Frequently Asked Questions

Your academic advisor will be officially assigned after the first week of the Fall semester and will be listed in LOCUS (Academic Progress Tile>Advisors). It may be the advisor you met or emailed with during the summer. 

Advisors in First and Second Year Advising are available via email to answer student questions – just respond to your assigned group of advisors. It should be the email address from which you have been receiving registration information this summer. You can also Zoom with Summer Onboarding, Advising, and Registration (SOAR) Leaders who can answer common questions about LOCUS functions and registration issues.  Information about their services and a link to their Zoom can be found here.  

No, only courses taken at Loyola University (and while studying abroad) count towards your GPA. However, if you took dual enrollment courses through Loyola University, those will be included in your GPA.    

Request an official transcript be sent to LUC from the college or university granting credit for the course(s). Your high school transcript is not sufficient for a dual enrollment class. For more information about dual enrollment coursework, check out this video from advising. See the transfer credit policy here.

If you are waiting for a score on an AP test or grades for transfer credits, we will instruct you to enroll in the corresponding class IF it is important for your major and necessary for your first semester. However, once your scores/transcripts come in, you can submit a schedule change request through the FSYA Schedule Change Website (available after July 16th) to replace the course in your schedule.  For more in-depth information on scheduling based on your AP credit, please watch the video here. 

If you already have final grades for completed dual enrollment coursework or AP/IB exams, be sure to send those to Loyola as soon as possible so that the credits can be processed and applied to your account. Official AP Exam scores will be released in early July, which is a great time for you to be sure they have been sent to Loyola. More information about sending these scores and what courses to take based on these scores can be found here. Students are expected to have submitted all transfer credits within the first 30 days of the Fall semester.   

Yes, you can view any transfer credits currently on file using LOCUS. Follow this pathway: LOCUS>Academic Records>View My Transfer Credit Report>Generate (must enable pop-ups). If nothing is listed there, it may mean we have not received official scores yet or that they have not been entered into the system.   

You can view how AP or IB credits transfer to Loyola by visiting this page and selecting the relevant credit type. 

If students have a language requirement, they cannot be waived from the language requirement via the placement exam. Please use this link to see the full policy and options for fulfilling the language requirement. Please note that not all majors require a foreign language. You can learn more about if language is required for you by reviewing information on graduation requirements.  

No, AP cannot replace the placement exam. However, if you receive AP credit for a language course, you can use that as the prerequisite to get into the next course in the sequence or may satisfy the language requirement for students with that requirement.  

Students with previous experience in other languages should be advised by emailing the relevant language coordinator in the Modern Languages and Literatures Department. Their contact information is available here.

Students are not able to retake the Writing Placement Assessment.  Please enroll in the course(s) that you have been placed in by our Writing Program professors through the placement assessment. 

Your ACT/SAT scores or high school GPA might exempt you from taking the Writing Placement Assessment - the written exam some students need to take to be placed in an appropriate writing course. If you are waived from this assessment, you are NOT waived from UCWR 110. You will still need to take this course. The only way to fulfill your UCWR 110 requirement is through transfer credit or through Interdisciplinary Honors coursework.  

Placements of UCWR 109 or ENGL 100 require students to take an additional course to complete their College Writing Seminar (UCWR 110) requirement. If you have a UCWR 109 placement, please register for UCWR 109 and UCWR 110 in the same semester. If you have an ENGL 100 placement, please register for ENGL 100 in your first semester. You will take UCWR 110 in the following semester. You may need advisor assistance enrolling in these courses, so please contact your advising team if you encounter an error registering.  

The Writing Placement Assessment is graded by writing faculty and may take longer than a week to review. If you have active enrollment and have recently taken the Writing Placement Assessment, please register for an alternative course.  

Yes, students can take the Math Placement Assessment (ALEKS) up to five times. 

Students that need calculus-based math need to have an Math Placement on file in order to take the appropriate course. The Math Placement Assessment is the quickest way to get this placement on file. Information about other ways for establishing this placement getting this placement on file can be found here. If your major or pre-professional program does not require calculus-based math, you do not need to take the Math Placement Assessment 

Loyola University will honor a student’s highest Math Placement (whether through the Math Placement Assessment or alternative placement means). This means that you can take ALEKS up to five times, and we will still make sure you are in the course appropriate to your placement.  

You can access your current class schedule through LOCUS by following this pathway: LOCUS> Manage Classes Tile>View my Class Schedule   

If you have not previously indicated a pre-health track of interest (pre-law will not impact fall scheduling), please reply to the email that sent you the registration information earlier this summer to let us know.  We can then provide information on adjusting your schedule. Commonly required courses for pre-health can be found here. 

There are multiple ways to travel between the Lake Shore (LSC) and Water Tower Campus (WTC). Options include:   

• The Loyola Shuttle: This is a Loyola Community only bus (so students, faculty, and staff) that requires a LUC ID for entry. These shuttles run regularly throughout the day through late evening Monday - Friday.   

• The L - Red Line: The Red Line train runs 24/7 and has stops close to both campuses. The train ride is roughly 35 minutes with some walking required.   

• The 147 Bus: The 147 Bus runs from early morning to late evening and has stops on the LSC and near the WTC campus. The time it takes to go from LSC to WTC (or vice-versa) depends on the time of day due to traffic flow.   

Regardless of the mode of travel, we recommend leaving at least one hour in between two courses on different campuses.   

Students are permitted to enroll in a maximum of 18 credits. For your first semester, you should plan on only taking 14-17 credits (unless taking 18 is absolutely necessary for your academic progression, according to the first-semester course recommendations). Most, but not all, classes are 3 credits.  

If you indicated a major change (not a double major or minor) on the advising form that you filled out, those changes will be made sometime this summer. For double majors or minors, those can wait to be declared until Fall semester begins. For major changes not indicated in your advising form or if you change your major sometime this summer, please respond to your registration email to let your assigned advising team know.  

Instructors will include this information in the course syllabus which may be posted to the Sakai course sometime in August. You can also visit the LUC bookstore website to find out required books.

We encourage students to decide on a major by the end of their sophomore year so that they can start their junior year with the appropriate school/college academic advisor and have time to complete the required major courses. 

Please note that there are certainly majors that MUST be declared/started earlier (e.g.,  Engineering Science must be started during the first semester of Freshman year to graduate within 4 years).  If you are unsure about which majors need to be declared earlier, please reach out to your advising team for assistance.  

If you are undecided, check out the resources advisors have provided for you!

You can see Core waivers based on majors/minor via this link. 

In Fall, you can declare double majors or minors with the help of your assigned academic advisor, but we recommend waiting until you meet with your assigned academic advisor to see if pairing certain majors or minors will be feasible for you.   

You can see the various majors offered at Loyola via this link. The courses required for each major or minor can be found in the course catalog.