Advising for success
Your academic success is important to us. Consider the following to ensure a smooth course plan and an overall successful college career.

Tools to have available
• Undergraduate Bulletin
• Four-Year Cycle of Courses
• Current Course Schedule
• First-Year Students: High school transcripts and Advanced Placement (AP) scores
• Transfer Students: Transfer Credit Evaluation (Official or Unofficial) or Equivalency Tables

Full- or part-time course load
Studies show more than 60 hours of combined work per week may result in sickness or poor performance. Follow the 60-hour-max rule of success:

Hours per week in class
+ Prep time per week (2-3 hrs for each hour of class)
+ Employment hours per week
= no more than 60 hours per week.

First things first
Complete lower level courses (1000-2999) before attempting higher level courses (3000-4999).

Ask questions and explore different courses
Most students, even if already declared, are often unsure of their major. If you can identify two or three interests, try registering for introductory classes in that major to see if it's right for you. Choosing classes from the general education goal listing allows you to explore majors while still earning credits for your degree no matter what you choose.

General education versus major courses
General education, introductory major courses and major pre-requisites should be taken in tandem. Many majors have specific required courses or support courses that satisfy general education requirements. Unless students begin exploring possible major courses, they could end up taking more than one course to satisfy a general education requirement. Refer to the Bulletin to connect majors, minors, certificates and general education requirements to ensure you don't overlap your classes.

Take the Writing Assessment
The faculty and staff at Madonna University have made a commitment to writing across the disciplines. They recognize that writing competency affects a student’s success in college, graduate school, the professions and everyday life. For this reason, Madonna actively promotes the development of strong writing skills. All incoming undergraduate students, including those transferring from other institutions of higher education, are required to write an assessment essay created and scored by Madonna University writing faculty for placement in MU’s required writing courses. All students must have fulfilled their writing requirements by the end of their third semester at Madonna.

Math placement
Math is often dependent on the major declared; if students are unsure which class to take, a good choice for many majors is MTH 2350. The Department of Mathematics’ philosophy is if students had math recently in high school with As and Bs, go to the next level with regard to the major. For students who have not had math in many years, and whose major requires a specific math course, a placement test is administered in the Technology Learning Center.

Check course pre-requisites
Double-check course descriptions and pre-requisites in the Undergraduate Bulletin.

Know major plans of study
Be sure to review major plans of study on each program's Web page for the most recent information. The University faculty previews and approves new plans at monthly meetings throughout the academic year.

Transfer credits
Without an official evaluation, stay away from courses that have any possible resemblance to a course you took elsewhere. If seeking a MACRAO agreement, do not take any Associate General Education requirements. See equivalency tables for our local community college agreements.