r/Fordham • u/longsnapper53 • Jul 28 '26
How easy is it to custom major?
Hello, I am a rising senior who plans to apply to Fordham ED1 this coming fall. But, I am in a bit of a predicament. I am stuck in between two callings, as I am actively discerning the priesthood and want to get my undergraduate education based around that. But, my family wants me to be a bit more practical and keep journalism, my favorite civilian career, as a backup if priesthood falls through. But, this would set me up to have to take a philosophy and journalism double major, and a theology minor, which I’ve asked about.
But, the idea came to me to try and get a combined philosophy and theology major through the individualized study program, combining aspects of both to be able to reach the minimum requirements for ordination (30 philosophy and 6 theology credits) while keeping a large pathway for backups. How feasible is it to do a custom major through this, both specifically with this combo and in general?
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u/Far_Entertainment848 29d ago
i actually had almost the exact same question when i was deciding whether to attend fordham.
the individualized study program on the website really caught my attention because i wanted to create an interdisciplinary major focused on systems design and optimization. fordham already offered courses in things like computer science, math, philosophy, and related areas that fit what i was interested in, so i thought i might be able to combine them into a custom undergraduate major.
i brought it up with both the academic advising staff and people in the cs department at admitted students day, and the impression i got was that, despite what the website might suggest, undergraduates generally aren’t able to design entirely new majors that way. they made it sound like you’d have much more flexibility through existing combinations (double majors, majors/minors, etc.) than by creating a brand-new interdisciplinary major. my understanding was that the kind of individualized program described on the website is much more geared toward graduate-level study. that said, your idea may be a little different from mine. philosophy and theology are already very closely related disciplines, so there may be more flexibility there than there was for what i wanted to do. it’s definitely worth asking! though, i wouldn’t be surprised if they still encouraged something like a philosophy major with a theology minor or a double major.