Parent's Resource Guide

Academics at SMC
Understanding the Language of Higher Education

The following information is the kind of information that will be provided directly to your student. We provide this so that you can get accustomed to the language used in college.

Advising:

In preparing for registering for your first term, you will have a meeting in which you will talk with a staff member at the college who will help you decide on your educational plan. This person is called an advisor. The meeting with this advisor may include talking about your major, your schedule of classes, your career aspirations, whether you’re planning to transfer to another college, or any other questions you may have about the classes you’re going to take at SMC. After you’ve met with an advisor for your first term, and you’ve developed your plan for completing your degree, you will be able to choose the right classes on your own in the future.

Scheduling:

Once you’ve talked with an advisor and settled on your educational plan, the next step is to decide on a schedule of classes you will take in the next term. Using the printed or online schedule of classes for a specific term, you will select the courses and times that fit your educational plan, your work schedule, and your personal schedule. When you decide on a schedule that will work for you, you will register for classes online; your advisor will assist you the first time through this process.

Registration:

After you’ve reviewed the Schedule of Classes for the coming term, and you've chosen your courses, you may register online through your SMC Wired account. Once this is done, you have a tuition bill that you will need to either pay at the Business Office or make arrangements through Financial Aid.

Prerequisites/Co-Requisites:

Some courses require a certain level of readiness or preparation in order for you to be successful; in some cases, this means a particular course that you’ve already taken and passed. That course is called a prerequisite. In other cases, you can prepare for success by taking two courses at the same time. One of these courses is called a co-requisite. You cannot register for some classes unless you have either passed the prerequisite or are also registered for the co-requisite. Also, sometimes the prerequisite is not a course: it’s a satisfactory score on a designated test.

Curriculum:

You may read or hear the word “curriculum” often in college. This is a generic term that refers to a major (such as engineering or psychology) or a program or area of study (such as automotive technology or nursing.) These terms are used interchangeably to refer to a group of classes that you would take to fulfil the requirements of a certificate or degree.

Catalog:

When you begin college, you start with a specific catalog that sets the guideline you must follow to graduate with a certificate or degree in your chosen area of study. While you are pursuing your certificate or degree, new editions of the catalog may be released. When you are ready to graduate, you can choose any of the catalogs there were in place while you were enrolled and follow that catalog’s guidelines.

Certificate:

This refers to 30-34 credits of specific courses you would take to fulfill the requirements of a particular major.

Associate Degree:

This degree requires 62 and sometimes more credits of specific courses needed to fulfill the requirements of a particular major.

Bachelor’s Degree:

Most colleges require you to complete at least 120 credits of specific courses needed to fulfill the requirements of a particular major.