Exchange students at Loyola are required to take a full-time load of courses to maintain the status of the F-1 student visa.  Full-time status is officially 12-15 credits.  Each course at Loyola is typically worth 3 credits; so, exchange students take four or five courses per semester depending on the requirements of their university.  We recommend taking four.

Class sizes average around 25 students, and most courses are capped at 35.  The classroom environment tends to be very dynamic with a lot of interaction between the students and the professors.  Due to the dynamic nature, while Loyola does not have a college-wide attendance policy, most professors will have one.  The policy is usually outlined in the syllabus and discussed in the first class of the semester.  Even if there is no written policy, students are expected to attend class. 

There are many assignments for each course, which you may not be used to.  This is typical of a small American college.  There is weekly reading, and usually there are papers, group projects and presentations, and there may be exams as well.  Because there are so many assignments, your final grade is made up of many different parts.

On the application cover page that you will submit, we require you to list your course selections.  When selecting your courses, please refer to the course schedule booklet for the semester that you wish to attend Loyola:

http://iggy.loyola.edu/records/course_schedules/

The schedule booklet will inform you of which courses are running for the semester that you will be attending.  Our Undergraduate Catalog lists all of the courses that Loyola has, but not all of the courses run every semester, so you must refer to the schedule booklet for an accurate list of running courses.  The fall schedule booklet is usually available online in late February, and the spring schedule booklet is usually available online in late September.

Please list as many courses as possible (at least six, but preferably up to ten) that you are interested in taking, and that will fulfill the requirements of your home university.  Please work with your exchange coordinator when selecting courses. 

International Programs will pre-register you for courses.  Once a final schedule of courses has been worked out, we will contact you via email to notify you of which courses you received.  If you would like to make changes at that point, you will be able to do so.  Once you arrive on campus, you will also have through the first week of classes to make changes to your schedule.  After the first week of classes, you cannot add a course and if you drop a course it will show on your transcript as a “Withdrawal.”  Remember that you must stay in four courses for the duration of the semester to remain in legal status for your visa.