New Student Pre-Enrollment
Preparing for Your 2021 New Student Enrollment Appointment With an Advisor
•Please read the information below carefully, and review ALL slides and videos PRIOR to your enrollment appointment.
Welcome, Maverick! Now that you have completed Online Orientation, let's help you get ready for your new student advising session...
You will be meeting with a Health Careers Resource Center advisor if you are a pre-nursing, pre-radiologic technology, or pre-dental hygiene student. All other pre-health designations will need to meet with the College of Arts and Sciences.
Step 2: Learn about your pre-health designation
Step 3: Prepare for your advising session
»Placement Exams»Test Scores and College Credit
Step 5: Additional Student Resources
Step 1: What is my "Why"?
Becoming a student can seem like a series of checkboxes... “Be sure to apply by the deadline.” “File your FAFSA.” “Send in your transcripts.” “Register for your orientation!” Now that you’re fully admitted and ready to enroll in your courses, think about the fact that you are quite literally signing yourself up to learn.
Like registering for a marathon, you’ve decided that going to college is something important to you, and you are willing to make an investment in yourself. It costs money, yes, but it also costs time and energy. It takes a commitment from you. When you sign-up for classes, you are saying that you commit to showing up, doing the work, and taking an active role in each course. No one signs up for a marathon to watch the others, and students who are committed to the end goal don’t sign-up for classes just to have a schedule. The classes are part of the process of earning the degree and the degree is a step toward a larger goal. So, what is your larger goal? What is driving you to make this commitment toward your academics?
Write your answers to the following questions—bonus points if you write them on paper and post them somewhere you can see them everyday:
- In what ways do you feel compelled to share your gifts with the world?
- How does coming to UNO help you advance toward your mission or goal?
- What do you want to accomplish at UNO?
Hopefully, writing your answers to the questions above was helpful for you, but if you found it to be difficult, this is something you’ll want to think about for yourself, as it’s easier to stick with a goal when you know why it’s important to you. We’ll have more opportunities for you to hone in on your passions as we go, so let’s roll on to the next part of our advising preparation.
Every goal needs a plan. There are lots of pieces that can fit into the plan of how to reach your goal, such as student involvement, research, volunteering, internships, and study abroad, but the part we are specifically going to focus on now is curriculum—or, to put it differently, what it takes to earn a bachelor’s degree.
Step 2: Learn about your pre-health designation
•2-year pre-health areas:
*This is you, if you are meeting with an advisor in our department for your first time freshman enrollment advising appointment!*
Students admitted to UNO for 2-year pre-health areas, which are the following: Pre-Nursing, Pre-Dental Hygiene, Pre-Radiation Science Technology... will need to do the following things:
- Work with a Health Careers Resource Center advisor to learn about options and receive advising specific to the 2-yr prerequisites needed.
- To be clear, students interested in these specific areas do not need to declare a UNO major because the health programs do not require more than 2 years worth of prerequisites to be met.
Again, students interested in these specific areas do not need to declare a UNO major because the health programs do not require more than 2 years worth of prerequisites to be met.
•4-year pre-health areas:
Students admitted to UNO for 4-year pre-health areas, which are the following: Pre-Medicine, Pre-Physician Assistant, Pre-Pharmacy, Pre-Physical Therapy… will need to do the following things:
- Declare a UNO major that suits their intellectual interests.
- Meet with a College of Arts and Sciences advisor for your first time freshman enrollment meeting.
- Add in specific pre-health requirements (scroll down on that website to see specific programmatic requirements) to the degree based on the health career of choice.
- Work with a Health Careers Resource Center advisor as well as the major advisor, to be sure UNO degree and pre-health requirements are all being met. (This includes all the extra stuff like advising on volunteering, research, and so on.)
To put it differently, students fulfilling requirements for pre-health programs may utilize major, minor, general education or elective space to work specific pre-health requirements into the UNO bachelor’s degree. The student won’t graduate from UNO with Pre-Medicine as their major, but that’s not important – fulfilling the prerequisites and being a quality candidate for medical school is. Visit the HCRC website for more information.
Students fulfilling requirements for pre-health programs may utilize major, minor, general education or elective space to work those pre-health requirements into the degree.
