The Hollins faculty is looking forward to meeting you soon. Through this page and its links, you will find information about selecting your courses, placement tests, and academic advising. Please read all of the information below carefully.

Orientation

During orientation on Monday, February 4, you will meet with your academic advisor, a member of the Hollins faculty or administration, to discuss your interests and to register for spring term classes. A typical course load during fall and spring terms for a full-time student is four 4-credit classes. In preparation for orientation, please go through the schedule of classes and jot down all classes that interest you. Then check the online catalog to read the description of the classes and make sure you have the correct prerequisites (listed at the end of each course description). Please bring your long list of courses to orientation. Your advisor and a peer mentor will help you narrow down your choices and put together your final schedule for the spring. As you look at the schedule of classes, you will see certain codes out to the right hand side. These are the abbreviations for our general education program, Education through Skills Perspectives (ESP). Please review information on this exciting program to determine which requirements you will need to satisfy.

Please review:

• Schedule of classes
• Academic Catalog
• Education through Skills Perspectives

Academic requirements

All students must complete 128 fall and spring term credits in addition to four Short Terms in order to graduate from Hollins with a B.A. degree (non-Horizon students also have to complete two physical education courses). If you are a transfer student, the number of credits, Short Terms, and physical education courses you need to graduate will be listed on the Transfer Credit Evaluation (TCE) you will receive from the University Registrar prior to arriving at Hollins. On the TCE, you will also see which of the ESP requirements you have completed and which you still need to satisfy. Transfer students must be in residence at Hollins for a minimum of two years. Transfer Horizon students must be in residence for a minimum of 40 credits. Horizon students do not have a physical education requirement, although they are more than welcome to take physical education courses.

Placement tests

If you are planning on enrolling in a chemistry, language, or psychology course in the spring, please contact the following representatives to arrange to take a placement test or to discuss transfer credit from a previous institution:

• Chemistry: Professor Kalra (bkalra@hollins.edu)
• French: Professor Spodark (espodark@hollins.edu)
• Spanish: Professor Ridley (aridley@hollins.edu)
• Latin or Greek: Professor Franko (gfranko@hollins.edu)
• German: Professor Hassell (hasselbo@hollins.edu)

You may take placement tests online over the summer if you do not plan on enrolling in one of these disciplines in your first term at Hollins.

 

Math/Quantitative Reasoning Placement Test

All new first-time, first-year students, transfer students, and Horizon students must take an online Math and Quantitative Reasoning placement test available through Blackboard, no later than Tuesday, January 15. Please review the Quantitative Reasoning Study Packet before logging in to Blackboard to take the assessment. Do not open the assessment link in Blackboard until you are actually ready to take the assessment. You may only attempt the test once, and you must finish in the same session that you start. If you lose your Internet connection in the middle of the test, your answers may not be recorded. Therefore, you might want to record a copy of your answers on paper as you take the test in case you have to restart. If you encounter technical problems while taking the assessment, or cannot get to the assessment, please feel free to contact Professor Julie Clark (jclark@hollins.edu) anytime, or Brad Oeschlin (540) 362-6020 during business hours (M-F 8:30-4:30). All other questions should be directed to Trish Hammer, dean of academic services (540) 362-6333.

Academic do-list before arriving for orientation:

1. Complete the Advising Questionnaire as soon as possible. This form will help us to assign you to an academic advisor in one of your areas of interest.
2. Put together a list of classes that you are interested in taking. This list should be quite long. Your advisor will help you to narrow down your choices when you arrive for orientation.
3. Take the online Math/Quantitative Reasoning Placement Test no later than Tuesday, January 15. Please remember to review the Quantitative Reasoning Study Packet prior to taking the assessment. Horizon students should read the note above to determine whether or not they should take the test online.