Student Stories

Paige B.

Georgetown University

Class of 2029

"Since I have many academic goals, I need to be very organized to fit everything in. The 4-year academic plans are really helpful."

Paige completed her first year at Georgetown in May 2026. She entered with a strong interest in both Biology and Psychology, leaning Biology. She is also considering either medical school or veterinary school after graduation. So, as a first step we created two distinct 4-Year Course Plans: one for the biology major and one for the psychology major. Both plans account for the core curriculum requirements and the pre-health requirements.

Next, we assessed the possibility of adding an additional minor to each plan. Since Paige expressed an interest in business, we explored that option first. Planning ahead is particularly important in this case because Georgetown allows only 50 Arts & Sciences students per class to access the business minor. Interested students are required to complete an application in late February of their Sophomore Spring and they are required to have completed the prerequisite business courses by the end of Sophomore year to be eligible. So, with two majors to explore, the business minor, the pre-health requirements and the core curriculum, there are many different pieces to fit together when completing her 4-Year Academic Plan simulations.

Thankfully there is some overlap in requirements that helps optimize her course selection for the first few terms. Some courses such as calculus, statistics and biology, do double (or triple) duty as they are required courses for both her potential majors; they also complete pre-health requirements, and are prerequisites for the business minor. Even so, Paige will need to be very strategic with the courses she selects to fulfil her Core requirements in order to complete both the pre-health sequence and the business minor in addition to her major.

This combination would not be possible in eight semesters if she didn't begin her first semester with a 4-Year Academic Plan. By the end of her Sophomore Fall, Paige will be on track for the biology and the pre-health sequence and have completed all the business prerequisites. She will also have completed two foundational Psychology courses enabling her to pivot seamlessly from Biology to Psychology if she chooses that path. Paige is also taking her 2 philosophy core courses which positions her for a philosophy or bioethics minor if she is not accepted into the business minor program.

The Co-Curricular & Career Plans

At our urging Paige scheduled a meeting with a Pre-Health advisor in her first semester to review the Medical and Veterinary School application processes and to get an early sense of what she should be focusing on (both inside and outside the classroom) over the next few years to be a strong applicant. She now receives regular updates from the Pre-Health Studies office on programs they organize and services they provide. She secured a paid summer veterinary internship which will help her further assess this option as a possible career path.

Paige also joined the rowing team in November after initially deciding against it despite enjoying her experience as a coxswain during high school. We are very much in favor of this decision as she benefits both socially and professionally from friendships formed with her teammates and interactions with a large network of rowing alumni. Most importantly, she's having fun!

Goals for Sophomore Year

• ·Explore the Career Center
• ·Access the networking and career programs offered by the Athletic Department and the rowing program. At some colleges the Athletic department provides better career related services than the career center.
• ·Position for successful Resident Hall Advisor application: In addition to receiving free room and board, RA's undergo comprehensive training and development skills that are highly valued by potential employers.

Sam W.

Lafayette College

Class of 2028

"Starting with a 4-Year Plan before sophomore year gave me options I never knew I had — and the confidence to actually use them."

We started working with Sam during the break between his first and second semester. At that time, he expressed a strong interest in pursuing English as a major and wanted to explore a career in "real estate," although he wasn't sure exactly what that entailed.

Thankfully, the add/drop period allowed some adjustments to the spring courses he had pre-registered for during the fall.

As a first step we began an initial 4-Year Academic Plan that mapped the Lafayette Core requirements — which they call the Common Course of Study (CCS) — and the English major requirements. We quickly determined that there would be room to add at least one additional minor since the English major requires only 10 courses and the CCS "overlap" policies are very flexible, allowing one course to fulfil multiple degree requirements.

With that in mind, we began exploring the Lafayette curriculum, looking for options that would complement Sam's interest in a real estate career. Our review uncovered three options: an Architecture minor (6 additional courses), an Economics minor (6 additional courses), and a Certificate in Financial Policy and Analysis (9 additional courses).

When drilling down further into the Architecture minor, we discovered Sam could take two civil engineering courses (Construction Management and Project Management) that would count towards the minor. Neither course requires calculus as a prerequisite, so they would not be too technical for Sam, and he would be able to take both during sophomore year, enhancing his resume for the summer internship search.

Sam immediately committed to adding the Architecture minor, which fits seamlessly into his 4-Year Plan, and is considering a second minor as well.

Next, we created two additional plans: one which added a second minor in Economics and one which added the CFPA. Both combinations are possible with tight planning, although adding the CFPA would require Sam to take 5 courses during three semesters (not unreasonable in our opinion) or to do his study abroad over the summer instead of during the academic year, which accrues additional cost.

We then recommended that Sam take calculus in sophomore fall to preserve his flexibility with regard to the Econ minor vs. the Certificate in Financial Policy & Analysis (CFPA). The key issue with Calculus is that it's a prerequisite for Microeconomics, but not for Macroeconomics. The Econ minor allows students to choose Micro OR Macro, so he doesn't need it for the Econ minor. But the CFPA requires Micro and it would be very difficult for him to complete the certificate if he doesn't take Calculus in the fall and Micro in sophomore spring.

Looking Ahead

Although both the Econ minor and the CFPA are compelling, Sam was undecided as he began sophomore year. We decided to reevaluate in the late fall during pre-registration for sophomore spring term courses. At that point he decided against adding a second minor in addition to Architecture, opting instead to leave room for study abroad in Rome in Junior Spring and for exploring electives that interest him during senior year.

His Rome semester will include Intensive Italian, which fulfills his language requirement, and ideally one course that counts towards the Architecture minor. He will seek preapproval for this from his assigned advisor in the Architecture department as soon as course options are posted for his Rome semester.