Advising and Student Support
Students in the College of Science who have declared a major should plan on visiting with an academic advisor at least once per semester.
There is one point of contact for every major and some majors may have additional advisors who can assist in the advising process for students. Regularly scheduled advising appointments are recommended for all students to make certain that the appropriate courses are being taken and to answer any questions which may arise.
Frequency Asked Questions
Who do I talk to?
The college advises students through its various departments and programs. Undergraduate students can find their advisor through the provided list, however graduate students should reach out to the Graduate Programs Director in the Office of Academic Affairs.
How do I check my degree progress?
Degree evaluations are made available for students and provide a mechanism to check on how progression is being made towards degree completion. Note that solely checking degree evaluations should not replace face-to-face advising.
- For students who have a catalog year of Fall 2012 or later
- View the tutorial on how to use DegreeWorks, the degree evaluation system used by undergraduate students with a catalog year of Fall 2012 or later.
- For students who have a catalog year prior to Fall 2012
Do I have to listen to what my advisor says?
Advisors can give advice based on their experience. However, the final decision and responsibility for class choices ultimately falls to the student.
How do I withdraw from a class?
Non-academic withdrawals refer to students who need to withdraw from coursework due to a non-academic situation (medical/family emergency, military deployment, etc.). Students seeking a withdrawal from coursework prior to the published last day to drop deadline, can do so themselves via PatriotWeb. Non-academic withdrawals after the published deadline requires an additional form and must receive approval from the Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs.
How do I drop a class?
Students must manually drop a class through Patriot Web. Do not assume you will automatically removed from a class if you do not attend.
Academic Policy AP.1.3 states:
Students are responsible for registering properly and paying by the deadline. Students should confirm the correctness of their enrollments (including drop and add) via Patriot Web. Incorrect enrollments may result in academic and financial penalties.
With a few exceptions, unless your academic standing changes, we will not remove you from a course you have registered for.
Do family members have access to my academic information?
The staff in the Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs is always willing to answer and speak to anything in a general fashion. Due to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), we are limited to the amount of information which we can share regarding a student’s private PatriotWeb record. If you are seeking to sit in on a meeting with your student, consent from the student must be provided on a FERPA waiver form.
Can I transfer credits from another institution?
Students are welcome to take a course away from Mason for credit and have those count towards their degree requirements. The grade for the course, however, will not come back to Mason. Students who transferred in more than 60 or more credits may not take a course elsewhere once they have begun matriculating at Mason. Mason Science students are limited to 9 total credits away from Mason. Learn more about this option here.
How long does it take for requests to be processed?
Our goal is to have requests reviewed within 2-3 business days. For fairness, we review requests in the order which they were received. Certain times during the semester, we have an especially heightened number of requests (especially the beginning and end of the semester) and requests may take the slightest bit longer. This office will be in touch with the student via their masonlive.gmu.edu email address after the request has been either approved or denied.