Preparing for Course Registration

Prior to taking placement tests in my.UIC.edu, you are required to activate your portal account (Net ID and Enterprise ID). If you have not already done so, follow the instructions under “First Time Portal Users” to activate your portal account before logging into my.UIC.edu.

If you have previously activated your portal account, click on login under “Existing Portal Users.”

Placement tests are required in certain subjects. You will be unable to register for Orientation without first taking placement tests in English, Math, and for some students, Chemistry and Physics. The Chemistry placement test is only required if Chemistry is needed for your major or Educational Goal. The Physics placement test is only required for students who intend on taking calculus-based physics.  Additional placement testing information is enclosed in the packet sent to you by the Office of Admissions.

To take your placement tests:

1. Log into my.UIC.edu and select the UIC Connect tab.
2. Navigate to the Pathway to Enrollment tab.
3. Select the “Placement Testing” portlet, located on the lower right side of the page, to learn more about the placement testing process.
4. Respond accurately to the questionnaire regarding testing in my.UIC.edu.
5. Take the appropriate placement tests.

To complete the Online Orientation Orientation Modules, log into my.UIC.edu and select the UIC Connect tab. 

Upon entering UIC, you may or may not have an idea about your major area of study. We suggest that all first-year students begin by focusing on college and General Education requirements, and use these courses to explore various areas of interest.

College Requirements

All students must complete University Writing, Foreign Language, and Quantitative Reasoning requirements. Placement tests should be taken in each of these areas before attending Orientation so that you are able to enroll in the courses you need to ensure a timely graduation. For more information about degree requirements, please refer to the New Student Academic Guide.

University Writing

Students must start where their placement test or ACT score dictates. Students must continue the University Writing sequence until successfully completing English 161.

Foreign Language

Students must complete the equivalent of the fourth semester of college-level foreign language. If you have a background in a foreign language, you should take a placement test in that language prior to attending Orientation. If a placement test is not offered in your language, speak with an advisor at Orientation.

Quantitative Reasoning

Students must start where their placement test score dictates and must complete a certain level of math, statistics or logic in order to satisfy this requirement. The appropriate course will depend on your major or educational goal.

General Education Requirements

All students must fulfill the General Education requirements in order to graduate. Students have the flexibility to choose which course they would like to take within the required General Education categories:

• Analyzing the Natural World (2 courses with lab)
• Exploring World Cultures (1 course)
• Understanding the Creative Arts (1 course)
• Understanding the Individual and Society (1 course)
• Understanding the Past (1 course)
• Understanding U.S. Society (1 course)

These areas will be discussed in greater detail at Orientation; in the meantime, familiarize yourself with the General Education requirements by reviewing the Undergraduate Catalog and LAS General Education website.

Previous College Credit

If you have previously taken courses at another institution or are expecting college credit from AP or IB exams taken, it is recommended that you review your degree audit located in my.UIC.edu. Degree audits are specific to you and allow you to view how your previous credit applies toward your UIC degree. For information on how to access and read your degree audit, please review the video series located at the bottom of this page.

If credit is not showing up on your audit as anticipated, please verify you have submitted official college transcripts or official score reports to UIC Admission.

In addition to having a major, some students choose to pursue an educational goal in a pre-professional area such as pre-law or a pre-health field. Pre-professional educational goals are not majors in LAS. The various professional programs often require specific coursework be completed prior to applying, and most require a bachelor’s degree prior to admission. Students can often satisfy prerequisites for pre-professional programs with General Education and/or major requirements for a degree in LAS.

Students with an interest in a pre-health or pre-law field should add an educational goal to ensure that they receive pertinent information applicable to their area of interest. This can be done on the appropriate Pre-Professional Advising website: LAS Pre-Health Advising or LAS Pre-Law Advising under the Educational Goal link. Students should speak with an LAS Academic Advisor at Orientation about adding other types of educational goals.

Please visit the Pre-Professional Studies section of the Undergraduate Catalog or New Student Academic Guide for information on the course requirements for each of the pre-professional programs.

After you have completed your placement testing, you can access your test results, obtain information on how to interpret the results, and learn how to prepare for your first semester at UIC through UIC Connect. You will find Orientation and planning for your first semester to be much easier if you review this information prior to Orientation.

To check placement test results:

1. Visit my.UIC.edu.
2. Log in by clicking on “login” under Existing Portal Users.
3. Click on the UIC Connect tab.
4. Navigate to the Pathway to Enrollment tab.
5. Click on the Placement Testing portlet.
6. Click “View Available Testing Results”.

Once you have this information, you may begin planning your course schedule for your first semester prior to registration at Orientation.

Your academic advisor will provide you course recommendations based on your previous college credit, placement results, and selected major and educational goal at Orientation. For some courses, you will have the flexibility to pick a course of your choosing within certain parameters. Prior to your Orientation program, it is recommended that you choose 2-3 courses from each of the general education categories that interest you.

Once you have found a couple of courses from each category that sound interesting, check the Course Descriptions for pre-requisites (courses you must take first in order to be properly prepared). Most courses designed for first-year students will be at the 100 level, such as: SOC 100, POLS 101, THTR 109, and HIST 103.

Not all courses will be offered or open every semester. To see what is available in a particular semester:

1. Log into my.UIC.edu.
2. On the “Welcome” tab, scroll down and select “XE Registration/View Classes”.
3. Select “Browse Classes” for the current term.
4. Search for classes using a variety of search fields. For general education courses,
   1. Select “Advanced Search” to view the “Attribute” search field.
   2. Within the “Attribute” box, select the General Education Category of interest.

To help you in determining the number of credit hours you wish to take in your first semester, consider the following:

• A semester hour is the university’s unit of academic credit. Typical courses are three credit hours. Many science or math courses are four or five credit hours because they include a discussion or lab component.
• A minimum of 120 credit hours are needed for graduation.
• In order to be a full-time student, you must register for at least 12 credit hours in the fall semester and 12 credit hours in the spring semester. If you take fewer than 12 credit hours in either the fall or spring semester, you will be considered a part-time student. We recommend registering for 15 credit hours your first semester at UIC. Averaging 15 credit hours a term increases your ability to stay on track to graduate in four years.
• Students are expected to study at least 3 hours outside of class for every hour of class. For example, if you register for 15 credit hours, you should plan on a minimum of 45 hours of study time per week in addition to class time. It is important to balance any outside work and other commitments with your academic load.