New Transfer Student Guide: Building a Schedule

Degree Requirements

The College has a series of competency and area requirements that all students must fulfill. Refer to the degree requirements page for a complete summary of these requirements. You will have some or all of these requirements filled with courses from your previous institution. Check your VISTAA form to determine which requirements you have completed and which you still need to take. Make a list of those requirements you have not completed and keep them in mind as you browse through the COD to select classes. Be sure to take an ENWR class (usually ENWR 210) and foreign language class during the fall if you have not finished the first-writing and foreign language requirements.  If you wish to submit a portfolio for review, see University of Virginia Writing Program: Placement   The deadline for portfolio review will likely be NO LATER THAN August 1, 2008. Check at the web site listed above for the precise deadline for this year.

Course Levels

The University numbers courses from 100 through 999. This numbering system does not always indicate course difficulty. Rather, the numbering system often reflects degrees of specialization. Courses numbered on the 100 and 200 levels are usually designed for students with little previous knowledge of a subject. These classes are open to upper-class students. In many cases such courses must be taken before more specialized offerings in the 300 and 400 levels can be taken, but this is not always the case. 300- and 400-level courses tend to be smaller, though here, too, large classes are possible. 500-level courses are graduate courses that are also open to upperclass undergraduates. Be sure that you have the prerequisites for any upper-level course you select. If you are in doubt, during Fall Orientation week you may talk to the professor who teaches the course. Courses numbered beyond the 599 level are not open to undergraduates.

Choosing Your Courses

If you attend Summer Orientation, you will select courses while you are here. Students who are unable to attend Summer Orientation may access ISIS on July 31st, the day before it re-opens to all students. When selecting your courses for this fall semester ONLY, you will NOT need an advisor access number.

To find course information for planning your schedule, study the course offerings in the COD (Course Offering Directory). Also, refer to department web sites for program descriptions. Carefully review departmental requirements before selecting courses (see Course Levels section above).

The standard course load is 15 credits; the minimum course load is 12 credits. Select 4-5 courses depending upon the number of credits per course. As you select courses, be certain to include discussion sections and labs. Select zero-credit labs, drills, and discussions where required. You must follow the same procedure to select these as you do any other class. Choose your courses with a plan to fulfill soon any area requirements that you lack, especially the First Writing requirement, the Foreign Language requirement, and the Math/Science requirement.

Try to select both large lecture courses and smaller classes that require discussion and participation. You’ll enjoy your semester much more if your courses are not all of the same type. Also try to strike a balance between courses that require extensive reading (e.g., history, English, government), and those that demand regular, daily preparation (e.g., foreign languages, mathematics).

Be sure to select several alternates because some of the classes you want may be full. Keep in mind that Summer Orientation is only the start of the course selection process. You will have time to adjust your schedule between August 1 and the end of the ADD deadline on September 12.

Don’t try to take on too much during your first semester here. Most transfer students find their first semester at UVa requires significant adjustments.

You may not select more than 15 credit-hours during the summer (you will be able to enroll in up to 17 credits starting on August 1 ), but we urge you not to overload yourself by carrying too heavy a load.

Lay out your schedule in a weekly calendar form. Try to avoid more than three consecutive classes. Allow time to eat lunch. And, keep in mind the location of your classes; you cannot walk from one side of Grounds to the other in the 10-minute break between classes. Use the U.Va. Online interactive map to help you gauge distances between classrom buildings. It takes about 20 minutes to walk from Brooks Hall to Gilmer Hall but you can easily get to and from Cabell, Rouss, Cocke, Wilson, Clark, Minor and Bryan Hall in ten minutes.

Be sure not to repeat a course for which you already received transfer credit. Repeat courses will not count toward graduation credits and will not count toward your grade point average. If you are in doubt, please check with Mr. Papovich, your Association Dean.

If you are a second-year student and certain about the major you plan to declare, be sure you have the proper prerequisites. If you are not sure of your field of concentration, continue to explore different areas of potential interest. You will have ample opportunity to discuss your plans with your faculty advisor duiring fall orientation.

If you are a third-year student, consult the web site for your major and select two required courses to take this fall.  If during fall orientation your faculty advisor suggests courses other than those you have chosen during summer orientation, you may revise your course schedule through the first two weeks of the semester. Make sure you have the necessary prerequisites for your major. Major prerequisites are listed on departmental web sites.

