First-Year Academic Advising

Get to know your academic adviser and your professors. Invite them to join you for lunch at McConnell Dining Hall during the semester. They will eventually be writing letters of recommendation for you. They will be able to write much stronger letters if they know you well.

If you are struggling in your classes, there are resources available on campus. If you are having academic difficulties, try to understand the nature of the difficulties. Talk with your professor, go to office hours, go to tutoring sessions, arrange study groups, share class notes with other students, and talk with academic support personnel in the Office of Student Affairs. In college, you are responsible for seeking and setting up your own accommodations as needed – and the Office of Student Affairs is there to help you with this process through Academic Support Services.

Get to know the academic calendar and important deadlines. In September (February), know the deadlines to add classes and finalize your schedules. In October (March), follow up on any low grade notices and pay attention to the deadline to drop classes. In November (April) you pre-register for next semester. And in December (May), know the deadline to withdraw from classes and your final exam schedule. Frequently monitor your Pitzer email since all official communications will go there.

The requirements include one social justice theory course, one social responsibility praxis course, one written expression course, two humanities courses, two social science courses, one quantitative reasoning course, and one science course.

Courses can double or even triple count across designated sections, but not within. You should also take some introductory courses in areas of a possible major. You can focus on your major requirements and other areas of interest during your last two years at Pitzer. When you are ready to declare your major, be sure to complete the major declaration form.

But don’t feel pressured to make a hasty decision. Take the time to really discover who you are, what you enjoy doing, what you’re good at, and what you want to be. Take your time and enjoy exploring your options.

Get involved in campus activities such as Clubs, Student Senate, and Varsity sports. Every year in the fall, there is a Pitzer Club Fair. Involvement will help you meet other students with similar interests, learn new skills, and help you feel more connected. For more information please reference the First-Years page.

The Community Engagement Center (CEC) and the CASA Program support Pitzer faculty, students, staff and community partners in forwarding social responsibility and community engagement in the surrounding communities through research, service, advocacy, and action. Go see them in Scott Hall.

We hope that you are excited to explore career options and to plan for career-related opportunities during and after your time at Pitzer.  The Career Services team is here to help you consider your interests, values, talents and goals and to plan for ways to put those into action.  We encourage you to participate in the many workshops, alumni visits, company/organization information sessions, career fairs, and other events at Pitzer and The Claremont Colleges.  After you settle into your classes, please schedule an individual conversation with a career advisor to get to know us and to think about what you might do this summer and beyond.  You can schedule an individual conversation and explore all career-related events on Handshake.

Think about applying for fellowships which target first year students. You might consider the Boren Scholarship, Congress-Budestag Youth Exchange, Critical Language Scholarship Program, Kemper Scholarship, and/or Fulbright Commission: Summer Institutes. There are also lots of summer fellowships. Sandy Hamilton in Fletcher 204 can help you here. You may not get the first fellowship you apply for. But keep practicing, and you will get better at it.

Summer jobs, summer internships, summer research projects, summer fellowships. By late in the Fall semester, you should be making your summer plans. Doing something productive over the summer is more important than what you do after your first year at Pitzer. The Career Services Office is there to help you.

If you are interested in going abroad, it is critical for you to start the process. Visit the Study Abroad Office. Applications will be due at the start of your sophomore year. Consider declaring your major ahead of your study abroad plans as major declaration will be required to attend the program.

Some science majors require classes be taken in a specific order, starting in your first semester. Visit the Keck Science Department website for information on specific majors.  If you are interested in a career in medicine, dentistry, or other health field attend an information session with the pre-health advisor, Susie Fang.

If you are playing on one of our athletic teams, you may find juggling courses, practice, games, labs, etc. a challenge. Be sure to keep lines of communications open and frequent with your professors and coaches about your schedule.