Academic planning involves an ongoing conversation and collaboration between you and your academic adviser.

Your tutorial professor is your adviser until you declare a major (typically in your fourth semester). If you are a transfer student, and you have met the Tutorial requirement, you are assigned an adviser in the department in which you have expressed an interest. Your adviser is someone who will take an interest in you, listen to your dreams and goals, and help you plan a course of study.

It is important that you be actively engaged in developing your academic plan with your adviser. Consider the things you most love to study as well as the things you find most challenging. A broad liberal arts education involves developing your talents, but also taking on difficult challenges. Your adviser will expect you to prepare thoughtfully for meetings, to look at a range of courses, and to reflect on various options. This means doing some background research yourself.

Your adviser will not direct you to a prescribed set of courses. Rather, through a process of dialogue and negotiation, you and your adviser will decide together what you will take each semester. You have an adviser for a reason: to discuss ideas, to give advice, and to provide mentoring as you craft an individualized program of study in the liberal arts.

• What areas do you want to explore first?
• How can you lay the groundwork and keep open several options for a major?
• What academic weaknesses do you need to address?
• What areas of study are at Grinnell that you have never explored or considered?
• What does a liberal education look like for you?

• The Online Schedule of Courses displays the courses (including catalog descriptions and prerequisite information) being offered in a particular semester. The online schedule is searchable by subject, level, time of day, instructors name, etc. This service along with other registration resources is available via the Registrar's webpage.
• The Grinnell College Academic Catalog is the official listing of all courses offered at Grinnell College. Just click on "Courses of Study" to find a list of courses by department. The Catalog does not tell you which courses are offered in which semesters; for that information you need to check the Online Schedule of Courses. The Catalog explains how Grinnell defines a liberal arts education - see the section on "Education in the Liberal Arts."
• The Academic Evaluation in PioneerWeb helps you check your progress toward a Grinnell degree. You should be able to access this feature shortly after July 1 from your PioneerWeb account, in the "Academic Information" section.
• The Student Handbook lists all of the academic policies you should be aware of, and is a terrific guide for future planning - including information about internships, off-campus study, and independent majors.