The transition to college can be a challenge—both personally and academically. The Colleges offer a comprehensive Orientation program to get you "up to speed" on your surroundings and to help turn all those new faces into new friends.
Students here take four courses per semester. Prior to arriving in the fall you'll have selected your courses for the first semester, and one of those courses will be a First-Year Seminar.
These small classes have been developed as a way for you to meet others with similar academic interests and to adjust to college-level work. The seminar topics vary each year, as do the professors who teach them, so the classroom discussions are always fresh and interesting.
All first-year students also participate in the Common Ground program, a six-week extension of the Orientation program that offers students a jumpstart on making HWS their true second home. This non-graded course provides connections between the academic and co-curricular networks at HWS, exposing first-years to a breadth and depth of information about campus life.
Common Group allows first-years to share the adventure with one another and with older students and staff mentors who can guide first-years through their early weeks on campus.
