Welcome,
Dear Newbies!

Congratulations, you’re finally here! You are now one of thousands of students in a sea of strange courses, heavy textbooks, and gallons of caffeinated beverages!
Now that you’re in university you can be sure to expect some changes: no more spoon-feeding, much more freedom, and interesting online courses are just some of the things that you’ll need to get used to.
If there’s one piece of information you can truly use over the next three to four years it’s to get involved. Become truly engaged with your academic careers instead of merely floating through them.
Concordia University is teeming with all sorts of non-academic activities; there’s a group/association here for just about everything, be it cultural, religious, or sport and hobby oriented. Don’t miss out on awesome opportunities to expand upon your horizons and build up your CV in the process.
In order to help you adjust to this new and exciting environment, The Concordian has compiled a list of helpful orientation tips to ease the transition made by so many students each year. so enjoy!

Academic

 When making your schedule, you should always try to balance out your core courses with some electives. Online electives are a great way to save time.
 On that note, don’t feel guilty for not taking the maximum course load possible; it takes time to adjust to the university workload and there’s nothing wrong with taking four classes per semester.
 A great way to get some tips/warnings on your professors is to check out www.ratemyprofessors.com when making your schedule.
 Found a professor you love? Check out the “Search Course by Professor” option at www.myconcordia.com.
 What many students don’t know is that you can restart discontinued courses in another semester and eliminate the DISC from your transcript.
 Although you truly should adhere to the class schedule, let your professors know when you are having a personal problem that may interfere with your academic commitment. Most of the time, you’ll be surprised by how understanding they can be.
 Your first year is the most essential in terms of your GPA, if you establish a solid GPA in your first year and then mess up a couple classes in subsequent years, it’s not so bad. But starting with a low GPA and trying to pull it up when you only have one or two years to go can be very difficult.

General

If you get stuck without a computer at school but need to make an adjustment to your schedule, or need to find out the room number of your next class you can check out one of the several MyConcordia portal stations located throughout the school. While the portals are convenient, you might want to bring along your hand-sanitizer.
 Most professors don’t mind when you bring food into class, but on the other hand, you don’t want to be the first one to be pointed out in class for stuffing your face with a muffin or a whole tray of food. wait to see if anyone else is eating before you break out your snack.
 Try not to be the person in class that constantly interrupts the professor in an attempt to look good: it drives most people – including your profs – crazy.
 Buying your books online before class starts is a fantastic way to avoid the line ups and frantic searching involved in buying your books at the library book store. Check out www.concordia.ca/bookstore for info about buying your books online; shipping is quick and inexpensive!
 The best places to study on campus are the newly-renovated floors of the Hall building (floors nine, 10, 11 and 12), the couches are really comfortable and there are laptop plugs next to every couch. Also, Reggie’s Pati.o…oooh wait a minute, they didn’t built that yet. Oh well, you can still grab a beer at Reggie’s after 11 a.m. on your study breaks. Yes, school now serves beer, I know, it’s shocking.
 The best places off-campus to study are Caf