June 4, 2025
Dear Class of 2029,
To help you with advising and placement, the Office of Undergraduate Education writes this week with resources you can start using now or very soon. It also asks you, in the highlighted areas below, to schedule a session with a peer adviser, and to complete a placement survey. It will write again with more information about registering for fall courses.
Looking ahead to next week, the Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid invites you to a webinar on Wednesday, June 11, at 6:00 p.m. EST. The webinar will discuss the Undergraduate Financial Aid Office and Personal Financial Aid Counselor role, cost of attendance and billed vs. unbilled expenses, as well as planning for out-of-pocket costs.
Until next week, I send you my best wishes.
Sincerely,
Hannah Peck
Assistant Dean of Student Affairs
Yale College
June 4, 2025
Dear Class of 2029,
When we wrote to you on May 21, we asked you to consider Yale’s approach to undergraduate education and explained the thinking that underlies our academic requirements. Today, we write to tell you about Yale’s advising resources and placement procedures that support you as you explore the curriculum. We also ask you to provide information, some of it required, for placement.
Advising
Before you arrive and throughout the year, you can turn to advisers to help as you think about subjects you might study, both in and beyond your first semester.
Residential college-based advising
In mid July, you will learn your affiliation to your residential college, which is the source of much first-year advising, including by your:
- residential college dean →
- first-year counselor (“FroCo”) →
- college adviser →
Mandatory Summer Peer Advising Program
From June 17 to August 15, you will be asked to arrange a peer advising session with a recently graduated senior who has served as a residential adviser to first-year students. These advisers, called FroCos, receive extensive training, have vast personal knowledge of the Yale curriculum, and can provide a useful first stop for your questions.
Advising sessions will be offered seven days a week, and at various times, to accommodate all time zones. All first-year students are required to have at least one advising meeting over the summer.
Required: June 17 - August 15
If you have specialized questions that your peer adviser cannot answer, you may reach the academic deans in the Yale College Dean’s Office by email over the summer at advising@yale.edu.
Other Advising Resources
- Departmental advisers, especially the directors of undergraduate studies (DUS) in each department, who will be available to you after you arrive
- Resource Offices Fair on August 20, attended by representatives of the campus offices charged with supporting undergraduates
- Academic Fair on August 25, attended by DUSs and other departmental representatives
Placement
Appropriate placement is vital to your academic success, in subjects with multiple entry points, such as math, the natural sciences, and languages. You have a few options to help you with placement:
High school math and science survey
The High School Math and Science Survey, required of all first-year students, asks you to report your course history in biology, chemistry, computer science, economics, math, and physics, even if you are not planning to take courses in these subjects. These departments use your responses to issue specific course recommendations. (You can adjust your level up or down if you need to after you arrive).
Required
Deadline: July 31
Placement exams
Biology, chemistry, math, and many language programs offer online placement exams over the summer.
Optional but recommended Available July 1 - July 31
Writing survey
To help you consider how to strengthen your writing skills, please complete an optional, ten-minute writing survey about your habits and experience as a writer.
Optional but requested Available July 1 - July 31
We will write again later this summer to explain the timeline and process for registering for courses for the fall term. In the meantime, we hope you are having an enjoyable and productive summer.
Best wishes,
The Office of Undergraduate Education
Coming dates and deadlines
June 17 - Earliest day to schedule a peer advising session, required of all first-year students.
June 30 - Deadline to upload photo ID for identification card
July 1 - Summer online placement exams begin
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