Advising

Let’s start here: The Ohio University Experience

The important pages of OUE for planning to register are pages 44-47. You should arrive at your advising appointment with the forms from this section filled out. Working through these pages forces you to think ahead about your options. You won’t have time to start from scratch when you meet with your advisor; you have to do some homework for your time to be productive.

Pages 55-57, “Communicating with your advisor and instructors” is also important. It emphasizes professional communication techniques. Come prepared!

I like the list on pages 18-24 of Tier II courses with their titles. You can get more info about these courses from the First Year Course Information Guide.

More data to help you decide:

To read about what majors require what courses, look them up in the Undergraduate Catalog. This catalog stays with you all 4 years.

Then, to see when OU is offering which classes this term, check the Course Offerings page.

Picking classes:

Rule of thumb: you get 4 courses, so for an undecided student, think like this:

  • 1. finish up a tier 1: english, or math
  • 2. find an intro course into a major I am interested  in that is also a tier 2.
  • 3. find an intro course into a major I am interested  in that is also a tier 2.
  • 4. something I would love to study, something for fun

and have at least one back-up ready for every course you choose, because some, or all, will be closed when it’s your turn to register.

Yet more data:

To get your DARS, go here. That way you can check what requirements you have and haven’t fulfilled. Your advisor will have a copy of this and go over it with you.

You can also request a “What If” DARS from the same page. Click the “Request new DARS Reports” button that appears at the bottom of the opening page and follow the user prompts. That way, you can see where you would stand if you wanted to declare such-and-such a major.

Next, you might want to check your grades.

Whew! that’s a lot of data to coordinate. Make sure to take your questions to your advisor. That’s what they do.

Ready, Set, Go!

So now, you’re ready to register. Make sure you know your registration time. Be ready with your forms filled out, in front of your computer, at least 5 minutes early.  Go methodically through your choices until you’ve got a schedule.  Be flexible.  GOOD LUCK!

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