When it came time for Meredith Bell ‘08 to declare her major at the end of sophomore year, she was stuck.

“I took two quarters off junior year because I didn’t know what I was going to be studying,” she said. “I had a huge problem with, ‘What am I going to major in?’”

Bell, inspired by a class on Gandhian nonviolence and her time volunteering at refugee camps in Zambia, wanted to take a more independent route. She chose to design her own major, called Peace and Conflict Studies.

Individually Designed Majors (IDMs) give students the flexibility to shape their major according to their proposed academic program. It’s intended, as Bell put it, “for people who really, really do know what they want to do,” rather than for students who are uncertain.

And that’s no wonder — the application process must be completed sophomore year, is rigorous and requires careful planning. Prospective IDM students are expected to write a proposal explaining why they want to design their own major, and why majoring in an available area won’t work. They must also outline which courses they will take each quarter, detail how each course applies to their created field of study and ensure that their study list is at least 75 units.

Among other criteria, applicants are required to submit three letters of support from faculty advisors in different departments and maintain a minimum 3.5 GPA. According to Roni Holeton, senior assistant dean for the School of Humanities and Sciences, the School receives about four applications a year and normally accepts one or two. Proposals are evaluated each spring by the School’s Curriculum Committee.

Bell’s first proposal was rejected her sophomore year, putting her in such a rut that she almost transferred to UC-Berkeley.

“Part of the reason why it wasn’t approved the first round was because I didn’t have a clear enough picture of what I wanted to get out of it,” Bell said.

After a complicated process, her major was finally approved this spring.

But getting an IDM accepted isn’t always so difficult. Juliann Schamel ‘08, who is majoring in Ecology and Nature Writing, applied successfully her freshman year.

“It was a lot easier than I thought it would be,” she said. “I think the hardest part was finding those three advisors who I felt I could approach — especially since it was only my first year.”

Because the engineering field is constantly developing, the School of Engineering particularly supports students who want to pursue IDMs. Applying entails a similar approach — a proposal, four-year plan comprising a minimum of 90 units and a letter of support from one primary advisor. A committee works with students on their proposals, so the one to three that are submitted each year are usually accepted, according to Darlene Lazar of the School of Engineering.

Gabriella Hdez ‘08 realized that tailoring her own engineering major was more suitable for her desired career.

“I started school thinking I wanted to go into medicine, so I took a lot of biology, chemistry and physics courses freshman and sophomore year,” she said.

After working for a venture capital company in the biotech industry, she changed her mind, and is now majoring in Financial Engineering in the Biotech Industry.

“I wanted to continue studying bio because I liked the coursework, but I also wanted to learn more about finance,” Hdez said. “It’s nice being able to pick and choose my courses across the different departments, rather than take courses that are required of a major, but not related to what I want to do.”

Students and administrators alike say that this is the main benefit of the IDM program — it gives motivated students who are passionate about a subject the freedom to select their own core classes. It’s the applications that show, according to IDM criteria, “breadth and depth within the academic discipline” and “a clear academic goal” that are accepted.

“Having to put that much time, energy and thought into what I want to do has just been so valuable for me,” Bell said. “The whole process of figuring out your purpose and justifying every single class you take gives you such a clear understanding of what you want to get out of school.”