Your senior year is often your busiest and most exciting year! You are finishing your major, completing your final degree requirements, participating in internships, applying to graduate or pre-professional schools, or looking for your first job. Maybe you are considering taking time off to travel or volunteer. Whatever decision you make, a significant amount of your time this year will be spent on preparing for your life after you graduate from UT.

Your decisions this year may affect which courses you choose or how heavy of a course load you take each semester. Your advisor can continue to offer you guidance throughout this year and help make your senior year that much more meaningful. Use this resource to assist you throughout this year and to help you make the most of your academic advising experience.

It is our hope that at the conclusion of your four years, you will appreciate the importance of academic planning, that you will understand the importance of enhancing your degree with cocurricular/extracurricular and inter/intracultural experiences, that you will know your responsibilities as an educated citizen of UT and of a democratic, diverse, and global society, and that you will value the educational process and learning across the lifespan.

Preparing for Your Advising Appointment

• Review the Advising Syllabus for Departments
• Review Senior Year Resources
• Review your DARS
• Review Degree Requirements
• Review the Graduation website for important information related to completing your UT degree.
• Review the Undergraduate Catalog

Scheduling Your Advising Appointment

Declared majors will need to contact your department for regular semester advising. Please click on the link in the box to connect to your department’s website for specific contact and advising information.

If you would like to meet with an academic advisor in the College of Arts & Sciences Advising Services office to review your DARS, for a graduation check, for questions about petitions, for information on a pre-professional program, or for general questions, please call 865-974-4483 (the Arts & Sciences appointment line) or stop by 313 Ayres hall. Our office is open Monday – Thursday from 7:30-6:00 and on Friday from 7:30-5:30. We are closed on weekends and holidays.

During Your Advising Appointment

Follow this helpful guide to assist you during your advising appointment:

1. Be on time to your appointment!
2. Discuss with your advisor your career and personal goals.
3. Clarify your academic interests within your major.
4. Discuss with your advisor your targeted graduation date.
5. Discuss the petition process with your advisor if you have transferred coursework from another institution.
6. Go through your DARS report with your advisor. You may want to talk to your advisor about the following graduation requirements:
   • 60 credit hours at a four-year institution
   • 42 credit hours at the 300 level or above
   • Final 30 credit hours in residence at UTK
   • Honors qualifications
   • 120 credit hours minimum
7. Discuss with your advisor your appropriate catalog year for graduation and petitioning purposes. Remember, you can use any catalog in effect starting with the semester you entered the university provided it is no more than six years old. If you were not enrolled at UT in any entire academic year, you may not graduate under that catalog.
8. With your advisor, discuss your major course content, and be sure to ask your advisor to help you plan courses through the end of graduation.
9. Ask your advisor about special seminars/topic courses in your major, as well as any conferences or workshops you could attend.
10. Ask your advisor about available research opportunities within the department.
11. Talk about the possibility of studying abroad.
12. Ask your advisor to talk about what recent graduates are doing with their degree. You will both want to visit the What Can I Do With This Major? website for additional insight.
13. Ask your advisor about Career Services and what they can do for you concerning resume building, interviewing tips, upcoming classes, workshops and events that will assist you in your career research, and marketing your Arts & Sciences degree. If you are in the first semester of your senior year, you should talk to your advisor about Counselor Education 404, Marketing Your A&S Degree (offered each fall and spring). This class will help you learn how to identify and explore career options, write a resume and prepare for job interviews, and apply for graduate schools or perform a successful job search.
14. Discuss with your advisor your post graduate plans (specifically talk about building your resume, advanced study options and graduate entrance exams).
15. With your advisor, review your graduation application and timeline. You will want to apply to graduate at least a year in advance.

Following Your Advising Appointment

Now that you have met with your academic advisor, be sure to

1. Review your academic and graduation plans.
2. Reflect upon your appointment to ensure your academic and career goals remain in line with your academic and graduation plans.
3. Register for the classes you and your advisor discussed during your appointment.
4. Follow up with all referrals and advisor recommendations. Your advisor will ask you about this the next time you meet, so be prepared!
5. Maintain contact with your academic advisor, and email your advisor additional questions or reflections.
6. Discuss course alternatives with your advisor should you need to adjust your academic plan.
7. Schedule a follow up advising appointment should your academic goals change.
8. Sign up for Hire-A-Vol so you are aware of possible internship and career opportunities and upcoming job fairs.
9. Schedule a meeting with a career consultant to discuss career opportunities within your major.
10. Sign up for Counselor Education 404, Marketing Your A&S Degree (offered each fall and spring) if it’s the first semester of your senior year.
11. Explore additional ways you can get involved on campus and in your major through the Center for Leadership & Service.
12. Fill out your graduation application. You will need to apply to graduate at least a year in advance.
13. Further explore your post graduate options/plans. Meet with a career counselor to discuss building your resume and advanced study options. Further, talk with the Graduate School about applying to graduate programs and about graduate entrance exams.
14. Maintain contact with your advisor!
15. Follow up with an Arts & Sciences advisor for information on these pre-professional programs: pre-health, pre-law and teaching. If you are planning to apply to medical school, be sure to set up a pre-professional file meeting to learn more about the application process.