FIRST-YEAR SEMINAR AND HOUSING FOR FRESHMEN

After grappling with huge, what-am-I-doing-with-the-rest-of-my-life questions, choosing your FYS (First-Year Seminar) is one decision that will actually be fun! These seminars are required, four-credit courses, taken during your first semester at Southwestern. Your FYS experience is your first exposure to Paideia — Southwestern’s distinctive interdisciplinary approach to integrating the curricular and co-curricular aspects of your education.

FYS REGISTRATION You register for FYS at the same time you register for your other courses. (Click here for a list of available seminars)Information regarding your FYS, as well as correspondence from your professor, including a summer assignment, will be mailed to your home address soon after you register. Following registration, you may not change your FYS selection.

FIRST-YEAR STUDENT RESIDENTIAL OPTIONS As you consider the FYS choices, you will also want to think about your residential experience because your housing assignment is determined by your FYS. First-year residence halls are either coed (male and female by suites) or gender-specific (all female or all male). With both residential experiences, you will live with, or in close proximity to, your FYS classmates. You will easily connect your in-class and out-of-class experiences by fostering an element of intellectual curiosity within the residence hall. Because you and your classmates will be sharing living space together, you may find yourself staying up late to discuss a lecture or playing a game of flashlight golf under the stars.

RESIDENCE HALLS Mabee Hall and Brown-Cody Hall are both coed residence halls. The gender-specific first-year halls are Kurth Hall for women and Ruter Hall for men. You will live in the same residence hall for your entire first year. You can learn more about all of Southwestern’s residence halls by visiting the Residence Life website.

ROOMMATE REQUESTS Roommate requests will be considered, but are not guaranteed. You should both indicate your roommate request on your respective housing forms. Additionally, both students must register for the same seminar for roommate consideration.

INDIVIDUAL AND OVERNIGHT VISITS

During the school year, you may schedule visits Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 10 a.m. on Saturday. Saturday visits are available through April. To schedule an individual visit to campus, use the links above or call the Office of Admission at 800-252-3166. 

HEALTH RECORD

The Health Record is a required document and must be completed and returned to the Southwestern Health Center by June 1, for fall enrollment. 

FINAL H.S. TRANSCRIPT REQUEST

A final high school transcript is required to officially complete the enrollment process. Share the Final Transcript Request form with your high school counselor or registrar for earliest submission. (Not required for transfer students)

NEW STUDENT ORIENTATION INFORMATION

New Student Orientation website is live! Prepare to attend our required student orientation from August 18th through the 27st. See you there! 

CONNECT

Follow @SouthwesternU on Twitter and SouthwesternU on Instagram for all the latest news, photos and info. You can also join your class on Facebook: Class of 2021Class of 2020 | Class of 2019