Advising FAQs

During advising appointments students meet specifically with their assigned advisors for 30 minutes to receive advising assistance. Advising appointments must be made in advance and can only be with the student's assigned advisor.  Drop-in advising is for students that are not assigned to a specific advisor, and are generally brief meetings (10-15 minutes). During scheduled LTSC Drop-in Advising hours, eligible students meet with the advisor on duty on a first come, first served basis.

Advising appointments are scheduled to last 30 minutes. Usually, for your first appointment you will not need to bring anything with you. However, feel free to bring a list of topics that you would like to discuss. Students are encouraged to complete the LTSC Intake Form to provide their advisor with helpful information prior to their first meeting.

For appointments that occur before your registration date, you are encouraged to explore possible options for courses that you wish to take and work with your advisor to create a tentative schedule for the following semester and begin working on your Four-Semester Plan.

All LTSC students are required to complete and have a Four Semester Plan approved before their advising block will be lifted each semester. This plan is designed to help students understand and track their progress in satisfying General Education requirements, major requirements--especially Limited Enrollment Program gateways--as they work to declare a degree-granting major.

Ideally, students would submit their plan to their assigned advisor for approval at least two weeks prior to their Registration Appointment (the date/time at which a student may register). Once submitted, advisors will need adequate time to review the plan, and once reviewed, additional changes may be needed before a plan is approvable.

Plans are reviewed in the order they are received. Students who wait until just before their Registration Appointment to submit a plan for approval are likely to be delayed in registering for classes.

In order to register for classes, you must resolve all of your registration blocks. Find full information about Registration Blocks from the Office of the Registrar.

These are some of the most common registration blocks that will prevent you from registering for the next semester.

• Advising Block: This block is assigned to students that have not met with their advisor (either at all or for a second time) during the semester, or who do not have an approved semester plan. In order to get this advising block removed, you must  work with your assigned advisor to complete mandatory advising requirements.
• Academic Probation/Dismissal Status Block: Students on academic probation or dismissal must meet with their academic advisor three (3) times during the semester per LTSC's Probation/Dismissal Policy. Please note that students on probation or dismissal must also get approval from their advisor for each course they wish to add or drop.
• Major Block (Must Declare a Major): This registration block is assigned to LTSC students who have reached 60 credits. Please note that the only way to have this block removed is to declare a degree-granting major.
• Financial Block: This block is assigned to students who have an unpaid student account balance with the University. In order to get this block lifted students must pay the account balance.
• Fundamental English and/or Math Block: Students who have not completed their Fundamental English and/or Math requirements within their first 30 credits will have this block assigned to them. Students must register in person at the Office of the Registrar (1st floor Mitchell Building).
• Vaccination Block: All students are required to provide the University an immunization form. If you have not done so, you will need to submit this form to the University Health Center.

The major declaration process varies by college and department. If you are interested in one of the several majors that are known as Limited Enrollment Programs, you should review the gateway requirements for your major of interest and contact the Limited Enrollment Program office if you have additional questions about being admitted to that major.

For the remaining 90+ majors, you must complete the specific Change of Major process for that specific department. In general this process includes completing meetings or workshops with both the department and the college. Most departments and colleges have Change of major information published on their websites. 

To change from a degree-granting major into Letters and Sciences (undeclared), students must complete the LTSC Change of Major Process.

University policy states that students must declare a degree-granting major by the semester in which they complete 60 credits. Failure to declare a degree-granting major will result in a registration block. Students that are applying to one of the competitive Limited Enrollment Programs are strongly encouraged to declare their alternate major during the application process.

If a current Maryland student wishes to take a course at another institution, and have that course and its credits transfer back into Maryland, that student is required to submit a “Permission to Enroll” (PTE) form. By having the course approved, the student (1) assures the credit will absolutely be counted toward graduation at Maryland and (2) will have evidence of permission from Maryland to take the course. Sometimes, especially in Maryland Community Colleges, those institutions will require this approval in order for students to register. To expedite the process students should first check the Transfer Course Database to make sure the course transfers to Maryland.

Typically, courses are taken during the summer or winter terms. For students who wish to enroll in courses at another institution during the same semester that they are taking courses at Maryland ("concurrently"), they must also ask for an additional “Exception to Policy” in addition to submitting the PTE form.

Academic policies and deadlines are crafted by the University to ensure integrity and provide equity for all UMCP students. “Exceptions to Policy” are not appropriate solutions for problems students can avoid by taking personal responsibility. Our office considers granting “Exceptions” to students who have made a diligent effort to work within the requirements but who encounter problems that are clearly beyond their control. Exceptions are only given in “rare and extraordinary circumstances” in which a problem is “out of the control of a student and not predictable.”

Consider the reasons for your request very carefully and discuss them with an advisor. Often, an advisor can help you discover solutions that do not require an exception to policy. To proceed with a request you must fill out the on-line Exception to Academic Policy Form.

If a student has been separated from the university for five calendar years (not academic years/semesters) and has reenrolled in pursuit of their initial baccalaureate degree they may request academic clemency. Up to 16 attempted credits, for courses previously taken at the University of Maryland, can be removed from the cumulative GPA calculation for grades of D+, D, D-, and F. This request must be made within the student's first semester of return to the University.

Attempted credits and grades for which clemency is granted will:

• remain on the student's transcript;
• not be used to satisfy degree requirements;
• be excluded in the calculation of Latin Honors; and
• adhere to the institution's repeat guidelines and be included in the student's repeat limits.

Consider the reasons for your request very carefully and discuss them with an advisor. Often, an advisor can help you discover solutions that do not require academic clemency.