Move Towards a Decision

You probably know by now why you want to take math. And you hopefully have some insight into your math preparation and different course options available to you. It’s time to meet with a math advisor! 

Meeting with a mainstream advisor:

You’ll be meeting one-on-one in Zoom with an advisor who has experience teaching in the main sequence courses (for about 20 minutes). You can expect them to ask about some of the things discussed on these pages, including your math placement result, what math classes you took in the last few years, and what courses you’re thinking about taking. They may give you some math problems to work through. We know this can be stressful, but don’t worry--you’re not being graded! Usually, what they want to know is not whether you can get the right answer, but what ideas you have about how to approach the problem. The goal is to find out what mathematical topics you’re familiar with and comfortable with, and often the only way to do that is to have you talk through some math problems.

Meeting with an advisor about alternate courses and/or transfer credit: 

You’ll be asked to fill out a Google Form in advance to give the advisor some information about your background and interests. The advising sessions are drop-in, so you don’t have to show up at the beginning. Feel free to chat with the other students waiting in the main room while the advisor meets with students in a breakout room! You will meet with a faculty member in the Math department who is an experienced advisor. For courses like Math 185 and 295, the primary goal is to ensure that you understand the content and workload expectations for the course you’re signing up for. For more advanced courses, you may be asked to do some math problems to gauge whether you have the background knowledge that those courses will expect of you.

After you’ve met with your general academic advisor, you’ll be able to enroll in courses. The Math Department makes every effort to ensure that students who want to enroll in the mainstream sequence courses are able to do so, so don’t panic if you don’t see many seats available. It may take a little time for the department to work out appropriate arrangements, but if you want to take one of Math 105, 115, 116, 214, 215, 216, or 217 in a particular semester, you can expect that you will be able to do so. 

If Math 105, 115, or 116 become full, then the department maintains a course-wide waitlist separate from the Wolverine Access system. You’ll fill out a form indicating all sections that meet at times that work for you, and staff will get you into a section as soon as space becomes available in any of these sections. For a link to these waitlists and more information about waitlists in Math courses, see Math’s Waitlist Policy.

To receive permission to enroll in Math 185, 285, 286, or 295, you need to meet with a Math 185+ advisor.

For other 100- and 200-level courses, you should not need any special permission to enroll, and waitlists are managed through Wolverine Access. 

LSA has credit policies regarding receiving credit for repeated courses or taking courses out of order (this includes taking two courses in a sequence at the same time, such as Math 115 and 116).