Admitted First-Year Students

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Welcome to the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. This page provides newly admitted undergraduate first-year students with a summary of the information and resources you will need to access to prepare for your first semester at GW. Look at our timeline below which outlines where in the process you are expected to be as you prepare to start your first semester at GW. 

Below is a summary of the general requirements; do not rely solely on this page. Please remain attentive to all instructions provided by our admissions portal, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, the GW Orientation team and communications from the Elliott School Academic Advising Office.

Jump to a section:

• Timeline
• What is Undergraduate Academic Advising?
• Orientation
• IAFF 1001: First-Year Experience Course
• Transferring Credits to GW
• Registering for Classes
• FAQ and Key Terms

Timeline: 

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What is Undergraduate Academic Advising?

Academic advisors are the principal academic resource for undergraduate students in the Elliott School and advise students throughout their entire collegiate experience. Advisors can help answer questions about the Elliott School curriculum, course offerings, resources, research, and general academic and professional goals of all Elliott School students. Advisors can also help students who are struggling with their transition to college or their academics. 

How am I assigned my academic advisor? 

Meet the team!

Good news - we have already assigned you an academic advisor! Your primary advisor has been allocated to you in accordance with your last name. Your primary academic advisor is available to answer emails Monday thru Friday during regular business hours, generally 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM EST.

When can I book an appointment with my academic advisor?

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Incoming students who wish to meet with their advisor can book AFTER they have attended in-person Orientation or the undergraduate academic advising office's Group Advising Webinar. Orientation and/or the Group Advising Webinars run from June to mid July. 

How often should I meet with my advisor?

You can meet with your advisor before the registration period if you have any questions after attending orientation. Once you start your Fall semester, we recommend you meet with your advisor once a semester. Also, in your IAFF 1001 course, you will create a four-year plan that requires advisor approval. The four-year plan prompts you to outline your intended coursework over the next four years. Don’t worry, this plan is not binding. It is a useful tool for mapping out your academic goals and the steps required to complete your major requirements and earn your degree.

Orientation or Group Advising Webinar

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Across the Summer of 2026, George Washington University welcomes students to attend a two-day in-person orientation experience. Each student is required to attend an in-person session date to fulfill the Orientation requirement. Make sure you review the New Student Checklist and complete your Ready, Rev, Go! Module. 
 

Review the Orientation FAQs here. 

Register to Attend Orientation Here

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Students are strongly encouraged to attend in-person orientation. However, students who cannot attend in-person orientation prior to August, can attend the undergraduate academic advising office Group Advising Webinar to learn everything they need to know about registration in July. 

Students who do not attend orientation or the advising webinar, cannot book an appointment with their academic advisor. 

Registration for Webinar Coming Soon

IAFF 1001: First-Year Experience Course

IAFF 1001 is a required course for all first-year students at the Elliott School. In this course, students are assisted in developing their personal, academic, and career goals. Course content will be delivered through a variety of media, including readings, interactive learning experiences, self-reflection, and academic planning. Upper-class Elliott students serve in each section as peer-advisors, sharing their experience and mentoring new students as they navigate their first semester. Students are required to register for this one-credit course in their first semester.

Transferring Credits as an Incoming First-Year

Students with AP, IB, or Dual Enrollment courses, as well as a course taken at an accredited institution, should have their scores and/or transcript sent to GW so those credits can be applied to their record.

• Pre-matriculation (before student started at GW) courses may satisfy various GPAC and Elliott School Major requirements.
• Post-Matriculation (after student started at GW) transfer credits can not fulfill GPAC requirements.

*Note that students may not earn credit twice for the same course. If you have received (or expect to receive) transfer credit for a course, please do not register for the same course at GW. 

Transferring Credits (AP and IB)

Students are able to transfer in a maximum of 24 credits from AP/IB/A-Level courses to GW prior to the start of their first semester. You can access the Undergraduate Admissions page and explore how your credits per-matriculation will transfer to GW (this is a comprehensive list of courses that includes Arts, English, History, Math, Language and much more). 

How do I transfer the credits to GW? Students must have the score reports sent directly from College Board/International Baccalaureate to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. The Undergraduate Academic Advising office at the Elliott School will not accept any of the reports. If you have any questions, you can contact registrargwu [dot] edu (registrar[at]gwu[dot]edu). 

Your transfer credit is likely to appear on your GW transcript as a mixture of Direct Equivalents and Special Topics courses. Unsure what that means? Check out the difference here. 

Transferring Credits from Another Institution (Dual Enrollment included)

Students may earn credits from an accredited institution prior to coming to GW.  In order to transfer this credit to GW, students should have their transcripts sent to the Registrar's office. 

Your transfer credit is likely to appear on your GW transcript as a mixture of Direct Equivalents and Special Topics courses. Unsure what that means? Check out the difference here. 

Registering for Classes

All incoming first-year students will originally have registration restricted; however, this will be lifted at the time of your designated registration window. Your specific registration date is based on the last digit of your GWID. To find your registration date for Fall 2026, please navigate to the First-Year Registration page found here. 

During this week, the Advising Office will offer virtual drop-in hours to answer any of your questions. 

Recommended courses

Your Fall Schedule: 

Take First Semester	Complete during First-Year
IAFF 1001 - First-Year Experience (1 credit) *One of the following Economics Courses: ECON 1001 (Principles of Math for Economics - 3 credits)/ECON 1011 (Microeconomics - 3 credits) *Language course	IAFF 1005 - Intro to International Affairs (3 credits)                               UW 1020 - University Writing (4 credits)
Attempt to Complete in First-Year	Additional Courses to Consider
HIST 1011 - World History (3 credits) PSC 1001 - Intro to Comparative Politics (3 credits) ANTH/GEOG Intro courses (all 3 credits) - ANTH 1002, ANTH 1004, GEOG 1001, and GEOG 1003	Quantitative Reasoning (3 credits)     Scientific Reasoning (3-4 credits)    Additional Critical Thinking in Humanities/Creative Arts course (3 credits) Oral Communication (3 credits) Elective courses

*ECON and Language: There are instances where these are not applicable in the first semester.

