About SCILS majors
Applying to a SCILS major
Deadlines and admissions notifications                 
Changing your SCILS major

The next application deadline for SCILS majors will be July 11, 2008.  The online system will open to accept applications beginning in June.

About SCILS Majors

SCILS offers three undergraduate major programs.  Use these links to find out more about them:

• Communication
• Information Technology and Informatics
• Journalism and Media Studies

If you are a current Rutgers student, we welcome you to apply to one of our majors if you meet our admission criteria, below. 

If you are a prospective Rutgers student and need information about applying to Rutgers for admission to the university, you can get detailed information about Rutgers and the application process from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.  We  hope once you're here you will consider one of our majors.

Applying to a SCILS Major

Students must meet the following minimum requirements in order to submit an application to any SCILS major:

1. You must have completed Expository Writing (01:355:101) or an equivalent course with a grade of C or better; and
2. You must have completed at least 15 credits at Rutgers, or at least 15 transfer credits to Rutgers, with at least a 2.0 Grade Point Average; and
3. You must have completed with a grade of C or better, or be currently enrolled in, the required course for the major of your choice:

For Communication Major applicants, the required prerequisite survey course is 04:189:101 Introduction to Communication and Information Processes

For Journalism & Media Studies Major applicants, the required prerequisite survey course is 04:189:102 Introduction to Media Systems and Processes

For Information Technology & Informatics Major applicants, the required prerequisite survey course is 04:189:103 Information Technology and Informatics

Please note that meeting our minimums does not guarantee admission to a major.

Our application to the major includes three parts:

1. an application form, which is online, 
2. one or two essays, depending on the major, and
3. transcripts - from Rutgers and from any other colleges from which you transferred credits. 

Our application is available online from the beginning of each semester until the application deadline for the semester.  You can start, stop, resume, and complete your application throughout the semester, up until the application deadline.   

Note that if you apply and are admitted to a SCILS major while you are enrolled in the prerequisite survey course for your major, you must earn a grade of C or better in the course to remain in the major after the end of the semester.  If you are admitted to the major and pre-register for the following term, and then earn a D or F in the prerequisite survey course, you will be deregistered from courses that list that survey course as a prerequisite.  If you earn a D or F in the prerequisite survey course, you will be allowed to re-take the course one time.

Deadlines and Admissions Notifications

The next deadline for applying for a SCILS major is July 11, 2008. 

SCILS admits students to our majors during the fall, spring, and summer semesters.  Specific deadlines are posted each year, but in general our deadlines are:

• During fall semester:  first week of October
• During spring semester:  mid-February
• During summer:  mid-July

Students who apply by each deadline are notified within six weeks of admissions decisions.  During the fall and spring, this enables newly admitted students to pre-register for the next semester as a major.  Students admitted during summer will have the opportunity to change fall course registrations to majors-only classes during late August.

Changing your SCILS Major

We encourage you to consider carefully before applying to or selecting a major for your college career, no matter what your interests.  If you are considering SCILS, it is best if you take more than one of our 100 level survey courses (04:189:101, 102, 103) so you are exposed to more than one major before submitting an application to us.  Since a second 100 level course is required in order for you to graduate from SCILS and as a prerequisite for all of our upper (400 level) classes anyway, taking the second 100 level class early will help you in two ways.

If you are admitted to a SCILS major and later feel that a different major would be a better choice for you, you can apply to change your major during our admissions process each semester.  When the online application opens, log in and then select that you are applying to change your major.  We ask you to submit an essay explaining why you want to make the switch, what you hope to gain from the new major, and what you project yourself doing five years after you graduate from Rutgers.