Step 1) Fill out the New Student Questionnaire

Step 2) Understand the term "liberal arts" and the umw degree requirements

Step 3) Understand AP, IB, Dual Enrollment, and Cambridge Credit

Step 4) Understand Prerequisites & Vertically Building Coursework

Step 5) Consider Pre-Professional Interests

Step 6) Tips and other considerations when planning a schedule

Step 7) First-Year Seminar

Step 8) Choose Possible Courses

Step 9) Fill Out the Course Registration Request Form

Step 10) How to Register

Freshman Academic Planning Guide
spring 2009

Step 7) Selecting a First-Year Seminar

The first-year seminar introduces students to the pursuit of intellectual inquiry. Students will study a non-traditional topic in a non-traditional way while exploring the concept of a liberal arts education. Specific topics will vary from course to course and are described in the links to the right.* A First-Year Seminar is a General Education Requirement and exclusively for freshman students so it must be completed within your first year. 

Features of the course include:

• College as you imagined it: a life of the mind
• Small sizes – capped at 15 students each
• Exploration of a topic of interest to the students and the faculty member
• Active discussion-based formats
• Exploration of primary texts rather than textbooks
• Development of writing and speaking skills, which will be needed in upper-level courses
• Critical examination of the literature

*All calendars, schedules, and assignments found within the links to the right are either samples of previous semesters or tentative schedules therefore subject to change.