Undergraduate Advising
Academic advisors help you select courses you need to graduate on time and launch your dream career.
You should talk to an advisor when:
- Selecting courses in your major for next semester (explore Spring 2025 SoCJ classes)
- Planning your academic career
- Considering changes to your major, minor or concentration
- Dropping, using the GPNC option or withdrawing from courses in your major
- Contemplating career paths to see how we can help you achieve your goals
- Facing major academic, personal, family or medical issues, including Academic Judiciary proceedings
Things to know about advising:
- To count toward your major or minor, all courses must be completed with a grade of C or higher.
- Required, elective, and concentration courses counting toward the major or minor and SBCs are not eligible for G/P/NC.
- JRN 106, JRN 208 and JRN 305 run as COM 106, COM 208 and COM 305.
- COM 415: Data Analysis and Storytelling is no longer required for journalism majors and may be taken as an elective.
Advising Appointments & Enrollment Info
All SoCJ undergraduate programs are overseen by undergraduate director Irene Virag, who also does most of the undergraduate student advising. She, or another member of the advising team, will work with you every semester to help you stay on track to graduate on time.
You should book an advising appointment at least two weeks before your registration date.
Degree Requirements Checklists
Keep track of your progress toward your degree. It will help you and your advisor when you talk about what you should take next semester.
Graduating Senior?
You should request a major credit check at the start of your final semester, before the end of the drop/add period.
Transferring Credits to SBU
To find out if courses you took at another institution can count toward your Stony Brook degree, you first must work with Academic and Transfer Advising Services (ATAS).
Only courses that have been accepted by the university can be evaluated for credit in your major or minor.
If you would like the SoCJ to evaluate a course to see if it can be applied to your major or minor, you must:
- Submit the course syllabus to the SoCJ, and
- Make sure the final course grade appears on the previous institution's transcript.
With that information, an SoCJ advisor will determine if those credits can count toward your major or minor, and how they will be applied.
Helpful Links