Frequently Asked Questions

For your first semester at Albion College, your schedule will be created for you by a dedicated team of advisors who try to match your academic interests with relevant and available courses. We will use your All About You form responses and do our very best to provide you with a course in your anticipated major, another that matches with your other interests, and also help you to begin fulfilling Core Requirements for your degree beyond your major.

Schedules are typically available for review by July 1 at my.albion.edu.

You will have an opportunity to meet with an advisor and make changes during Summer Preview (in July)  and Albion-O (Albion College Orientation). Additionally, all students are allowed to make schedule changes throughout the Drop/Add Period. Students wishing to make changes before Albion-O may email [email protected].

Each major at Albion College is between 8 and 10 Units, and your entire degree requires the successful completion of at least 30 Units; therefore, roughly 2/3 of your degree will be in subjects that are not part of your major. Non-major coursework helps to fulfill the Liberal Arts Core Requirement, a quintessential component of a well-rounded, liberal arts education. Students commonly fulfill requirements for a minor with the remaining required units – some even complete a second major!

We might! It is important to note that even if those courses are listed on your high school transcript, we cannot transfer credits from another college or university until we receive an official transcript from the college or university that awarded the credit. Until you order an official college/university transcript, we will not be able to transfer those credits, even if they appear on your high school transcript.

Complete your All About You form in your Briton Bound account and any required placements as soon as possible! This is the one and ONLY way to let us know your intended major and academic interests before we begin building your schedule.

Don’t let this happen to you! The All About You form should only take you a few minutes to complete. Eventually, whether you answer or not, we have to register you for classes, and we would love your help in making sure those classes are relevant and meaningful for your goals. Help us help you!

Official Transcripts can be requested through the Office of the Registrar. Requests must be in writing and have the signature of the requestor. Forms for requesting transcripts are available via the web or in the Office of the Registrar. Requests may be faxed as long as there is a signature. Written requests should include dates of attendance, former names, date of birth and degree received. Thanks to the generosity of the Alumni Office, transcripts are free of charge if sent regular mail. Special handling charges are charged to the student for expedited requests.

Please visit our Transcripts page for more information.

Students should declare a major by the end of the second semester of their sophomore year by filling out a Declaration of Major Form and turning it in to the Registrar’s office. This same form is used to add or drop a declared major, and to add or drop a minor.

A student’s advisor for their freshman year will be the instructor of their First Year Seminar (LA 101). A change of advisor can then be made during a student’s second semester and should be done by the end of their Freshman year.

Students generally pick an advisor from their area of interest. Change of Advisor Forms must be signed by the new advisor and submitted to the Office of the Registrar.

Students will automatically be reassigned should their advisor leave the College for a semester or longer.

Courses dropped during the add/drop period are considered as a drop and are removed from the student’s academic record.

Courses that are dropped after the add/drop period are considered course withdrawals. The final day to withdraw from a course is 10 days after mid-semester grades are due (approx. the end of the 10th week). These courses remain on the student’s academic record with a notation of “W.” In most cases, a “W” should not be looked at as a negative notation on the student’s record. The Registrar should be consulted if there are questions. The “W” grade does not impact the students GPA.

Students who wish to withdraw from a course must complete a Course Withdrawal Form and return it to the Registrar’s Office.

Any course in which a student receives a final grade of 1.7 or below may be repeated. A Special Registration Form must be filed in the Office of the Registrar at the time of registration. Repeated courses remain on the student’s record, but only the most recent grade is computed into the student’s grade point average. Also, repeated courses will be counted only once toward meeting the 32 unit requirement for graduation. The Registrar should be consulted if there are questions.

A directed study enables a student to do in-depth research on a topic or to carry out a creative project at a level beyond that offered in course work. Only Juniors and Seniors are eligible for directed studies. A Directed Study Form must be completed and returned to the Office of the Registrar before a student is allowed to register for the directed study. Directed Studies range between 0.50 and 2.00 units

Internships and Practicum experiences offer the opportunity to participate in, observe and analyze the workings of a firm, agency, or organization. Normally a student will not undertake an internship until their junior year. Internships and Practicums are offered on a credit/no credit basis and range between 0.50 and 2.00 units. Students must have a minimum 2.70 grade point average. Internship and Practicum Applications should be returned to the Office of the Registrar for consideration.

At Albion College, one unit of credit is equal to four semester hours of credit. Therefore, a 3-semester hour course transfers to Albion as 0.75 units and/or a three quarter hour course transfers as 0.50 units. Students interested in taking an off-campus course during the summer should consult with the Registrar for course approval, UNLESS the course is already approved as equivalent and listed on the Registrar’s website.

When a student audits a class, they are expected to complete all assignments and exams for the course. A final grade is assigned by the instructor. However, there are no quality points or units awarded. A grade appears on the transcript, but it is not computed into the grade point average. There are charges associated with auditing a course.

Physical education activity courses are .25 unit courses and usually designated as such by a “P” in the section column of the schedule(1P). Only 1 unit (4 courses) can count in your 32 units required to graduate.

Music ensemble courses are .25 unit courses and usually designated as such by a “E” in the section column of the schedule (1E). Only 2 units (8 courses) can count in your 32 units required to graduate.

Only 16 units from any one department can be counted in the 32 units required for graduation. Should a student desire to take more than 16 units in a single department, they would need more than 32 units to graduate.

No, a course is assigned either a mode or category designation by the respective committee based on the criteria outlined in the catalog for modes and categories.