If you plan to transfer into one of our professional schools (Commerce, Nursing, Architecture, Engineering, Education), check to see what courses are recommended. If you don’t plan correctly, you may find that you need either an extra semester, year, or summer school to complete your degree in a professional school. Extra academic time is not automatic and is difficult to obtain, and summer school may be inconvenient. If you have questions, contact the school directly.

Only two credit-hours of physical education credit may be applied toward the B.A. degree. If you already have earned two credit-hours of P.E. credit but still would like to take P.E., the additional credits will not count toward your degree. No more than 18 credit-hours of' "non-College" course work, that is, courses taken in the other schools of this University (Architecture, Commerce, Education, Engineering, Nursing), or the equivalent of such courses taken at your former school, may be applied toward the B.A. degree. Physical education (PHYE) courses and courses with the mnemonic INST, LASE, ROTC, PLSK, USEM, and SEMS also fall under this category. You may count only 6 credits of EDHS course work toward your degree.

A few courses in the other schools of this University are considered “College equivalent” or “cross-listed.” For example, all computer science courses (CS) and all architectural history courses (ARH) are College equivalents, although they do not fulfill College area requirements. For more information, please see the entry for College of Arts and Sciences under “Special School Instructions” in the current COD. Students who plan to enter the combined B.A./M.T. Program should check with Dean Papovich and their advisor in the Curry School about specific courses they need to take in the Curry School.

Using ISIS For Course Selection

The University uses ISIS (Integrated Student Information System) through ISIS OnLine for registration and course enrollment. If you attend Summer Orientation, your courses will be entered into the computer for you; thereafter all students, including new transfer students, must use ISIS to select and make changes to courses both before and during the semester.

New to ISIS
If you have never used ISIS:

• Go to http://www.itc.virginia.edu/students/accounts/ to set up your computing ID as well as create an e-mail account for you on the Central Mail Service

How to access ISIS:

• Go to www.virginia.edu/registrar
• Click on the ISIS icon (make sure you disable your pop up blocker)
• Select Login Method: By University ID (Default) or By ISIS ID
• Enter your 9-digit University ID or ISIS ID (SSN)
• Do not enter any information for the password
• Click on ‘First Time User’
• Create a 1 to 9 character Temporary Password
• For validation purposes re-enter your Temporary Password
• You will receive an email in your @virginia.edu email account with further instructions
• Close browser
• Click on the link within your email to finalize the First Time User process
• Select Login Method: By University ID (Default) or By ISIS ID
• Enter your 9-digit University ID or ISIS ID (SSN)
• Enter your Temporary Password
• Click on 'Submit Authentication'
• Create a new 9 character password
• Re-enter your new password
• Answer 2 out of 10 security questions
• Submit 'First Time Password Reset'
• Close browser
• Click on ISIS Online to log back into ISIS with newly created password

Creating a Password:
Once you successfully enter ISIS for the first time, you will have to create a new password:

• your new password must be 9 characters long, letters or numbers
• the first four characters of your new password cannot be the same as the first four digits of your student or ISIS (employee) I.D. number
• the last four characters of your new password cannot be the same as the last four digits of your student or ISIS (employee) I.D. number
• the first four characters and/or the last four character of your new password cannot be the same as your month and day of birth
• your new password must include at least one of these special characters: ~   !   @   #   %   ^   &   *

When you enter your new password, you will be prompted to answer two out of ten security questions (mother's maiden name, favorite color, street you first lived on, etc.) that will be stored as part of an on-line password-reset function. Should you forget your new password in the future and have your ISIS access suspended, you will be able to reset your own access by correctly matching the answers to the two questions for which you have stored answers.

Again, if you attend Summer Orientation, you will select courses while you are here. In subsequent semesters, you will obtain an advisor access number from your advisor and you will need to enter it the first time you use ISIS in a given semester.

Students who are unable to attend Summer Orientation will have access to ISIS on July 31. When selecting your courses for this fall semester ONLY, you will NOT need an advisor access number.

Check out the College’s Academic Advising page for more information.

Next: Policies & Procedures