READ FIRST!

REGISTERING FOR FALL 2008 CLASSES

Congratulations on your admission to Willamette University.  Among the first tasks before you is registration for your classes next fall.  Prior to registering, you should familiarize yourself with Willamette’s degree requirements by carefully reading the appropriate sections of the College of Liberal Arts Catalog (http://www.willamette.edu/cla/catalog/ );  follow the Quick Links to Graduation Requirements, General Education, and Academic Advising.  There you will find a detailed discussion of the steps you must take to complete your degree.  Only after you have read this material should you proceed with registration.

At Willamette, a typical, full-semester course is worth 1 credit, and 31 credits are required for graduation.  Although you are considered a full-time student if you enroll in at least 3 credits per semester, the normal load is 4 credits taken in “solid” subjects.  In addition to these credits, you may add some partial-credit courses (.25-.5) for a total of up to 4.5 credits per semester.  If you are taking an ensemble or activity course (Chamber Orchestra or Aerobics, for example) that has an “X” after the course number, you may add this without incurring an extra tuition charge.

While accruing the 31 credits needed to graduate, you must also fulfill a series of degree requirements.  These requirements may be divided into three categories:  general education, a major, and elective courses.  General education requirements are designed to expose you to a broad range of subjects and methods of investigation.  The counterpart to general education, a major, is designed to provide depth in a particular area of inquiry.  Finally, electives provide opportunities for you to select courses on the basis of personal interest.  For most students, each of these categories will comprise about one-third of their 31 units. There’s a bit more to it than this—depending on the major you select, AP, IB or transfer credit, and previous experience in math and foreign language, your particular balance among categories may shift significantly.  When you meet with your advisor at the beginning of the fall term, you will discuss such details related to your 4-year plan and resolve any questions or problems at that point.

For now, you need to select courses for the fall.  Here’s how the process works:  You choose course options from the general education, major, and elective categories, type them into the Course Preference Form, rank the options according to your overall preferences, and then submit the information on-line to the Registrar’s Office at Willamette.  You will be placed into courses based on your choices and on availability.  Although you may not receive all your top picks, the odds are quite good that you will receive some of them.  Keep in mind that you will have many opportunities to take the particular courses you most want during your time at Willamette.  You may also be able to make some adjustments to your fall schedule at the time of your meeting with your advisor during Opening Days.

One final item requires mention before you move to the Course Preference Form and Instruction Sheet:  College Colloquium.  You already know about the College Colloquium from an earlier mailing, so we won’t go into detail here.  It is a required class taken by all first-year students, and you will automatically be enrolled in it without having to do anything more.  Your College Colloquium instructor will also be your academic advisor and so you will have many opportunities to ask questions and discuss any topics related to academic requirements at Willamette University during Opening Days and throughout your first semester.  Now, please move on to the Instruction Sheet and Course Preference Form.