Academic Planning for New Students

Getting Started and Selecting Courses

Normally you will visit the campus to meet personally with your advisor to select courses before the first semester of attendance.  By the time of this meeting, a transcript analysis has been prepared by a member of the Registrar's staff, and informed decisions can be made about appropriate course choices. Alternately, you can take care of this by a telephone conference, and indeed once you are enrolled in the program, much advising and consultation about program planning are accomplished by telephone contact. [Contact an advisor] 

Placement Testing Courses

On the day of Orientation and Registration, there are short placement tests in both English and mathematics.  For anyone coming to college for the first time, these tests are extremely important and help to build for success rather than the contrary.   No specific preparation is required for either of these brief examinations and they should not be a basis for concern; they are not used for admission decisions, but rather merely to assure that you enroll in the correct level of instruction.

Degree Planning

Once you have embarked on a course of matriculation towards the degree, you should try to plan for several semesters in advance. It is important to acquire skills and prerequisites for upper-division courses early in your college experience.  An advisor will assist with this process which you should initiate using the transcript analysis provided at admission as a worksheet.  In no case should you go beyond the mid-point towards your degree - that is, 62 units - before meeting with an advisor to formulate your degree plan.

Clep Examinations

Mount St. Mary's College gives academic credit for work that has been successfully completed through the College Level Examination Program of the College Board. Information on this outside testing is available from the Weekend College Office.   CLEP evaluates the equivalent of lower-division course work; ACT/PEP examinations in upper-division courses are also accepted for college credit.