Science, Chemistry, Computer Science, Anthropology, Journalism, etc. may find that an understanding of Earth processes will be useful in a variety of careers. Thus students minoring in geology are allowed extensive flexibility for selecting courses that complement their goals.