College of Engineering
Welcome parents! Congratulations to your son or daughter on accepting their offer of admission into the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign!
The next few months will be an exciting time for you and your student. We would like to take this opportunity to begin to introduce you to what lies ahead these next few months.
Prior to Registration
Your student's first step will be to complete the online college homework through the IStart website. Why start right off with homework? Here's why:
- This homework exercise leads to the tentative selection of fall semester courses to be reviewed, discussed, and approved by your student's Registration Program adviser.
- Students will be asked to provide information about the AP, IB, A-Level testing, any community college coursework, and proficiency exam outcomes expected. With this information and ACT/SAT results, your student will be in a position to make informed course selections. This process is aided by various IStart information links and a smart analyzer that factors into account a student's major, enrollment restrictions, and other factors.
- By completing this homework, your student is providing their Registration Program adviser with valuable information regarding previous coursework and special academic interests they may have. This allows your student's advising appointment at Registration to be far more productive than simply selecting a class schedule.
In addition to this homework, a registration tutorial is also included on the IStart website. This tutorial prepares your student for the on-campus registration process following the adviser meeting.
Your student's second step is to take the language and chemistry placement exams. For information on how, where, and when to take any placement exams, please review the checklist at www.admissions.uiuc.edu/admitted.
What to Expect at Registration
Your student's visit to campus this summer will be busy and productive. If you or other family or guests accompany your student, there will be much in store for all of you as well.
- After the University Welcome, College of Engineering activity begins with a welcome and overview at 10:00 am for both students and guests. Breakout sessions begin at 11:00 am followed by a noon-hour lunch break. (For those students that have fully and accurately completed their homework and have brought it with them, they may have an opportunity to meet with an adviser even before lunch.) Parents and students typically meet up at lunch to discuss what they have learned so far and plan the rest of their day.
- After lunch, your student will meet one-on-one with an adviser at appointed times assigned during the 11:00 breakout session. During this time, parents can continue to learn more about the College of Engineering and the University of Illinois at other program sessions as well as campus and college tours. After advising, your student will register for fall classes. Your student will be assisted by trained student workers in a supervised computer lab. Please keep in mind that advising and registration occurs throughout the afternoon and it’s best not to plan on leaving campus too early.
We look forward to working with your son or daughter at Registration! If you, other family, or guests join your student in this event, we look forward to meeting everyone as well!
Your Role as a Parent
Just by the fact that you are reading these pages demonstrates that you are deeply interested that your son or daughter has a very successful Registration Program experience.
So how can you best help right now? What is our advice? Consider the following:
- Offer encouragement, express interest, be supportive, and listen, but let them do this preparation work themselves. It’s best that students complete all homework on their own as it is a big first step in becoming familiar with the entire registration process.
- Remind your student to complete the IStart homework and placement test at least one week prior to their Registration visit. We need this type of timeframe to insure that results are in student records prior to their meeting with adviser at Registration.
- Finally, be assured that your student will be in good hands during Registration. We feel that this program is a key step of a coordinated effort by Deans, Engineering staff, and faculty advisers to provide a nurturing environment of guidance and advice that will continue throughout their entire undergraduate experience.