How to browse current semester offerings

Visit the Schedule of Classes. Log in with your UserID and password. The University Bulletin is a useful source to have open while searching in the Schedule of Classes as it provides detailed course descriptions.

Add/drop a course

• Visit the Registrar's website for a guide on how to register for classes.
• Students are allowed to register and drop classes after their designated registration time within a certain time frame. This time frame is referred to as the add/drop period. Please refer to the dates outlined under Late Registration to understand the parameters of this timeline.
• Be mindful of the registration schedule, which lists the last day to add/drop online, the last day to drop without a "W" on your transcript and the last day to withdraw from a course with a "W."

How many credits to take

Most students register for around 15 hours per semester (5 courses at 3 credits each) to ensure they are on track towards reaching 120 hours needed for graduation. A full-time course load is 12 - 18 credits. If a student registers for less than 12 hours, they are considered a part-time student which can affect housing, financial aid, scholarships, insurance and the projected graduation date.

Plan Ahead Feature

This feature will assist you in creating your anticipated class schedule for the upcoming semesters. You can create up to five plans when preparing for registration. For a video tutorial on how to use this feature located in GWeb, visit this page.

Review University Writing Requirements

All GW students are required to pass an introductory writing course called UW 1020. The requirements for UW 1020 are particularly strict. For example: AP English Language and Composition counts as UW 1099 and does not satisfy the UW 1020 University Writing requirement.

Math & Econ placement exams

All Elliott School majors require completion of an ECON sequence (micro, macro and international). The ALEKS Math Placement Test is the placement tool GW uses to assess a student’s readiness for Math and Econ and to place them in the appropriate class. To register for ECON 1011, Principles of Microeconomics, you need a score of 61 on the ALEKS exam. Please reference the ALEKS information page for additional details on the exam process.

*Note some AP test scores will exempt you from needing to take the ALEKS exam. Please check the website to see if you need to take the test.

If you don’t get a 61 ALEKS Math Placement score, don’t worry! You can take ECON 1001. Principles of Math for Economics during your first semester prior to beginning ECON 1011. ECON 1001 is a preparatory course for ECON 1011 and can also satisfy your quantitative math reasoning general education requirement.

Useful registration tips

• Ensure that you are in an area with a secured wifi connection, this may look like a quiet cafe, using a hotspot, or staying at home
• Using Chrome as your web browser is recommended when registering for classes
• The Plan Ahead Feature allows you to register an entire plan with the click of one button. However, have the CRNs of the courses ready to manually input
• "Linked" tells you there is a discussion, lab or recitation linked to the course that you must also add to your schedule.
• When creating your registration plan, make sure that you allocate time throughout the day to eat lunch or give yourself a chance to reset before the next class
• Make sure you have multiple backup courses ready for the requirements you are seeking to satisfy. The majority of your plan may work, but you may need to substitute a course or two 

Waitlists

Waitlists open on the first business day following priority registration and are removed at the end of the first week of classes. The waitlist is not first-come, first-served. A variety of factors, including year of study, major/minor, and more, will be considered. You can add yourself to the waitlist of a class you plan to take, however there is no guarantee that you will get off the waitlist and be able to add that class to your schedule. Students should always look for a viable and open alternative to the class that is waitlisted. 

For more information on the waitlist process, please visit the page found here. 

FAQ and Key Terminology

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Frequently asked questions:

• Academics and curriculum related questions FAQs.
• Registration related FAQs.
• DegreeMAP FAQs.
• GW New Student Orientation FAQs

Key Terms

GPAC: The general education curriculum of The George Washington University which educates students in active intellectual inquiry by developing analytical skills, communication skills and diverse perspectives. These requirements are to be completed, separate to The Elliott School’s general requirements

Prerequisites: Course(s), or course content mastery, which must be completed prior to taking subsequent courses in an academic discipline

Elliott School Introductory Requirements: The general Elliott School curriculum which provides students with foundational courses that engage students with global issues through multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches. Courses will vary across the various majors within the Elliott School. 

Bachelors of Science with a Major in International Affairs: The Bachelor of Science qualification enables students to continue building their breadth of understanding international affairs while simultaneously developing their STEM-related analytical skills. BS in international affairs requirements can be found here. 

RTF-EZ: This form is used to help students register into closed courses (not to exceed the classroom capacity), courses that require permission of the instructor or department, navigate major/level/class/degree restrictions or request to be waived from prerequisites.

DegreeMAP: A useful tool for tracking your academic progress during your time at GW. This application can be found through the GWeb Info System. It is recommended that you check DegreeMap after each registration period to ensure courses are applying accurately to your degree. Here you can utilize the “What If” feature that allows you to see what progress is required to complete any major, concentration or minor at GW

Transfer Credit: Credits not earned at GW. Can be divided in pre-matriculation (taken before coming to GW) and post-matriculation (taken after coming to GW)

Concentration: A 15 credit curriculum that develops an area of expertise for every Elliott student. This is to be declared no later than the end of the second semester of their sophomore year by completing the declaration form. Each student can select a functional concentration that is based on specific themes within the discipline or a regional concentration that focuses on the functions of the discipline within specific areas. 

ALEKS:  The Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces (ALEKS) is an online, non-multiple choice adaptive placement exam used to determine the appropriate placement for students needing certain Math or Economics courses. This assessment is particularly needed to determine student eligibility for the required principle of economics course.