Welcome New Buckeyes!

Congratulations on making it to Ohio State! We are so excited to have you here! 

Your academic advisors will be partners on your path through the university. We 

• answer your questions, 
• help you explore your career and educational goals, 
• help you develop plans to meet your graduation and post-graduation requirements, and 
• link you to resources to help you succeed. 

Review this information to learn more about how to make the most of our partnership.  

OSU can feel overwhelming if you don’t know what to expect. Even if you have taken university-level classes before, OSU has different policies and services, so Survey class (usually an 1100 class taken in your first semester) helps introduce the tools, rules, and resources to help you make the most of your time here. 

So, what is different about Ohio State?

OSU has its own names for things. 

Every university (usually called “institutions” when we are talking about a school that isn’t Ohio State) has its own terms for frequently used offices and processes, so transferring can seem like moving to a country that speaks a different language. 

• Common terms
• University terms
• OSU’s structure

OSU has its own calendar.

Ohio State has specific deadlines for common tasks such as dropping a class or requesting grade forgiveness. You can find them on the Academic Calendar. But there are some general patterns you should know. As you review the information below, a “term” is the length of the class; it can be a whole semester or a portion of a semester.

The dates above are general patterns; you should always check the Academic Calendar to confirm actual dates, but understanding the pattern will help you get a sense of when some decisions need to be made, and what your remaining options are.

Many policies and processes control adding and dropping classes. For example, new students must request help from an advisor to change their schedule in during their first semester at Ohio State. After that, students can change their own schedules until the end of the first week of classes. But adding a class with the instructor's permission may require you to submit a form signed by the instructor to your advisor regardless of how long you have been a student at the university. And an advisor can't add you to the class if doing so would exceed the legal room capacity limit! So if you ever have a scheduling question, contact your advisor.

OSU has rules that guide everything we do. 

You should review these rules now, and you can review them again at any time. It’s important to understand that not knowing about a rule will not excuse you from consequences if you don’t follow it, so let your advisor know if you have questions. 

• Buckeye’s Guide to Academic Policies
• Advising website
• Academic Misconduct
• Code of Student Conduct
• Protecting your privacy 

Let's practice! Review the resources above to learn more about OSU's grade scheme. Answer these questions: 

• How does a student receive an Incomplete?
• What are the two types of COAM sanctions?
• Which off-campus students does the Code of Student Conduct apply to?

Most importantly, every Buckeye is capable of success. 

Every student is required to attend pre-college education, but not ever student has the opportunity to attend college. Getting the most benefit from that opportunity isn't something you do on your own - you will have academic advisors to refer you to offices that can help when you face challenges. You also have a whole lifetime of managing and overcoming difficult situations which have taught you some of the skills you will need to be successful. For example, you may already have strategies for managing your homework calendar, and you may have good communication skills to solve problems with your roommate. Still, at OSU you may face new challenges that will require you to learn new success skills, such as moving to the front of a large lecture hall to minimize distractions or finally learning how to study effectively because you may not have needed to study much in high school.

Whatever experience you bring with you, you belong at Ohio State because you can do hard things.