College Freshmen Seminars & First Year Programs

For the past two decades or more, colleges have designed and developed “first year seminars” or “first year programs” to better support freshmen as they make the transition to college. The focus of these offerings is largely academic and varies widely from one campus to the next. Let’s take a look:

First Year Seminar: this is a seminar style course--generally intimate and limited to 10-20 students. These seminars are most common at small liberal arts colleges that offer an intimate learning experience. The purpose of the freshman seminar is to explore an academic topic and prepare students for the demands of college learning by developing their skills in critical and analytical thinking, research, writing, discussion and presentation. The professor of a freshman course also acts as an individual advisor to the student. Together the professor and student check in regularly, plan out the student’s completion of core requirements and course work for the next year. Examples: Pitzer College, Bates College, Oberlin College.

“Your First-Year Seminar professor also serves as your academic advisor, a person you can talk with about your academic choices and direction. We’ve learned that students feel more comfortable asking for advice from a faculty member they know through a class.” Quote from Bates College website.​

First Year Experience or First Year Program: these programs vary considerably. A first year program at a small liberal arts college may consist of a first year seminar coupled with support from a peer advisor. At universities it is common that the first year program consists of multi-tiered advising. For example, at Northwestern, students have an advisor through their first year seminar, plus a general academic advisor and a peer mentor. At Stanford, students have a an academic advisor in their residential dorm and a pre-major advisor. Other programs, such as FIRE at the University of Maryland provide advising that guides freshmen to develop research experience and professional skills. ​

“At such a large university, many professors have hundreds of students and cannot remember everyone’s names, let alone have time to meet with all of them. I was able to connect with my FIRE mentor and unlike my other professors he knew my name, made an effort to connect with his students and had an open door policy in his office.”

Freshman seminars and first year programs offer students an academic anchor and a tie to a faculty person or undergraduate advisor who can provide guidance. Peer mentors can be personally supportive, offering comfort to students and pointing them to resources and experiences on campus that ease the strain of the first year.

Tips
Sophomores and Juniors

• As you develop a college list, take a good look at how students are advised during the freshman transition. Search for “first year seminar” or “first year program” on each college website.

Seniors

• Seniors: as you are admitted to colleges, find out what resources will be available to you as a freshman. This may affect your final decision to attend one college over another.

All Students

• As you explore colleges and universities, take a good look at how students are advised during the freshman transition. Search for “first year seminar” or “first year program” on each college website.

• Additionally, use the search terms “undergraduate advising,” “student advising,” or “student support” to see what additional non-academic sources of support are available. For example, the Google search “Oberlin student support” generated this list.

• Research peer mentorship at each college. For example, the Google search “Carnegie Mellon peer mentor” rendered this result.

• Ask your high school advisor for the contact information of students who are attending the colleges on your list. Contact these students and ask them directly about their freshman experience and the support they received. Keep in mind that freshman seminars and advising are optional. A student may need support, but refrain from seeking it.

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