Incoming Freshman Academic Advising

Bengal Bound Schedulers will begin creating your schedule once you register for Bengal Bound. College of Science Academic Counselors will review the initial schedule and make adjustments as needed to ensure accuracy of your first semester schedule. 

After your schedule is finalized, you will receive an email with instructions on how to view it and how to set up an appointment with an advisor, if needed. 

Visit the Bengal Bound Orientation website for registration information and timelines. 

Courses are scheduled based on a variety of factors: declared major, previous college credit earned (AP, IB, Dual Enrollment), standardized test scores (ACT and SAT), ALEKS math assessment score and course availability. It is important to submit all credits and scores as soon as you can to ensure accuracy of your first semester schedule. 

If you have been admitted to the Science Residential College or the Ogden Honors College, you will be added to specific courses required for these populations. 

LSU majors, concentrations, recommended paths, course descriptions, and course prerequisites are listed in the LSU General Catalog. 

You are encouraged to pay close attention to the College of Science section and the General Education requirements. Also, the LSU Center for Freshmen Year (UCFY) has listed many scheduling resources on their website.  

The Science Residential College (SRC) is living and learning community.  In addition to being located in newly renovated residential halls, students participate in opportunities that enhance your education and engage with the LSU and science community.  As a member of the SRC community you will establish working relationships with faculty and staff members, be introduced to research projects in your area of study, and live among entering freshman science and math students with similar interests. Contact LSU Residential Life today to switch to the Science Residential College!

The ALEKS MATH assessment is a tool used to measure a student's readiness for college level math course work. It measures skills in numeric manipulations, algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. It is an adaptive assessment: later questions are selected based on responses to earlier questions. The initial placement assessment quickly and accurately determines what a student knows and doesn't know in precalculus. 

ALEKS PPL serves as a learning module that instructs students on the topics they are most ready to learn. The students’ scores improve with mastery of each topic in the learning module. ALEKS PPL provides an opportunity to let students know whether they are prepared to be successful in Calculus I and lower math courses. ALEKS PPL also provides an opportunity for students to become prepared and to refresh their precalculus skills. 

A student can even earn credit (specifically, in Math 1021) by a proctored ALEKS PPL score.

For details on how ALEKS PPL provides another way to get placement or credit in Math 1021, 1022, 1023, 1431, 1530, 1550, and 1551, click on our Placement and Credit page.

Students must earn an appropriate ALEKS Math to place in Math 1530, 1550, and 1551.  For scores required and registration information, visit the ALEKS website. 

The Appropriate ALEKS math score is the only prerequisite for MATH 1530, MATH 1550, and 1551. Prior coursework and high ACT scores are not sufficient for taking Math 1530, 1550, or 1551.

You will also see that you are in SCI 1001 “Becoming a Scientist.”  As a declared major within the College of Science, you are expected to complete this 1-hour elective credit this fall.  It will provide you the framework to become a successful science and math student at LSU.  Working with faculty members and peer mentors, you will discover research opportunities both on and off campus.  You will further develop your writing and analytical communication skills.  You will become aware of the many career opportunities available to you upon graduation.

The College of Science professional academic counselors provide pre-health advising to all LSU students regardless of declared major. You may find the Pre-medical/Pre-dental Advising page helpful as you prepare for your fall semester. You will note, that Pre-professional programs such as pre-medical, pre-dental, pre-law, and pre-vet med are tracks, not official majors. Students who are listed as pre-medical or pre-dental are advised on the Biological Sciences curriculum unless they have declared a different major. While you may be a pre-health student while pursuing any major at LSU, you need to consider which major will best prepare you for medical or dental school as well as one you are most interested in studying.

 

The College of Science Student Services and Pre-Health Programs are pleased to introduce, the Pre-Health Advising Support and Education (PHASE) Community Moodle Page.  

PHASE Community Moodle Page purpose: 

• Serve as a general pre-health resource for the LSU community
• Provide Medical, Dental, Optometry, and Podiatry career path information
• List career information for alternate pre-health career paths from relevant sources, including the NAAHP HLTHPROF 2.0 national advising listserv
• Communicate updates on pre-health events, both on and off campus.
• Decrease the number of emails in student inboxes  

Recommendations for using the PHASE Community Moodle Page:  

• Login at least once a week, at a minimum, to check for recent updates of events on the Calendar or new information
• Utilize the recent activity section on the right hand side of your Community Moodle Home Page (under the Calendar)

Note, this is not replacement for pre-health advising. Students are encouraged to meet with our pre-health professional advisors, as well as utilize all available resources.

PHASE Community Moodle Page Access:  

• Use the following link to access the Moodle page, click “Enroll me” on your first access: https://moodle.lsu.edu/course/view.php?id=12094
• Information on general Community Moodle access
• You may (and are encouraged) to share the page link with your associates who are not on the email listserv  
• If you are a pre-health student we recommended that you remain enrolled, however, you may un-enroll yourself from the page at any time