Before You Register For Courses:

Make sure you know what (if any) core and/or language requirements you have left to satisfy. Factor this into your short and long term planning.

In choosing courses in your major, seek information and advice!

Your Department's undergraduate advisor and chair, as well as your mentor and the professors you know (and trust) can often provide important information. But you need to ASK QUESTIONS!

For example, be sure you know which courses are offered every semester or two, and which are special courses or ones that you may not be able to take later. Try to find out if there are any professors with whom you would like to study who will be on leave during the following year. Consider:
(1) which courses are best taught;
(2) which most interest you;
(3) which you need to take to be well prepared for graduate study; and
(4) how much work you can reasonably handle and still do well.

Do not be shy about approaching a professor (preferably during office hours) to ask about a course s/he will be offering. Ask about readings and assignments.

If it is a course that s/he has taught before, ask to see a syllabus. You can learn a lot about the professor and course during a five to ten minute discussion.

Professors should be impressed with a student who takes the initiative to seek out this information.

If you have not already taken a course with your mentor, do so. If there is a professor who you would like to ask to be your mentor in the future, enroll in a course s/he is offering now (if possible). Mentoring relationships work best when the professor and student have had the chance to get to know one another in a course setting first.

Ask other students majoring in your Department for information about faculty and courses (but remember that not all students agree in their evaluations-push them for specific examples to illustrate their general evaluations of a course or professor). Don't overlook other City College Fellows as excellent sources of information and advice.

Before enrolling in courses outside your major- either core courses or electives-seek out information even more actively.

Ask other City College Fellows for information and advice. Ask your mentor for advice.

Ask the professor whose course you are interested in for information about the course, including prerequisites, content, readings, assignments.

Ask the Director of the City College Fellowships program for advice.

DON'T FORGET the City College Fellowship seminar-which will be taught each spring semester by two professors from different departments on a topic of broad interest and relevance (for 3 credits).

The instructors and topic will be different each year. Fellows are required to take the seminar during their sophomore or junior year.

Depending on a student's major and the topic of the seminar, he/she can sometimes receive credit for the seminar toward the major, or the seminar can also count as a required writing intensive course.

*** REMEMBER: USE contacts you have as a City College Fellow to get the information and advice you need to make wise choices in selecting courses. It can make a huge difference in the quality of education you receive at CCNY.

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