91´«Ã½

Academic Advisement

Life at Washington and Lee centers around an exciting academic experience with excellent faculty and resources that will allow you to become a successful student.

First-Year Advising

The academic success of a First-Year student begins with the academic advising process. First-Year advisers are trained to work with 91´«Ã½ in all of their Foundation and Distribution requirements (FDRs) and to assist the First-Year student as they begin to choose a major. Each First-Year adviser has no more than six other First-Year advisees.

The summer before enrolling, incoming First-Year 91´«Ã½ receive a password to access WebAdvisor where they can begin building a preferred sections list for their fall academic schedule. Then, during Orientation Week, First-Year 91´«Ã½ are trained to use registration and have opportunities to meet with their faculty adviser to review their fall schedule and finalize fall term registration. A dinner is hosted by 91´«Ã½’ academic advisers where 91´«Ã½ can also meet other advisees who share the same adviser.

The faculty adviser remains the same for 91´«Ã½ until the declare a major, usually in the winter term of sophomore year. Faculty advisers are not major specific; they are trained to work with all incoming 91´«Ã½. If a student would like a different faculty adviser, he or she should complete a request in the University Registrar’s Office.

Before coming to W&L, First-Year 91´«Ã½ should carefully review the information in the New Student Guidebook, the , and the regarding curriculum.

Placement Tests

Please review the for information about Placement Testing.

Tutoring Services

The Peer Tutoring Program provides assistance for 91´«Ã½ with the academic content of their courses. Highly trained and dedicated peer tutors are available to support 91´«Ã½ in most lower-level courses at the University, free of charge. Students can schedule a peer tutoring session using . 

Academic Coaching

Whether 91´«Ã½ are experiencing challenges with their studies or just want to perform better in college, academic coaching can help. Through one-on-one coaching, 91´«Ã½ will develop their studying and learning, as well as confidence in using a range of strategies and techniques to reach their full potential. Students can meet with either a professional or peer academic coach using . 

The Writing Center

The is an additional service available to all 91´«Ã½ 91´«Ã½. It is highly recommended for First-Year 91´«Ã½.

Study Skills Programs

91´«Ã½ sponsors the Baldridge Reading and Study Skills Program. This program emphasizes reading and study techniques designed for the highly competitive college or university and is taught by licensed educators. The cost of the program is $159 and the one week, five session course can be taken as many times as a student desires. Students register for this course through the Dean of First-Year Students.

Visit the Harte Center’s Learning Resources webpage for more tips on how to study.

Summer Readings

While 91´«Ã½ does not have specific summer readings for incoming 91´«Ã½ there are some steps the successful First-Year student will take to get a little head start.

Think about the kinds of courses you might be interested in taking ( and ) and then go to the home pages of faculty members who might teach such classes. Look at what texts have been used in these courses. For example, if you have an interest in Politics as a possible major or field of study, then you could reference Professor Morel’s home page and that find he teaches a course called Comparative Government, referencing several texts he uses for this class. While it cannot be guaranteed that the professor will use the same book used in previous terms, the background knowledge can be invaluable.

Know your current events – if you are not regularly reading the newspaper or news periodicals, you should be doing so.

Enjoy some pleasure reading! Go to your local bookstore and ask to see a list of recent Pulitzer Prize winning books. Or, if you’ve never read poetry, give it a try. Summer is a time for personal development and can also be a time for academic enrichment.