1 Thing You Should do Before College Orientation

The Problem: You've never been to college so you don't know what to expect from orientation.

I'm one of the instructors at our college who helps students with their schedules at orientation. I'm always SO EXCITED when a student brings me a list of their classes. I'm like "Eeeeee! This one knows what they are doing!"

​But, I've been thinking. These students who are getting ready for orientation don't know that we expect them to have looked over our plan of studies, our course catalogues, and the semester schedules to have already picked out their classes. and this is a problem.

So here is the ONE thing I want you to do before you go to college orientation. First go find the "plan of study", "major map", or your college's version of your roadmap to your 2 or 4 year degree. Go to the college's website and find the link that lays out the classes you must have to get a degree. This is what we call a plan of study.

​There is an example of what this looks like here, here, and here. 

​Now that you know what you have to take, schedule out your next THREE semesters at the very least. This will help you fix any scheduling conflicts now. Pay close attention to courses that are ONLY OFFERED IN SPRING, FALL, ODD, or EVEN years.

​That is a thing. I'm not making this up!

In doing that last step you might have needed to go through the course catalogue because you might have seen that you could take MATH 2245 or MATH 1200. Go into the course catalogue and see what you are qualified for or what level of torture you would like to take on. :)

I hope that helps you get ready and stay on top of things as you begin your college career. I'll keep adding tips and tricks that will help you so stay tuned!

​If you have any questions, ask in the comments or send me an email. I'd love to make this whole experience a little easier on you.