Orientation

WHAT TO DO BEFORE YOUR APPOINTMENT

To begin this process, please be sure to request that a final high school transcript and any transcripts from prior college coursework be sent to the Admissions Office. Please use this address for your transcript requests:

Allegheny College

Admissions Office – Box 5

520 N. Main St.

Meadville, PA 16335

You should also visit our website to begin completing the forms mentioned on the Important Forms checklist you received in your initial mailing, in particular the Educational Planning and Course Interest form. Completing this form will get you thinking about a variety of courses you might select and will give your entrance advisor important information about you. One of the most important pieces of information we need on this form is a telephone number where we can reach you during your registration appointment. Please choose a number that gets good reception and is near a computer with internet access. You will need to complete the Educational Planning and Course Interest form no later than Friday, June 29^th.

In mid-June, you will receive an email from the Learning Commons notifying you of your appointment time and the name of your entrance advisor. This email will be sent to both your Allegheny email address as well as the personal email address you included on your admission application. Our entrance advisors are faculty members and administrative staff who have been specially trained to help you select courses that interest you and will allow you to pursue your academic goals.

If you have a conflict during your appointment time, please call (814) 332-2898, but our expectation is that you will have enough lead time to arrange your schedule to be available during your appointment time (which will be approximately 30 – 60 minutes). If you will be out of the country, at a summer program without phone or internet availability, or anticipate other problems, please call right away.

Each member of the class of 2016 is randomly placed into a registration group, organized by letter. Your registration group will determine the date of your advising appointment. You will remain in the same registration group throughout your time at Allegheny, but the registration order changes each semester, ensuring that students will have an opportunity to register first during at least one semester. Once they are assigned, registration groups are permanent, and we are not able to move you to a different registration group.

While you are waiting for the appointment date, make sure that you have taken the math placement test. We recommend you do this even if you think you do not want to take a math course this term. The score stays in your file for future course placement if you decide to take a math course at a later time. If you are considering taking a foreign language course, or a music course, be sure to take those placement tests as well. You can access these tests through the Important Forms page.

YOUR REGISTRATION APPOINTMENT

On the day and time of your appointment, you will receive a call at the phone number you provided on your Educational Planning and Course Interest form. The number your entrance advisor will be calling from may show as “Blocked,” or from an area code that is not 814. Please be sure to answer any calls at your appointment time.

These advising calls usually last 30 – 60 minutes. Your entrance advisor will have you log in to your WebAdvisor account, which you can access at http://my.allegheny.edu/ (the login name and password are the same as your Allegheny email account), and together you will look at available courses. By the end of the appointment, your Fall 2012 course schedule will be complete, and you will be registered for your fall classes. Please note: If during this time you only have access to a phone, but not a computer, you can still complete an advising appointment. Contact us at (814) 332-2898 for further details.

OTHER IMPORTANT ITEMS

The registration process is designed to work via telephone, so there is no advantage for you to come to campus and meet with your entrance advisor. While your parents are welcome to listen in during your appointment, please remember that the appointment is for you to talk with your entrance advisor.

Please make sure that you are able to log into WebAdvisor and familiarize yourself with the program before your registration appointment. An online tutorial for WebAdvisor is available here.

When you are considering courses you might want to take, be sure to look at current course offerings for the Fall 2012 semester on WebAdvisor. The College Catalogue can provide descriptions of our programs and major/minor requirements, but keep in mind that the Catalogue you received during the admissions process is for the 2011-2012 academic year, and changes have been made for 2012-2013 that will be published later this year.

FS 101 is a required course for new first year students; more information on the FS program can be found in the College Catalogue. Full descriptions of the FS 101 offerings for Fall 2012 can be found here.