Each major at the university has its own required courses. Information about what those courses are and the sequence in which they should be taken is called a degree plan. When you speak with your advisor during orientation, he or she will share your degree plan with you and help you determine which courses are a good option for you during your first semester, and beyond.

The Undergraduate Catalog, published every two years by the Office of the Registrar, offers information about the courses required to earn each of the degrees in each of the university’s colleges and schools. Degree requirements can change from year to year, so be sure to speak with your academic advisor to make certain you’re using the degree plan that’s right for you.

Admitted students are entitled to a free printed copy of a university catalog. After being admitted, students can order catalogs online. Electronic versions of catalogs are available online.

The first thing you should do is ask for help. As soon as you feel as though you are having difficulty with your studies, speak to your professor, a teaching assistant, a classmate, or your academic advisor about options for getting help. The university offers a number of options for academic assistance, some of them at no cost beyond the fees charged as part of every student’s regular tuition and fee bill.

One good place to find help with your studies is the UT Learning Center, which offers tutoring services for all UT students. The Undergraduate Writing Center also offers free services designed to help students improve their own skills as writers and thus help them to be better able to successfully complete their coursework.

Some students take courses during high school that count toward high school graduation and toward college credit, usually through a local community college. If you received credit for such courses and you want the credit you earned to be transferred to UT Austin, you must submit an official transcript from the college(s) that awarded the credit to you. Send your official transcript(s) to

The University of Texas at Austin
Office of Admissions
P.O. Box 8058
Austin, TX 78713-8058

Any college coursework taken at another college or university must be reported to The University of Texas at Austin. Failure to report such information will result in disciplinary action, including a one-year ban on enrollment and a permanent statement on the student's record about the failure or falsification. Action may include expulsion and loss of credit for work taken subsequently at the university, as well as appropriate action by the dean of students.

If you want to claim credit for college coursework as a result of AP tests or IB exams taken while you were in high school, you must have an official score report sent to UT Austin. Once your score report arrives and you’re admitted, you’ll have to complete an online process to claim the credit. However, because there can be negative consequences for claiming college credit that you may not need to earn a degree, you should speak with your academic advisor about claiming credit for any AP or IB exams you’ve taken.

During the last legislative session, the Texas Legislature passed legislation relating to university practices for awarding credit to admitted students who have earned the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma during high school. The University of Texas at Austin will implement the provisions of the new law in four steps. This policy is effective for entering freshman students admitted to the institution for the 2006-2007 academic year.

You can get a UT Austin e-mail address as soon as you’re admitted to the university. To obtain an e-mail account, simply visit the Getting Started page. Read the information on the page and then log in to get started.

Although you may prefer to use an e-mail account that you already have, getting and using a university e-mail account is in your best interest. E-mail is an officially recognized means of communicating with students. That means that students sometimes receive critical information by e-mail and only by e-mail.

Your response may be, “Well, I check my e-mail everyday; what’s the big deal?”

The technology that manages free e-mail accounts, such as Hotmail, Gmail, and Yahoo, sometimes identifies a large batch of incoming e-mail as spam. As a result, when we send you (and thousands of other students) your tuition and fee bill information by e-mail (which is the only way we send it), your Hotmail or Gmail e-mail account may think the e-mail we’re sending you is spam, so you may never see it. This can result in all kinds of trouble—such as not paying your bill on time and losing your spot in important classes.

You will almost definitely have to use a computer to complete some of your assignments. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to own your own. The campus is filled with computer labs that students can use to complete their assignments and projects. Residence halls also offer computer labs for resident use.

A limited number of academic programs do have a computer requirement; you’ll receive details from your academic advisor if the requirement applies to you.

The Campus Computer Store (located in the Flawn Academic Center) offers computers, software, and other computer supplies to students at low, academic prices.

Residence halls offer both wired and wireless access to the web in a variety of ways, including high-speed Internet access found in individual residence hall computer labs.

Yes, many places on campus offer wireless access.

UT Direct is the secure network that is used by all students, faculty and staff to access personal university information and complete secure online tasks. For example, each time that you checked your status after you applied for admission, you were using UT Direct. In addition, you may also have logged in to CA$H, the tool that lets you check on the status of your financial aid application and which is also part of the UT Direct system.

After you register for classes, you’ll log into What I Owe, a tool that also works through UT Direct, to pay your tuition and fee bill. When you register for classes, you’ll use ROSE, another UT Direct system tool.

Having all of these tools work together makes it possible for you to use the same ID (your UT EID) and password to access all of your personal information and to accomplish all of your tasks. Because it offers access to all your secure information, remember that you should never share your EID or password with anyone.

Beginning in mid-March, admitted students are notified of their financial aid awards electronically. You can access information about your award by logging in to CA$H using your UT EID and password.

Most funds are not available for use until a few days before classes begin. You will need to complete the financial aid award process before any of your money will be available to pay your college costs. You’ll find details about receiving your funds online.

Some of your money is likely to be applied directly to the bills you owe the university. Remaining funds can be directly deposited into your checking account or distributed to you by check.

