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Success Checklist

First Year/Freshmen Year:

  • Meet with Office of Career Services to assess your interests, values, and skills to identify a major or area of academic interest.
  • Seek tutoring support in the Office of Academic Services as needed.
  • Attend Get On Board Day, campus events to determine and organization meetings.
  • Speak with the Honors advisor about taking an internship, study abroad or domestic study for academic credit in the next year or two.
  • Develop a four-year plan for courses with academic advisor in spring.

Second Year/Sophomore Year:

  • Meet with Office of Career Services to develop your resume or have it reviewed.
  • Declare your major by spring (remember you can change it at a later date).
  • Join organization(s) that support your major and increase your network.
  • Begin attending career or graduate school events on campus: workshops, department offerings, career fairs, etc.
  • Develop a plan for internships, study abroad, or domestic study for academic credit in the next year.
  • Research your major for career opportunities.
  • Academic advisor to discuss findings. Make changes to course in third or fourth year plan with advisor, as appropriate.
  • If you have a GPA of 3.5 or higher, you can receive a Baccalaureate degree by completing an undergraduate thesis/project.

Third Year/Junior Year:

  • Work on volunteer experiences.
  • Meet with instructors.
  • Develop relationship with your advisors.
  • Explore research opportunities in your major.
  • Apply for graduation the semester prior to graduation (December grads apply in spring.)
  • Take internships, study abroad or domestic study. (Note: Summer is a great time to explore these opportunities.)
  • Interview others who hold positions you would like to hold some day. Meet with Office of Career Services and academic advisor to discuss changes to your academic plan as appropriate.
  • Continue attending career or graduate school events on campus:
  • workshops, department offerings, career fairs, etc.
  • Update your resume to reflect your involvement in organizations, coursework and internships/study abroad or domestic study.
  • Meet with Office of Career Services and/or academic advisor to develop job search plans.
  • Meet with Office of Career Services and/or academic advisor to develop graduate school plans.
  • Identify schools of interest and gather application information.
  • Take exams in summer before senior year for graduate and professional school entrance (GRE, GMAT, MCAT, LSAT, etc.).
  • Write admission essay and schedule review with faculty.
  • Consider letter of recommendation writers. Ask for their approval to write a supportive letter.

Fourth Year/Senior Year:

  • Apply for graduation during fall term (for spring graduation)
  • Complete a research poster
  • Meet with Office of Career Services and/or academic advisor to develop job search plans, if not already completed.
  • Meet with Office of Career Services and/or academic advisor to develop graduate school plans, if you haven’t done so. Please note: for some graduate and professional schools it may be too late to apply. Check with your advisor to stay on track.
o Identify schools of interest and gather application information.
o Take exams in summer before senior year for graduate and professional school entrance (GRE, GMAT, MCAT, LSAT, etc.).
o Write admission essay and schedule review with faculty.
o Select letter of recommendation writers. Ask for their ability to write a supportive letter. Provide resume, letter requirements, etc., with plenty of time to meet deadline.
  • Meet with Career Services to go over resume, cover letter and references.