New Student Orientation
Tamara Long, Dean of Admissions
ACU Box 29000; Abilene, TX 79699
Phone: 325-674-2949
Email: info@acu.edu
Web: www.acu.edu/orientation
Wildcat Week
Caddie Coupe, Director of New Student Programs
ACU Box 27867; Abilene, TX 79699-7867
Phone: 325-674-6337
Fax: 325-674-6867
Email: acuwildcatweek@acu.edu
Web: www.acu.edu/wildcatweek
New Student Orientation, Registration and Wildcat Week
New Student Orientation
New Student Orientation is a summer orientation program for first-year ACU students and their parents. All entering students, freshmen and transfers, are required to attend one of the summer orientation sessions. During the two-day Orientation session, students will receive important information about starting their journey at ACU and will meet fellow students and professors. Placement testing is also available during New Student Orientation. More information can be found at acu.edu/orientation.
Registration
Students will receive their tentative fall schedule after registering online for New Student Orientation.
All admission records, transcripts, test scores, fees and deposits must be on file prior to New Student Orientation. Incomplete admission records or test scores will prevent students from registering.
New students must be registered in required first-year university courses in Bible and Cornerstone (CORE 110 ) during their first semester and freshman English during their first year, unless they have already completed these courses. Transfer students (who matriculated from high school prior to 2016) with 24 or more hours must be registered for BIBL 103 .
International Student Registration
International undergraduate students must be registered for at least 12 hours. Undergraduates whose native language is not English are required to enroll in English as a Second Language (ESL) unless they can demonstrate acceptable English language skills with a score of at least 525 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), or 197 on the computer based TOEFL. ESL courses do not count toward graduation. For more information, please see the Institute of Intensive English in the Department of Language and Literature section.
Wildcat Week
The purpose of Wildcat Week is to empower new Wildcats to call Abilene their home while equipping them with the opportunity for spiritual growth, academic success, and social excellence.
Wildcat Week is an extended orientation experience designed to prepare students for their transition to Abilene Christian University. It is an exciting experience for all new students that encourages you to engage in the Wildcat community. During Wildcat Week, you will build friendships with future classmates while experiencing the traditions of ACU, learning what it truly means to be a Wildcat. More information can be found at acu.edu/wildcatweek.
Wildcat Weekend
(Students Entering at the Spring Semester)
Wildcat Weekend is an orientation program for students entering in the spring semester, including freshmen, transfer students and their parents. All new undergraduate students who are beginning in the spring semester are required to attend the Wildcat Weekend session. During this program, students will receive important information about starting their journey at ACU and will meet fellow students and professors. There will also be opportunities to complete necessary placement testing, receive comprehensive academic advising and confirm their schedule.
Testing
Credit by Examination
Exceptional past grades or test scores indicating outstanding academic achievement may make it possible to be exempt from or to receive college credit for certain courses. This provision does not apply to the proscribed university Bible requirements (BIBL 101 , BIBL 102 , BIBL 211 ).
No credit by examination will be awarded for a course that a student has taken.
A maximum of 30 semester hours earned by examination may be counted toward an undergraduate degree. All hours of credit earned by examination will be listed on the official transcript. No tuition is charged for credit by examination, but a testing fee is charged as well as a recording fee per course credit received. Unsuccessful attempts to earn credit by examination are not shown on transcripts. For more information, contact the University Testing Center or the Admissions Office.
“Challenging” a Course
If a student wishes to attempt to earn credit for a course that is not available through CLEP, the student may approach the chair of the department offering that course about a challenge exam. Students may pick up a course challenge form in the University Testing Center. Should the challenge be allowed, the student will schedule the exam with the department.
Course challenge credit is subject to the limitations explained in the Credit by Examination section above. Because of the nature of some courses, they are not available through challenge or examination. The chair of the department will determine if the course is eligible for challenge. When credit is awarded during the first week of the semester, a full refund will be approved.
A student may not challenge or test for credit for a course when that student has already earned credit for a subsequent course in that field. For example, a student may not challenge Beginning Spanish if the student has already taken Intermediate Spanish. In addition, students may not challenge a course they have previously audited or taken for credit.
ACT/SAT Placement Information
New students, including transfer students with fewer than 65 transferable degree credits, may be required or given the option to complete placement testing.
The following placement tests are available:
- Advanced Mathematics Placement Test - required for all students majoring in math, science, engineering, computer science or pursuing a pre-health concentration (except nursing) regardless of ACT/SAT scores. This test is used for placement into MATH 109 - Precalculus I , MATH 124 - Precalculus II or MATH 185 - Calculus I . Students who have earned credit for MATH 185 from AP or CLEP do not need to take this placement test.
- Mathematics Placement Test - optional for those students who scored below 20 on ACT Math, below 500 on SAT Math (prior to March 1, 2016), or below SAT Math 530 (after March 1, 2016). This test can be taken if a student wishes to improve his/her course placement or eliminate a mathematics course which would not earn graduation credit.
- English Placement Test - optional for those students who scored below 19 on ACT English or 470 on SAT Critical Reading (prior to March 1, 2016), or below 500 on SAT Reading + Writing (after March 1, 2016). This test can be taken if a student wishes to improve his/her course placement or eliminate an English course which would not earn graduation credit.
Placement tests may be attempted twice but must be completed before the semester begins. Students are not eligible for placement testing after beginning any MATW, MATH, or ENGL course.
Learning Communities
Dr. Eric Gumm, Director
ACU Box 29104; Abilene, Texas 79699-9104
Hardin Administration Building, Room 305
Phone: 325-674-2212
Email: fyp@acu.edu
Web: www.acu.edu/fyp
A Learning Community is a set of classes grouped around a common theme. For example, a community on the theme of “The Power of the Word” might include Bible, English and speech courses or the theme of “Being Counter-Cultural People” might include Bible, English and Sociology courses. While the course content will not be parallel for the entire semester, the teachers of these courses will work together to help students recognize and understand how the knowledge gained in each course relates to the learning that is going on in the other courses. Some Learning Communities may plan special group service projects or identify other opportunities to learn while doing.
Depending on the courses in the community, most groups will include 25-35 students. When a student enrolls in a Learning Community that automatically enrolls him or her in all of the classes in that community.
Learning Communities are designed to help students:
- become involved in college more quickly
- become acquainted with other students
- form student study groups
- learn more about a topic of interest
- enhance learning by seeing connections among classes
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