The First Year \\ Academics \\ Loyola University Maryland

The First Year

There are many ways to become a part of the campus community, challenge yourself, meet friends, and have fun. Attend our orientation and take part in one of Loyola's First-Year Programs, specifically designed to enhance your first-year experience.

Summer Orientation for students and parents

All incoming first-year students are highly encouraged to attend Summer Orientation, a 1.5 day session for students and parents. The programs include student development programming, course registration, housing pre-registration, and a variety of sessions designed specifically for parents. The preliminary dates for 2013 Summer Orientation are June 17-18, June 20-21, June 24-25, June 27-28, and July 1-2.

Learn more about new student programs.

Academic Transition

The transition to college brings challenges for many students as they adapt to a new learning and living environment. Loyola offers many resources to ease this transition. The Academic Advising and Support Center provides learning resources and academic advising to guide students in the development of their fullest intellectual and personal potential. All first-year students work with a faculty advisor, who will assist them in navigating the core curriculum, selecting courses, and adjusting to college life. "The Study" offers free individual tutoring and academic skills enhancement workshops. First-year students also have the option of working with an upperclassman mentor who offers advice and guidance on academic issues such as major selection, strategies for academic success, and working with professors. Read more about the Academic Advising and Support Center.

First-Year Programs

Messina and Loyola 101

Loyola University Maryland offers a variety of first-year residential and academic experiences that help to jump start a student’s transition to college.

Messina is a living learning option that serves as the foundation of their educational journey at Loyola – a journey enriched both by small, seminar-style classes and by experiences that transcend the four walls of a classroom. With the guidance and support of experienced faculty, administrators and fellow students, Messina prepares students for the academic challenges of college while easing the transition and encouraging students to embrace their role as active participants in the Loyola community.

Messina connects each student’s in-class learning with his/her residential community. Students participating in Messina will:

Enroll in two linked, small first-year seminar courses (one in the fall and one in the spring semester) connected by one of three themes: Self and Other, Stories We Tell, and The Visionary. Each seminar is specifically designed for first-year students and nearly all of the seminars will satisfy core requirements. Additionally, one of the two seminar faculty members will be the student’s core advisor, thereby strengthening that important relationship in the student’s first year.
Participate in co-curricular activities that enrich the themes of the seminar courses, connect course content to life and learning outside the classroom, and build student communities around learning. Activities will include field trips, speakers, performances, and experiences specifically tied to the course and the theme including excursions to Baltimore’s unique restaurants, museums and other cultural institutions, and neighborhoods – all at no additional cost to the student.
Live in proximity to (but not necessarily in the same rooms with) students in their seminar classes, allowing students to form study groups, engage in informal conversations outside of class, and deepen their relationships early in their college years.

Residential students participating in Messina will live in Flannery O’Connor Hall, and most of these seminars will be taught in classrooms located in that residence hall. Commuting students selected for Messina will have access to Flannery O’Connor Hall so they can spend more time with their Messina classmates. Students who apply and are invited to enroll in the Honors program will also live in Flannery O’Connor Hall as part of Messina.

Loyola 101 is a one-credit course taken during the fall semester. The course, which typically meets once per week, is designed to help students get the most out of their Loyola experience and make a smooth and successful transition to college. Informal and lively class discussions, off-campus events, and presentations by instructors and guest speakers help to introduce first-year students to resources available on campus and in Baltimore.

Each course is team-taught by a faculty member (usually the student’s core advisor), a representative of the office of student development, and a student leader – all of whom are committed to helping first-year students get the most out of their Loyola experience. There is no residential component to Loyola 101.

Students may relay preference for either Messina or Loyola 101 after enrolling at Loyola.

Common Text Program

Each year, all first-year students read and discuss a shared book chosen by the University. Late in the fall semester, the author or an expert on a related topic delivers a keynote address to the University.

This year's first-year class will read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon.