# Advising Student Handbook

**Source**: https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook
**Parent**: https://advising.stanford.edu/

The Advising Student Handbook considers some of the most common academic advising issues that Stanford undergraduate students face. Whether you're deciding on a major, trying to get started in research, or struggling and looking for help, these pages offer a place to start and pathways to explore.\
\
Ready to discuss in more depth? It's time to make an appointment with an [**Academic Advisor**](https://advising.stanford.edu/appointments "Make an Appointment")!

## Common Academic Advising Issues

### Academic Progress and Policy

#### [Can I get credit for AP, IB, or Transfer Courses?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/ap-ib-transfer)

#### [Does Stanford have an attendance policy?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/attendance-absences)

#### [What are my minimum academic progress requirements?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/minimum-requirements)

#### [What are my graduation requirements and how do I check them?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/graduation-requirements)

#### [What are the Ways of Thinking / Ways of Doing requirements?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/ways)

#### [What happens if I don't meet my minimum requirements?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/academic-progress-difficulties)

#### [What is the Honor Code?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/honor-code)

### Course Planning: Basic Tips

#### [Do I need a 4-year plan before I arrive?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/4-year-plan)

#### [Do I need to take a placement test?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/placement-test)

#### [How do I find out when my finals are?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/when-finals-are)

#### [How do I research a course?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/how-research-course)

#### [How do I start to build a schedule?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/build-schedule)

#### [How many classes should I take?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/how-many-classes)

#### [Should I "shop" more classes than I expect to enroll in?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/shop-classes)

#### [What academic deadlines should I be aware of?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/academic-deadlines)

#### [What is a syllabus and how do I read one?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/what-syllabus)

#### [What is a typical quarter like?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/typical-quarter)

#### [What is a unit?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/what-unit)

#### [Why should I take classes outside of my expected major?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/classes-outside-major)

### Course Planning: Expert Mode

#### [Asking for an Incomplete](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/incompletes)

#### [Can I take more than 20 units in a quarter?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/exceed-units)

#### [Can I take this course for Credit/No Credit?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/pass-fail)

#### [Repeating a course](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/repeat-course)

#### [Should I withdraw from this course?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/withdraw-course)

#### [Taking courses at the Business School, Law School, Med School, and d.school](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/courses-other-schools)

#### [Understanding the course catalog](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/course-catalog)

#### [What does it mean when a course has variable units? (3-5, etc)](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/variable-units)

#### [What is a directed reading and how do I arrange one?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/directed-readings)

#### [What should I do if I am experiencing a conflict with one of my courses or instructors?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/conflict)

#### [Why should I fill out my course evaluations?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/course-evaluations)

### Enrollment and Using Axess

#### [Can I change my COLLEGE or PWR course?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/change-think-pwr)

#### [Can I stay on campus even if I’m not enrolled in classes?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/not-enrolled-campus)

#### [Help, I have an enrollment hold!](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/enrollment-holds)

#### [How do I find my transcript?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/transcript)

#### [How do I enroll in a course?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/enroll-courses)

#### [How do I use Axess?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/axess)

#### [Why can't I enroll in this course?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/enrollment-problems)

### About Introsems

#### [How do I write an IntroSem statement of interest?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/introsem-statement)

#### [I didn't get into the Introsem I wanted! Now what?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/not-getting-introsem)

#### [Why should I take an IntroSem?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/introsem)

### Getting Started in...

#### [The Arts](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/arts)

#### [Earth Sciences](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/earth-sciences)

#### [Engineering](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/engineering)

#### [Humanities](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/humanities)

#### [Interdisciplinary Fields](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/interdisciplinary-fields)

#### [Natural Sciences](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/natural-sciences)

#### [Social Sciences](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/social-sciences)

### Majors, Minors, Honors, and More

#### [Declaring Your Major](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/declaring-major)

#### [Double Majors, Secondary Majors, and Dual Degrees](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/double-secondary-dual)

#### [Exploring Potential Majors](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/explore-majors)

#### [Minors and More](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/minors)

#### [Planning for an Honors Program](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/planning-honors "https://advising.sites.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/planning-honors")

#### [Senior Capstones, Honors, and Synthesis Projects](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/capstone-honors)

#### [Working with a Faculty Honors Advisor](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/faculty-honors-advisor "https://advising.sites.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/faculty-honors-advisor")

### Making Connections

#### [Asking for letters of recommendation](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/letters-recommendation)

#### [Building your academic network](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/academic-network)

#### [Connecting with faculty](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/connecting-faculty)

#### [Go see a peer advisor](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/peer-advisor)

#### [How to email faculty](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/email-faculty)

#### [What's an academic coach?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/academic-coach)

#### [What's a Student Services Officer (SSO)?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/sso)

#### [What's an Undergraduate Advising Director (UAD)  and why should I meet with one?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/advising-directors)

#### [Why should I get to know a faculty member?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/know-faculty)

### Doing Research

#### [Department summer research programs](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/summer-research)

#### [For sophomores only: The Chappell-Lougee Scholarship](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/chappell-lougee)

#### [How do I get started in research?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/start-research)

#### [How do I pursue my own independent project?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/independent-project)

### Further Resources for Specific Student Populations

#### [Information for international undergraduate students](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/international)

#### [Resources for first-gen/low-income (FLI) students](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/fli-students)

#### [Resources for student-athletes at the AARC](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/student-athletes)

### Wellness, Resilience, and Academic Success

#### [Free tutoring and help for Stanford courses](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/free-tutoring)

#### [Help, I failed a midterm!](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/failed-midterm)

#### [Help with procrastination, test anxiety and study skills challenges](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/academic-skills)

#### [How do I maximize my chances for success?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/maximize-success)

#### [Making time for wellness](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/wellness)

### Time Away from Stanford

#### [Making time for study abroad](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/study-abroad)

#### [Returning to Stanford](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/academic-policy/returning-stanford)

#### [I’ve been suspended, now what?](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/returning-suspension)

#### [Support and Resources for Discontinued Students](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/discontinued-students)

#### [Studying abroad in the summer](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/study-abroad-summer)

#### [Taking a Leave of Absence](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/taking-leave)

#### [Use summer to meet your goals](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/summer-goals)

### Coterms, Professional Schools, and Ph.D. Programs

#### [Information for current and prospective coterm students](https://advising.stanford.edu/beyond-undergrad/coterm)

#### [Planning for advanced degrees in Education](https://advising.stanford.edu/beyond-undergrad/planning-education)

#### [Planning for Business School](https://advising.stanford.edu/beyond-undergrad/planning-business-school)

#### [Planning for Law School](https://advising.stanford.edu/beyond-undergrad/planning-law-school)

#### [Planning for Medical School](https://advising.stanford.edu/beyond-undergrad/planning-medical-school)

#### [Planning for Ph.D. programs](https://advising.stanford.edu/current-students/advising-student-handbook/planning-phd)

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