Academic Advising | Advising Information for Registering

Academic Advising Centers

The New Student and Premajor Advising Center is a unit within Student Affairs staffed with advisors who provide general information and advising for all newly admitted students, students who are undecided about a program focus, and students with 0-16 credits. (Students interested in the College of Arts and Sciences, the elementary education major, and the law enforcement major should contact their program advisors.) Services include individual consultations on a walk-in basis, appointments with an advisor, and registration assistance. Offices are on the St. Paul Campus (Founders Hall, Room 201) and the Minneapolis Campus (fifth floor).

There are also advising centers in each of Metropolitan State's schools and colleges. Students should call their college or school to make an appointment or to talk with their advisor. Advising Center numbers are:

Change in Program: Contact your advisor if you are planning significant changes in your program.

Advising Information for Registering

Do you have questions about what courses to register for? These tools might help you answer those questions:

• If you were admitted after spring 2005, use your Degree Audit Report (DARS) to see which courses you transferred from other institutions meet requirements in your Metropolitan State University degree program. Your DARS report also shows you the requirements you still need to meet.

• If you were admitted prior to spring 2005, use the General Education/Liberal Studies (GELS) Mn Transfer Curriculum Worksheet that was sent to you when you were admitted to the university and your major checklist. From each of these tools, you can see which requirements you have met and which you still need to complete.

• If you have questions about your academic program, your academic advisor can help you. You’ll find your advisor’s contact information located on the homepage of your portal. You can access the portal by clicking the quick link called “e-campus login NetDirect” located in the bottom right hand corner of the Metropolitan State homepage. (If you haven’t activated NetDirect yet, you will need to do that first.) Contact information for general academic advising is also available.

In the meantime:

• Plan ahead. Unfortunately, if you wait to register you’ll find courses closed/full. Advisors are often difficult to reach during registration because they are already working with other advisees

• Complete your diagnostic assessments as soon as possible, if applicable. Math, reading and writing assessments provide important insight into your current skills and help you select appropriate courses for your first semester.

• Make certain you have taken the prerequisites for any course for which you register. Check the prerequisites on the web site or in the catalog. Be sure to plan for prerequisites and incorporate them into your course sequence.

• Consider whether the course is appropriate to your skill level and applies toward degree requirements. For example, 100–level = freshman level (0–29 credits completed), 200–level = sophomore (33–59 credits), 300–level = junior (60–89), and 400–500–level = senior (90+).

• Warning: Don't take a course at Metropolitan State if you think you've already taken a similar course at a previous institution. If you take a course twice, you will not get credit the second time. Registering for a course that you don’t need is a waste of time and money.

• Choose a course load that ensures success. Allow a minimum of three hours of study per credit per week. Consider your current commitments such as family, work load, homework, class time and commuting time. Also, take into consideration the difficulty of the course, whether you enjoy the subject, or you find the subject difficult.

• Consider strategies for accelerating your progress through overlapping course requirements and exploring creative learning options.

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