Before Meeting with Your Advisor (New Students)

If you are new to UM and are at the stage when you will be meeting with your advisor soon, the following information will help you be prepared.

Quick links to sections below:

New freshmen

Advisors schedule courses for new freshman in a process called Core Course Registration. For more information about that process, follow the link.

Newly admitted freshmen generally meet with their advisor in the late spring or early summer months. Most commonly, this happens in June since high school seniors are often busy with graduation and other events.

Although your meeting with your advisor will probably be in June, advisors will begin reviewing students with completed checklists starting on April 15. Your advisor will only be reviewing new admits who have completed the "Plan your Courses" form, the "Health Items" form, and the "Academic Interest Questionnaire" which are on the Admitted Student Checklist. If you do not have those done, take a few minutes to get those completed. Your advisor will have you registered for fall classes within two weeks after you complete your last checklist item.

For the new freshmen who have completed those forms, advisors will be reviewing the following:

  • Any placement tests needed are complete.
  • Official ACT/SAT scores that have been received by UM.
  • Previous coursework grades have been received by UM.
  • Your answers from the Academic Interest Questionnaire.

Before your meeting, review the items in the advisor meeting checklist below.

When will I be registered through Core Course Registration and when will I hear from my advisor to meet?

If you completed your checklist items by April 15. Your advisor may reach out to you in late April to get clarification from you about some of your responses on the Admitted Student Checklist, but otherwise you should be registered by April 26. Around the beginning of May you will get an invite from your advisor through your university email to meet about your initial course schedule.

If you completed your checklist items after April 15. Your advisor will have you registered within two weeks (10 business days). When they have finished your initial course schedule, they will email you at your university email address.

Why do I have only a partial schedule right now?

Your advisor may not schedule you for all your courses at once for several reasons. Below are some of the most common reasons.

  • You may be missing official ACT/SAT scores or you haven't taken the math or writing placement when you should.
  • Your advisor has questions for you and is waiting to meet with you or is waiting for you to respond (check your university email!).
  • Your advisor knows of new sections opening up and is waiting to add you to those.

 

New Transfer Students

Transfer students registration begins after priority registration for continuing students is over (generally by mid-April). Transfer students can contact their advisors for their advising PIN which will let the students register themselves. If you do not know who your advisor is, you can look them up by major in the New Student Directories for the UM Mountain Campus (four-year) and for the Missoula College (two-year).

Although you will be able to register yourself, your advisor may be inviting you to a meeting as well starting in May. If you do have a meeting with your advisor, review the items in the advisor meeting task list below.

What to do before meeting with your advisor

Note incoming Freshman admits must have the Plan your Courses form, the Health Items form, and the Academic Interest Questionnaire completed before meeting with their advisor. These forms are all in the admissions portal in the Admitted Student Checklist.

To make sure this first meeting with your advisor goes smoothly, here is a suggested list of things to do for both freshman and transfer students.

  • Download the Navigate app on your mobile device. When you get the invite from your advisor, it will allow you to create an appointment in Navigate. Navigate is the app your advisor and multiple student programs across campus use to communicate with you. 

Get the Navigate app

  • If you have not completed your FAFSA and need the financial aid, please do that right away!
  • Make sure you have checked your official university email account recently. Your advisor will be communicating with you through this account starting in late April (if they have questions for you) or early May (to invite you to meet with them).
  • If you signed up for placement exams (math, writing, chemistry or language), make sure you have completed these.
  • Log into Cyberbear and go to your Student Profile page. On the left-hand menu select the menu item named Prior Education and Testing.
    • Check to see if transfer or other previous coursework has been submitted.
    • Check to see if your test scores have posted. This is especially important if you self-submitted math or writing ACT/SAT scores.
    • Review the Student Profile page for other expected grades or scores. UM normally receives AP scores in mid-summer. 
    • For any scores/grades that are missing, first check with the source organization (such as other colleges, the ACT or SAT organizations, etc.) and then with UM admissions to find out the status.
  • Review any holds you might have in Cyberbear in the upper right of the Student Profile page.
  • Review the degree audit in DegreeWorks within Cyberbear. 
    • If you have transfer courses, you will be able to see where they are applied to UM courses.
  • Review the degree maps for your major at https://www.umt.edu/degree-maps/.
    • These degree maps have the suggested term-by-term schedule for your degree.

What if I have a question before my meeting?

  • If you have questions about transfer evaluations, official scores, checklist items, etc., contact UM Admissions.
  • If you have a hold that you need resolved, please go to umt.edu/holds to get the contact details for the department that has placed the hold on your account.
  • If you have questions about your major requirements or schedule that need to be urgently answered before your scheduled meeting with your advisor, you can email your advisor and ask! Advisors are listed on the new student directories for both Mountain Campus (four-year) and Missoula College (two-year).

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