First Year Programs & Orientation

Class of 2018 and New Transfer Students
Get ready, get set…

I’m very pleased that you have chosen Washington College and I look forward to welcoming you in person at Summer Advising, a program on campus in June for new students and their parents or guardians, on June 20, 24 or 27. Transfer students and their parents or guardians are also welcome but not required to attend Summer Advising.

At Summer Advising you will hear from faculty members about their expectations of students, learn about college resources, and meet with a faculty summer advisor to register for your Fall 2014 courses.

New students who cannot attend Summer Advising in June are required to attend the make-up Summer Advising day on Wednesday, August 20, where you will attend some of the sessions from the program in June. You will check in and move into your residence hall that day instead of Thursday, August 21.

In the meantime, I’m sure new students are wondering about the transition from high school student to college student and are thinking more deeply about the meaning and value of a liberal arts education. I recommend

• “How is College Different From High School” a great short introduction to college academic life by the staff of the Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center at Southern Methodist University
• “The Fifteen Habits of Top College Student” by professors Lynn F. Jacobs and Jeremy S. Hyman of the education site of US News and World Report.
• “Only Connect:  The Goals of a Liberal Education” by William Cronon, the Frederick Jackson Turner Professor of History, Geography and  Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a great article that explains very well your Washington College professors’ goals for you.

In your first year at Washington College, you will have a faculty advisor who has volunteered to advise a group of first year students and is well trained and prepared for advising. You will meet as a group and individually with your faculty advisor during New Student Orientation in August. Your first year advisor will be available to you until you choose a major and are re-assigned to an advisor in your major.

Dean Patrice DiQuinzio
Associate Provost for Academic Services