Freshman Timeline
What to accomplish as a first-year student:
- Settle in to Campus Life.
- Take General Education courses
- Begin coursework in your major
- Study - Get good grades. Your GPA is very important!
- Explore the CMC Study Abroad Website
- Science majors and double-majors - Plan Early
- Continue your language study; some programs have no language pre-requisite, however, others require one through five semesters of college-level language study. Talk with your family, friends, faculty, and mentors about your study abroad goals. Each of us has a general idea of what we envision for our study abroad experience. Where do you see yourself? What courses are you taking? Why are you going abroad?
- Spring semester freshman year: Attend an Intro to Global Education Meeting. Make an appointment with a CGE advisor to gain assistance in planning your course selection for sophomore year and, your study abroad experience.
- Are you considering Oxford University? Applicants to Oxford are expected to have completed four or five courses in your major before applying. NOTE: Students apply to Oxford in January, sophomore year to study for the junior year at Oxford. Study at Oxford is for an academic year or two spring terms only.
Seriously consider studying abroad spring sophomore year. We encourage you to consider studying abroad spring sophomore year rather than waiting for your junior year. Studying abroad in the spring of sophomore year provides the opportunity to complement your CMC academic interests much earlier and to return with this authentic and unique perspective on the world upon return.
Additionally, you will have:
- The opportunity to spend two full years at CMC delving deeper into your academic and extracurricular interests,
- The ability to develop stronger relationships with your faculty members, advisor(s) and mentor(s), and demonstrate a global understanding in your seminar courses,
- An easier student visa process than for study abroad in the fall, and
- More access to study abroad scholarship funding as the CGE has significant funding for spring sophomores studying abroad.
Ultimately, we find that students prefer to spend the junior and senior year on campus allowing access to more on-campus leadership opportunities, course preferences, and faculty and senior thesis reader engagement.
General SA spring semester requirements:
- Cumulative GPA 2.8 (petitions for lower GPAs are accepted) rather than the fall or AY 3.0 GPA requirement, and
- Nearly decided, decided, or declared a major(s).