Learn your program requirements
»Please watch the video of your pre-health designation below. Your advisor will check to see if you've FULLY watched this video before your advising appointment. Failure to do so will lead to a reschedule of your enrollment advising appointment.
•Pre-Nursing
•Pre-Dental Hygiene
•Pre-Radiologic Technology/ Pre-Radiation Sciences
Wow, this seems like a lot. How do I track all of my requirements?
All students have access to DegreeWorks, an online degree audit system, through their MavLink homepage and can use it to view the specific requirements for their selected degree/major.
Before your advising appointment, please use DegreeWorks to review the requirements of your selected program/pre-health designation (Pre-Nursing, Pre-Radiatian Science Technology, or Pre-Dental Hygiene). All students have access to DegreeWorks, an online degree audit system, through their MavLink homepage and can use it to view the specific requirements for their selected degree/major. Students can also utilize the Undergraduate Academic Catalog to review their requirements, if needed.
Additionally, please make sure that the pre-health designation listed in DegreeWorks is correct. If you want to change your pre-health designation or are considering other areas/careers, be sure to tell your advisor at the beginning of your appointment. You can find a list of UNO majors and programs here.
TUTORIAL: Learn How to Read and Understand DegreeWorks
The audit is broken up into the different requirements needed to complete your program, such as General
Education requirements, Major requirements, etc. View the powerpoint below to learn more about
DegreeWorks and how you can use it to better understand your degree requirements.
What if I'm thinking of changing my pre-health designation or major?
TUTORIAL: Learn How to use the "What If" function in DegreeWorks
You can use the "what if" function to view the different majors, minors, concentrations, and/or certificate
programs at UNO that you are interested in. It will allow you to see the requirements for each option and
what courses you have completed that can be applied towards each one. See the tutorial below for
instructions.
STEP 3: Okay, so how can I prepare myself for my advising session?
Easy! Your advisor needs to know what college credits you may be bringing into UNO and what your placement scores are. Look below for more details...
Placement Exams
Determine whether you need to take any placement exams for English, Math, or Foreign Language or if you qualify for the Public Speaking Test-Out Option. See below to see the flowcharts below to help determine what placement exams you may need.
English
Foreign Language
Mathematics
Speech Test Out Procedure
Test Scores and College Credit
Please send your test scores and/or college transcripts to UNO Admissions as soon as possible. If we
haven't received them yet, please have this information readily available during your advising
appointment so you can tell your advisor the speci]c exams you've taken, your scores, and/or the specific college-level courses (including the course number - Example: ENGL 1150) you've completed.
The items mentioned above could include the following:
- Final High School Transcripts: Make sure your HS knows to send them to UNO.
- ACT or SAT Scores: Visit the ACT website or SAT website to send your score.
- Advanced Placement (AP) Scores: Visit the CollegeBoard website to send your score.
- International Baccalaureate (IB) Scores: Visit the IB website to request a transcript.
- College Transcripts (includes dual enrollment courses): Request official transcripts to be sent to UNO using the other institution's website or by calling their Registrar's Office.
Score reports and transcripts must be sent directly from the institution or testing company to UNO
Admissions. Electronic transcripts or score reports can be sent to unoadmissions@unomaha.edu.
Physical copies can be sent to:
Undergraduate Admissions Office 6001 Dodge St
111 Eppley Administration Building
Omaha, NE 68182-028
So, how do I register for courses?
No worries! During your advising session, your advisor will walk you through the enrollment process in MavLink step-by-step. However, you may want to get familiar with the MavLink enrollment system BEFORE your advising session to make the process as smooth as possible.
Log into your MavLink and practice searching for courses and putting them in your shopping cart. This exercise will help familiarize you with the MavLink system and how course enrollment works. Before getting started, you can watch the three videos below to learn how to register for classes, drop classes, and use a permission number.
- How to Register for Classes
2.
2. How to Drop a Class
3.
3. How to Use a Permission Number
I have questions about my financial aid... What should I do?
If you have questions about financial aid, please visit with the Office of Financial Support & Scholarships at 402-554-2327 or unofinaid@unomaha.edu. Academic advisors are NOT able to see or advise on student financial information.