Tips for Choosing Your First-Semester Courses

During Summer Orientation, you will speak one-on-one with an academic advisor from the faculty or the Office of Academic Services & Advising to help you confirm your course choices. Faculty and professional academic advisors will be available throughout your time at Stonehill to discuss your academic and career interests and to help you chart a path through Stonehill that leads you to success at graduation and beyond. 

1. If you are not certain about a major, do not worry. Many students explore well into their second year before they declare their major. Moreover, students change their minds about their primary field of study several times while they are in college. So be open to new possibilities and think about the person you want to become.  Before you talk with your academic advisor, ask yourself: 
   • What are my strengths as a learner? What are my limitations? How much background knowledge do I have in a field? 
     • If your skills are not strong in this area, you may want to choose one or two courses each semester that will keep your motivation high and that will directly relate to your long and short-term goals. Find relevance for yourself in every course you take. 
   • How self-directed am I as a learner? 
   • How strong are my writing skills? My reading skills? My problem-solving skills? My research skills? 
     • Consider the reading, writing, and analytical requirements of each course. 
   • What skills do I want to develop? What knowledge do I want to acquire? 
     • Whatever you do, avoid choosing courses “to get them out of the way.” That strategy often leads to less interesting and challenging combinations of courses. 
   • Will you participate in co-curricular activities? Are you an athlete? Will you be employed on or off campus? How will these time commitments affect the time needed to succeed in the courses you have chosen? 
   • What subjects did you excel at in high school? 
     • Think about what courses you did well in during high school and found interesting. Expand upon these with similar subjects in college. 
2. Your choice of first-semester courses at this time is preliminary. You will meet with an academic advisor during Orientation who will help confirm your decisions about your first-semester academic work at Stonehill. 
3. Some of the courses you select may fill, so, it is important to have alternative selections in mind. 
4. Stonehill offers 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-credit courses.  You need a minimum of 120 credits to graduate.   
5. Most students will be choosing four 3- or 4-credit courses during the fall semester. Students must take a minimum of 12 credits to be considered a full-time student. Students wishing to take fewer than four courses will need to consult with an academic advisor in the Office of Academic Services & Advising. 
6. The College does have requirements that need to be fulfilled in the first year as part of the Cornerstone Program of General Education. In addition, some majors (notably Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Earth & Planetary Science, Engineering, Environmental Science, Environmental Studies, Health Science, Neuroscience, Computer Science, Physics, and Mathematics) require that certain courses be taken during the first year. If you are interested in one of these majors, make sure you examine carefully the recommended courses for the majors contained in the next section of this Guide. 
7. During the fall semester you will take either a Philosophy or a Religious Studies Cornerstone Seminar.  Whichever one you don’t take during the fall semester, you will take during the spring semester. Most students will complete the History and Literature Cornerstone Seminars in the first year as well but these requirements can be completed in the second year, too. 
8. Please remember to rank your selections of First-Year Cornerstone Seminars. 
9. Most students will fulfill the Language requirement in the first year (information about the Language Placement Assessment is on the previous page of this Guide). 
10. Many of you will take one or two courses in your intended major, as well as electives, or requirements from the Cornerstone Program. Available courses are listed by department in the First-Year Course Catalog section of this Guide. 
11. Some courses require labs. You will be automatically registered for any required labs that are associated with the classes for which you are registered. 
12. Many first-year students will have space for elective courses. Electives are courses that may simply spark your curiosity, help you explore possible majors, develop a skill you want to acquire or strengthen a skill you already have. To choose elective courses, look at the First-Year Course Catalog in this Guide. Try to come up with a list of 1-3 courses you might like to take in areas that interest you.