FYA Advisors partner with first-year students to help them explore academic opportunities, discover important resources, and successfully navigate the high school-college transition. To learn more about this partnership, view our First-Year Advising syllabus.

FYA Advising Syllabus

  • USC Dornsife offers a wide variety of majors dispersed amongst various advising areas. Review the list below to determine which advising cluster your major resides.

    Humanities Creative Writing, English, Gender & Sexuality Studies History Law, History, & Culture Narrative Studies Philosophy, Philosophy, Politics, & Economics, Philosophy, Politics, & Law, Undecided Humanities
    Natural Sciences Applied and Computational Mathematics, Astronomy, Biological Sciences, Biological Sciences (Biotechnology), Biological Sciences (Ecology, Evolutionary, & Environment), Biological Sciences (Marine Biology), Biological Sciences (Molecular, Cell, & Developmental Biology), Biochemistry, Biophysics, Chemistry, Chemistry (Chemical Biology), Chemistry (Chemical Nanoscience), Chemistry (Chemical Research), Computational Neuroscience, Data Science, Environmental Studies, Environmental Science & Health, Earth Science, Geological Sciences, Human Biology, Mathematics, Neuroscience, Physics, Physics Computer Science, Physical Sciences, Quantitative Biology, Undecided Natural Sciences
    Social Sciences Behavioral Economics & Psychology, Cognitive Science, Economics, Economics & Data Science, Economics/Math, GeoDesign, Global GeoDesign, Health and Human Sciences, Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence, International Relations, International Relations Global Business, International Relations Global Economy, Intelligence and Cyber Operations, NGOs and Social Change Sociology, Political Economy, Political Science, Psychology, Social Sciences Economics, Social Sciences Psychology, Undecided Social Sciences
    Language & Culture American Studies & Ethnicity, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, American Popular Culture, Anthropology, Archaeology, Art History, Central European Studies, Chicano/Latino Studies, Classics, Comparative Literature, Contemporary Latino & Latin American Studies, East Asian Languages & Cultures, French, Global Studies, Italian, Health and Humanity, Jewish Studies, Middle East Studies, Latin American and Iberian Cultures, Media, and Politics, Linguistics, Linguistics & Cognitive Science, Linguistics & East Asian Area Studies, Linguistics & Philosophy, Computational Linguistics, Religion, Russian, Spanish

  • Several advising options are available, and by joining multiple advising activities students will maximize their first-year experience. These options include finalizing registration for schedule changes, exploring resources to support academic/career goals and long-term course plans for the future, and pre-registration advising to register for the upcoming term.

     Advising   Appointment

    Optional or    Required

    Semester      Week(s)

    Appointment Description
    Finalize Registration Optional* 1-3 Meet with your FYA advisor if registration changes are needed.
    Explore & More Optional* 2-5 & 13-15 Meet with your advisor if you wish to discuss academic and career goals or explore co-curricular and extracurricular opportunities
    Pre-Registration Advising Required  6-12 Meet with your FYA advisor to review your progress and discuss plans for next semester. To enroll in classes when your permit to register opens, schedule and complete this session in advance. Check email sent by advisor for more info. This appointment is required to enroll in the upcoming term.

    *Optional but highly encouraged

    A minimum of ONE (1) advising appointment is required each semester (see Pre-Registration Advising above). During pre-registration advisement, students meet one-on-one with their academic advisors to discuss their progress in the current semester and plans for the upcoming term.

  • DOWNLOAD YOUR FIRST-YEAR

    CHECKLIST HERE

    Summer

    Fall 

    Spring 
    Questions to Ask Yourself

    • Have I completed everything on my pre-registration checklist?
    • How can I be flexible with my course choices?
    • What hobbies and interests from high school would I continue to college?
    • What small goals am I setting for myself in my first year? What are my academic goals? What are my extracurricular goals?
    • What new knowledge and skills do I want to gain in college?
    • How am I going to establish my support system, especially if I am away from home?

     

    		 Questions to Ask Yourself

    • What new extracurricular or co-curricular am I excited about?
    • What is something new that will push me outside of my comfort zone?
    • Am I feeling connected to my peers? o the campus community? What events can I attend to meet new people?
    • What majors or minors am I interested in learning more about? Have I made an appointment with my first-year advisor to discuss these interests?
    • Do I want to continue pursuing this major or am I considering a change?
    • Have I maintained a good study-life(or work study life) balance? If not, how can I better manage my time?
    • Am I utilizing the resources available to me to prepare for my exams?
    • Am I taking care of my physical and mental health?
    • How might I use what I have learned this semester inside & outside of the classroom?
    • What is one way you surprised yourself this semester?
    		 Questions to Ask Yourself

    • What experiential learning opportunities have I explored? Volunteer opportunities?
    • Have I introduced myself to my professor(s) and visited their office hours?
    • Do I know how to understand my STARS report?
    • Looking back at my first year, have I accomplished what I intended to do?
    • What have I learned this year about myself and my academic interests?
    • What have I enjoyed in my first year? What have I not enjoyed?
    • What skills or experience am I hoping to gain next year?

     

SCHEDULE  APPOINTMENT

How to schedule an advising appointment

Preparing for your advising appointment