It is commonly stated in both literature and news outlets that undergraduate college students, who are undeclared (i.e., have not declared a major), are at a higher risk of dropping out or underperforming compared to students with declared majors. However, research supporting this belief or literature citing possible supportive interventions is scant and outdated. The small amount of research conducted thus far mostly examines the role of advising in supporting these potentially at-risk students. The present study investigated whether undeclared students at a mid-sized public research university in the USA represent a higher risk than their declared peers, as well as whether participation in a first-year seminar (FYS) minimizes these risks. Findings indicate undeclared students may be at higher risk than their declared counterparts and participation in a research-based academic FYS improved academic outcomes for these students. Results included average first-term GPAs 0.4 points higher and approximately 10% greater retention to the second year as compared to undeclared non-participants.

文学和新闻媒体普遍指出，与已申报专业的学生相比，未申报（即未申报专业）的本科大学生辍学或表现不佳的风险更高。然而，支持这种信念的研究或引用可能的支持性干预措施的文献很少而且已经过时。迄今为止进行的少量研究主要考察了建议在支持这些潜在风险学生方面的作用。本研究调查了美国中型公立研究型大学的未申报学生是否比他们申报的同龄人面临更高的风险，以及参加第一年研讨会 (FYS) 是否可以将这些风险降至最低。调查结果表明，未申报的学生可能比他们申报的同行面临更高的风险，并且参与基于研究的学术 FYS 可以改善这些学生的学业成绩。结果包括与未申报的非参与者相比，第一学期的平均 GPA 高 0.4 个百分点，第二年的保留率高出约 10%。