Welcome to the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS)! We are looking forward to seeing you at our New Student Orientation (NSO) events this Summer!
If you have general questions about New Student Orientation (NSO), please visit the Orientation and Transitions Program (OTP) website.
Meet Your College
You will receive an invitation to sign up, in your My Blue Hen Home, for a Meet Your College session. At this session, you will join Academic Advisors from the College of Arts and Sciences, and other students, to learn about our College, your general degree requirements, how advising works in our College, and what to expect at your individual advising appointment. Please plan to attend the Meet Your College session before attending your individual advising appointment.
Academic Advising Appointment
In mid-June, your College of Arts and Sciences Academic Advisor will email you with information and a link to schedule your individual academic advising appointment. Here is some information to help you prepare…
UD Email
You must set up your UD email address so you can receive your Advisor's invitation to schedule your advising appointment. Please do this right away and check your UD email regularly.
Pre-Advisement Survey
In mid-June, you will see the survey in My Blue Hen Home and receive an email with the link to complete before your advisement appointment. The survey will ask about your AP credit, transfer credit, language background, and your interest in breadth courses. This information will help your Advisor determine what courses are best for you to take during your first semester at UD. It will take you about 10-20 minutes to complete the survey.
Math Placement
If you haven’t already completed your Math Placement Program, you will need to do so by June 17th. You can access it through your My Blue Hen Home portal. Please note that your Math course registration is entirely dependent on your performance on this program and your intended major. It is important for you to do your best on the program. If the placement program and all attempts are not completed prior to June 17th, you might not be registered for your required courses in the Fall semester.
If your desired major is different from your declared major, you should pursue the placement score for your desired major. See the minimum and preferred scores for each major.
Students are permitted to take the program up to three times, so if you don’t earn the score you need for your major, please take it again before June 17th. Please note: to repeat the program, 5-20 hours of guided preparation are required before re-testing.
Transfer Credits
If you have credits from another institution, you must send an official copy of your transcript from the other college/university to UD Admissions to count for your degree. Please refer to the full instructions here on how your credits will transfer to UD (1), how to have them evaluated by the appropriate UD department (2), and where to send the transcript (3). If possible, it would also be helpful if you have an unofficial transcript that you could refer to during your advising appointment.
AP & IB Credits
If you have taken any AP or Higher Level IB exams in high school, please list the subjects and scores (if known) on the Pre-Advisement Survey. These charts show how your exam scores equate to UD credits and course equivalents. You should be sure to have official copies of your scores sent to the University of Delaware, so your credits can become part of your UD record.
Semester Course Load (Finish in Four!)
Students are considered full-time when they take at least 12 credits in a semester. A typical semester course load is 4-5 courses (14-16 credits). Students who take 15 or more credits every semester are more likely to graduate in 4 years, so we strongly encourage you to take at least 15 credits each semester.
Registration for the Fall Semester
When you meet with your Advisor, you will discuss the best course choices for your first semester at UD. You and your Advisor will create a list of the courses that you are requesting for the Fall semester. You will be able to see a tentative Fall schedule online within a few days of your appointment, and your schedule will be finalized by early August.
Please be aware that there is no guarantee that you will get your first choice for courses outside your major or for specific class times/sections. Time conflicts with required courses in your major may make it impossible to be enrolled in one of your top choices; this is why we ask you to select several choices in each of the four different breadth areas on the Pre-Advisement Survey. Think broadly about your interests and prepare to be flexible about your Fall course selections.
