It is the fact that most of University Students attend the department of their choice that they think is important for them to achieve their educational goal. However, some of them may be placed in the department that is not their first choice. This implies that the students may attend their field of study either by their own choice or they are placed in a department that is not their first choice. This study was conducted to analyze the rationale behind students’ fear to join English department at Wolaiata Sodo University. To achieve the intended goal, the data were collected through questionnaire and interviewing from purposively selected 143 students who were majoring English language at Wolaiata Sodo University. Results of the study showed that majority of the students’ were placed in English department that was not their first choice. The major grounds for students’ decision to ignore English department as their field of study were the students’ poor reasons such as poor English background, the department is difficult, fear of academic dismissal, the instructors in the department are not cooperative, and the department has less job opportunities. The finding of the study revealed that English department was not the first choice for all students because some of the students were feared to join English department as their field of study for their poor justifications. Despite, they were placed in English department though it was not their preference. In conclusion, English department was not the first choices for all students who are attending their study at Wolaita Sodo University.

rationale, fear, Wolaita Sodo, major