No, applying for financial aid is an annual process; that is, you’ll have to apply for aid again next year. However, after completing the online FAFSA once, the process becomes easier because you can use the Renewal FAFSA, which allows you simply to check and update the information you submitted the previous year.

To apply your Texas Tomorrow Fund money to your tuition bill (after you register for classes), the university needs a copy of your Texas Tomorrow ID card. You should fax a copy of your card along with you UT EID to 512-471-0212, ATTN: Special Billing. The funds applied to your tuition bill from your Texas Tomorrow Fund will be noted on your tuition bill as a line item for “Less Third Party Billing.”

Each freshman honors program follows its own process and timeline when making decisions about who will be invited to participate. But students admitted to individual honors program(s) they applied to hear from them as soon as the programs make their decisions, often soon after final university admissions are made (by April 1 if not before) or a little later in the spring.

New members of honors programs meet either during orientation or early during the semester. You’ll receive more information from the program if you’re admitted.

Residence hall move in takes place a few days before classes begin. You’ll find the housing timeline online. To avoid issues that might arise if too many students attempted to move in at the same time, the Division of Housing and Food requires residents to schedule a check-in time on the day on which they move into their residence hall.

Bevo Bucks are a way for you to be able to dine at designated eating establishments both on and off campus with funds that are part of your meal plan. You’ll find details about Bevo Bucks online, including a list of businesses where you can use your Bevo Bucks.

Every residence hall room comes with a micro-fridge, a combination microwave oven and refrigerator, so you won’t need to worry about those. You’ll find information about what you should bring when you move into your residence hall online.

You’ll find a list of the bank locations on or near campus online.

In addition to the work-study opportunities that are offered to some students as part of their financial aid awards, other options for students to work on campus are also available. The university maintains a website called Hire a Longhorn that university and off-campus employers can use to post positions that they would like to fill with a university student. There are also opportunities for students to find work on or near campus on their own, of course.

Parking on campus is at a premium both for residents and commuters. Details about parking options for students are available from the Parking and Transportation Office.

The UT Shuttle System is the largest university shuttle system in the country, with 16 routes and over 7.5 million passengers annually. The system provides an easy and cost effective way for students, faculty, staff, and visitors to move around the 350 plus acres of the UT campus. UT students, faculty, and staff may ride the shuttles at no charge with a valid UT photo ID. Without a UT photo ID, the charge is 50 cents. Consult the system map and list for routes.

It probably is a good idea to visit the location of your classes before the first class day. You’ll get a tour of campus during orientation, but you may also ask anyone on campus for help or use a campus map to guide yourself around campus. Pick up a campus map at the General Information Desk on the first floor of the Main Building (the Tower). Interactive maps of campus are available online.

It may take quite a few minutes to get from one part of campus to another. Walking all the way across campus may take as much as 15 or 20 minutes. Taking a shuttle can speed up the trek if a bus is readily available.

It really is critical for everyone to attend orientation. Orientation offers a great deal of information that can make the transition to life as a student much simpler. However, there is an additional orientation session that may fit your schedule; it’s held just before classes begin for students who are not able to attend a summer session.

UT Austin has one of the most vibrant and varied recreational sports programs and some of the best facilities in the nation. You’ll find information and links to specifics on the Rec Sports page.

No. UT athletic events are quite popular and tickets are always at a premium. When you register for classes during orientation, you’ll be offered an opportunity to purchase the Longhorn All Sports Package which is an economical way to get tickets to Longhorn athletic events.

The most economical way for UT students to obtain tickets to all regular season home sports events is by purchasing the Longhorn All Sports Package (LASP). Additional information about obtaining student tickets, including information about tickets to the O-Zone, the football draw, and tickets to the OU-UT game, is available from Student Orange Bloods.

The official academic calendar for each semester is posted online.

Newly admitted students are required to receive academic advising before registering for classes. Academic advisors from the college or school that your major is in will be available during orientation to help you make good decisions about which courses to take. Because of this—and many other reasons—orientation is highly recommended for incoming students.

Students who do not attend summer orientation are not able to register for classes for their first semester until very near the beginning of the semester.

When registering for subsequent semesters, you’ll be assigned a registration access period. You’ll be able to find out when your access period is and other details about registering by logging in using your UT EID and password. For details about how the registration process works in subsequent semesters, visit the Registrar’s web site and watch the RIS (Registration Information Sheet) video.

A couple of weeks before registration begins for each semester, the course schedule is posted in the Course Schedule section of the Registrar’s web site. (If the schedule you’d like to view isn’t available, check back periodically.) A printable version of the course schedule is available online along with printable sections for courses in certain academic areas.

Each semester professors for individual classes select textbooks for the courses they are teaching and then have the bookstore order those books for the expected number of students in the class. When you visit the bookstore to buy your books, it should have the books you need for each class in stock. Bring information about your courses to the book store and you’ll be able to easily locate the textbooks you need.

The most popular place to buy textbooks for UT Austin classes is the University Co-op located across from campus on Guadalupe (also called “The Drag”).