Incoming Student FAQ

Welcome to the College of Arts & Sciences at CU Boulder! We know there is a lot to do and keep track of as you prepare for your first semester, so we want to help make your transition as smooth as possible! We created this page, organized alphabetically by topic, to address the most common inquiries that we receive from incoming students.

 

If you do not find your answer below:

First-year students email ASFYAdvising@colorado.edu

Transfer students contact your assigned academic advisor

Academic Advisors

Log into Buff Portal Advising and look at your Student Success Team and/or check your CU Boulder email for a welcome/introduction email from your academic advisor.*

*Note: If you confirmed your enrollment and matriculated just recently, you may not be assigned to an advisor yet. Please understand that it takes a bit of time for things to process. Rest assured that your academic advisor will appear according to the appropriate process/timeline. You will never need to request that an academic advisor be assigned to you, nor will you ever need to request an appointment. The assignment process is automatic, and students can schedule their own appointments.

If you believe that you matriculated more than a week ago and still do not have an advisor, please email asadvising@colorado.edu.

If you are an incoming first-year student, then no. First-year students do not change advisors even if/when they change majors.

If you are an incoming transfer student, then yes, your academic advisor may change. However, reassignment would happen automatically; you do not need to specifically request the change.

Adding a Major or Minor

Incoming students cannot declare an additional major or a minor. They must wait at least until classes begin. For further guidance, discuss your plans with your assigned academic advisor.

AP/IB Credit

Yes, but please be aware that you will not receive duplicate credit. Connect with your assigned academic advisor to discuss the potential pros and cons of taking a class for which you have already earned credit.

Buff Portal Advising

In general, we find that incoming students report Buff Portal Advising issues because:

  • They have not confirmed their enrollment, so they have not officially matriculated (been activated) yet.
  • Or, they confirmed their enrollment very recently and/or have not activated their IdentiKey, so they do not have full access to CU systems yet.

Make sure that you have confirmed your enrollment and activated your IdentiKey. After that, please understand that it can still take a few days for things to process.

Actual technical issues are rare in our experience, but if you believe that to be the case, first contact oithelp@colorado.edu for assistance. Then, please feel free to email us at asadvising@colorado.edu, and we would be happy to help you with scheduling while your issue is being resolved.

If you confirmed your enrollment and matriculated just recently, you may not be assigned to an advisor yet. Please understand that it takes a bit of time for things to process. Rest assured that your academic advisor will appear according to the appropriate process/timeline. You will never need to request that an academic advisor be assigned to you, nor will you ever need to request an appointment. The assignment process is automatic, and students can schedule their own appointments.

If you believe that you matriculated more than a week ago and still do not have an advisor, please email asadvising@colorado.edu.

Changing Majors

Incoming students wishing to change majors must do so through the Office of Admissions. Log into your application status page, and there you should see an option to submit a major change request form. Complete that form to be considered. Major changes are not guaranteed, and there are typically additional steps needed when requesting to change from one college or school into another. If you already changed your major once and are trying to request a second major change, please contact your admissions counselor.

Class Search

There is no need for concern! Generally speaking, information you see in the Class Search is likely to change by the time you actually register. Please rest assured that you will be able to enroll in an appropriate schedule of classes.

Deferring Admission

You can request to defer your enrollment for up to one year by using the term change form on your application status page. Fill it out with the term to which you would like to be deferred, the reason(s) for the deferral, and what you will be doing during the deferment period.

For more information, read the Term Change FAQ page.

Enrollment Windows (first-year students only)

Before you can select an enrollment window, you must complete the Online Experience. Once you have completed the Online Experience: Log into your Buff Portal → Home Page → New Student Welcome Card → Register for Classes → Sign Up for an Enrollment Window.

Early enrollment windows are not necessarily better than the later ones. Many key classes will have a set number of seats reserved for each window, so students in every window will have the same opportunity to access them. More important than the window itself is making sure you have prepared your cart and are ready to enroll the moment your window opens.

We recommend that you do not pick an enrollment window unless you are absolutely sure it will work for you. However, if you somehow miss your enrollment window due to unforeseen circumstances, there is no need to worry. You will be automatically moved to a later one by New Student & Family Programs. You will receive an email to your CU Boulder email account with the information regarding the new enrollment window.

Make sure you follow our registration guide before your chosen enrollment window. If you have missed any steps and feel unprepared for your enrollment window, we recommend first contacting New Student & Family Programs to see if you can move your window. Or, you can take no action and be automatically moved to a later window.

Online Experience

Contact New Student & Family Programs at welcome@colorado.edu or 303-492-4431.

The Online Experience hold may not be released immediately upon completion. It is typical for there to be some delay between completion and the release of the hold. However, if you believe that you completed the Online Experience more than 3 days ago, contact New Student & Family Programs at welcome@colorado.edu or 303-492-4431.

Placement Assessments

First-year students: Placement assessments are a great source of information for both you and your academic advisor. We recommend completing all placement assessments so you have a variety of options available to you.

Transfer students: Connect with your academic advisor to discuss which placement assessments may be appropriate.

You can find more information and the links to the placement assessments here.  

Registration- First-Year Students

To be considered a full-time undergraduate student, you must be enrolled in a minimum of 12 credit hours.

You were automatically pre-enrolled in classes your major recommends students take in their first semester. We recommend taking these courses unless you plan to change your major, as these courses will ensure you begin making progress toward your intended major. We also recommend you try to remain in the class section/s that you are originally placed in. Attempting to switch sections may cause difficulties if you lose your spot in one section and then cannot join a different one. In general, you should not make any changes to these classes without consulting with your assigned academic advisor first. 

Special program registration is a separate process that happens before your enrollment window. You will receive instructions directly from your program, so make sure you are carefully monitoring your CU Boulder email!

One point of clarification: If you were invited to participate in the Honors Program, but you are not in the Honors RAP, then it is not a separate process and you will be able to register for an Honors class during your enrollment window.

Try connecting with your assigned academic advisor! Advisors will have drop-in availability during enrollment windows. Log into Buff Portal Advising and click on your academic advisor’s picture to check their calendar. You can also reach out directly to ASFYAdvising@colorado.edu for support.

Are you receiving an error message when trying to register? Consult the Enrollment Error Messages page for troubleshooting advice.

Registration- Transfer Students

To be considered a full-time undergraduate student, you must be enrolled in a minimum of 12 credit hours.

We cannot reopen registration for you or manually enroll you in classes.

Connect with your assigned academic advisor for assistance.

Follow up with your assigned academic advisor for further guidance.

Transcripts

Your final, official high school transcript.

If you took college-level classes during high school, the final, official transcript from that institution is also needed (not just your high school transcript).

Final, official transcript/s from any other higher education institutions you have attended.

Final, official transcripts must be submitted directly from the issuing institution/s to transcripts@colorado.edu. You cannot submit your own transcripts, as they will not be considered official.

If you are transferring in college-level credits: In Buff Portal, navigate to Class Registration Guide -> Plan -> View Degree Audit -> Transfer Evaluations tab. If you see “UNOFFICIAL EVAL” and “Need Official Transcript” underneath your transfer credits, it means your final, official transcripts have not yet been received and processed.

If you only have a high school transcript: feel free to contact asadvising@colorado.edu and we can check for you.