As a student at SMU, and especially as a first-year, your advisor will become your best friend. While college is where you learn to become an independent adult, it is also a time to explore your academic interests – there is no one better for this than your advisor.
When enrolling for classes for the first time, you will quickly become familiar with the General Education Curriculum (GEC), which are essentially course requirements that all undergraduates at SMU must complete before they receive their degree.
Assistant Director of Advising Pamela Chiu, has advised SMU students for seven years, and said students should not attend an advising session with a specific schedule in mind. Instead, they should spend time preparing Advanced Placement Test results or dual credits obtained so “the advisor can show you your options.”
“Students should look at majors and minors at SMU, speak to students, check admissions requirements for majors, look at the different schools’ websites [and] go to the bookstore and explore their interests,” Chiu said. “Socializing comes on its own–academics don’t.”
As an advisor, Chiu’s main goal for first-year students is to have them “explore the different areas that SMU offers” rather than to simply complete the GEC in their first year and a half.
“If you love psychology, do it,” she said. “Now is the time to lay [your interests] all out there.”
Chiu said one of the mistakes students often make is taking advice from other students on courses, and what may be difficult or uninteresting to one student may not be for another. In order to navigate the GEC waters more easily and effectively, Chiu advises students to look broadly into their areas of interest.
For those who attend advising sessions with a major in mind, Chiu said, “What else? Come with a second and third option because it is very easy to leave SMU with two majors and a minor, or a major, a minor, and have studied abroad.”
The GEC is designed for students to gain knowledge of liberal arts and obtain a solid undergraduate degree while enjoying their classes.
Chiu’s words of advice to make fall enrollment less overwhelming for the freshmen lounging around in the summer are to “look at the owner’s manual you will receive in the mail, check out our online catalog and do what you want to do.”
