Skip to content

For Students

What is an advisor at Clark?

Advisors from the Academic Advising Center provide general academic support. They can help you clarify your goals, connect your interests and abilities to your plans, and explore and select majors and other academic programs.

A First Year Success Advisor (FYSA) is a holistic advisor who supports first-year and undeclared sophomores who is your go-to to help with academic questions, extracurricular activities, and personal support.

A faculty advisor is your go-to for questions about major program requirements, course planning, and registration. They help you design an educational program relevant to your future career.

You can look up the name of your assigned advisor(s) for your declared programs through the ClarkYou Portal, under the Main Menu link. Here’s how: Main Menu → Registrar Office, Student Account, Financial Aid → Student Record → Student Record Information

The best way to reach a specific advisor is by sending an email to their Clark email account; you can find contact information here.

The Advising Center also is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Visit us then or schedule an appointment; call 508-793-7468 or email advising@yopin365.com.

Advising and Registration

To graduate from Clark you will need to have a minimum of a 2.0 GPA, have declared and fulfilled the requirements of at least one major program, and have completed 32 units (classes) with at least 16 units completed at Clark.

You also must complete a First Year Intensive and the nine Clark Core requirements from at least five different academic disciplines. These requirements include:

  • Written Expression
  • Formal Analysis
  • Aesthetic Perspective
  • Global Comparative Perspective
  • Historical Perspective
  • Language and Culture Perspective
  • Scientific Perspective
  • Values Perspective
  • Diversity and Inclusion Perspective

Dates for the posting of course schedules, the student advising period, and online registration are found on the Registrar Office web page.  Access the Academic Calendar by clicking here.

To be ready for registration, you must meet with your major advisor (academic advisor if you have yet to declare your major) and get their approval of your class list to release the registration hold. We recommend having 4-6 classes prepared prior to this meeting.

Fall 2025 Pre-Registration Period Begins: March 19th, 2025

Fall 2025 Senior Class Registration Begins: April 3rd, 2025

Fall 2025 Junior Class Registration Begins: April 7th, 2025

Fall 2025 Sophomore and First-Year Registration Begins: April 9th, 2025

Summer 2025 Registration Begins: February 10th, 2025

From the Check Your Registration Status screen, scroll to the bottom and click on View Holds. All holds must be released for you to be able to register at your appointed time.

Here are the offices that review and can release each hold.

  • Advising Hold – Primary Faculty Advisor
  • Emergency Contact – Will be released once completed through CUWeb.
  • Student Accounts Hold – Student Accounts Office
  • Get Inclusive Modules – Office of Community Standards
  • Health Forms – Health Services Department

Students are eligible to request taking a fifth course during the semester if they are hoping to either catch up on units, apply it towards an accelerated program, or take a course for personal enrichment.

  • Only Sophomores (8-15 units) with a 3.6 GPA or higher, or Juniors and Seniors (16 or more units) with a 3.0 GPA or higher, are eligible.
  • Forms are reviewed once grades are submitted at the end of the semester. This review usually occurs in the first week of January for the Spring semester and the first week of June for the Fall semester.
  • The deadline for fifth course request forms to be submitted to the Academic Advising Center is the last day of add/drop each semester. Please make sure to turn these in prior to the deadline, as this will provide time for the AAC staff to approve the forms and have the Registrar’s Office process the submission so you can register for the 5th class before add/drop ends.

Download Fifth Course Request Form

Download Fifth Course Request Fillable Form

 

All full-time students, except first-year students and first semester transfer students, may enroll in one course per semester (fall or spring) at any of the following schools:

  • Anna Maria College
  • Assumption College
  • Becker College
  • College of the Holy Cross
  • Massachusetts College of Pharmacy
  • Nichols College
  • Quinsigamond Community College
  • Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine
  • University of Massachusetts Worcester
  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute
  • Worcester State College

You must get the signature of the comparable department chairperson here at Clark to ensure that this course is not a duplication of a course available at Clark and is acceptable for credit. Staff in the Academic Advising Center give approval of courses for which there is no related department at Clark.

For more information about the Consortium and to explore available courses, please visit the HECCMA website.

Download Cross Registration HECCMA Fillable Form

Academic Struggles

If you are uncertain how you will do in a class that is not required for your major or minor, you can speak with your professor to take the class pass/fail instead of for a grade that will impact your GPA.

Download Pass/Fail Fillable Form

Spring 2025 Deadline for Pass/Fail Submission: January 31st, 2025

Use this form to withdraw from a single course. As a result of a withdrawal, a grade of “W” will appear on your academic record. The deadline to withdraw from a course is the last day of the semester. This form must be signed by your faculty advisor, or by staff from the Academic Advising department. Submit your form to the Registrar’s Office.

Download Course Withdrawal Form

Spring 2025 Deadline for Withdrawal Form Submission: April 28th, 2025

In cases where students are not able to finish their course work by the end of the semester because of extenuating circumstances, students can ask their professor for a grade of incomplete (IN). Should the professor approve this request, students and instructors must work together to complete this form. Students may talk to someone in the Academic Advising Center for assistance with figuring out if an incomplete is appropriate. Completed forms can be turned into the Academic Advising Center before the end of day on the last day of classes. Please note that it can take up to 5 business days for the paperwork to be reviewed and filed with a final final decision.

Download Petition for Incomplete Fillable Form

Spring 2025 Deadline for Incomplete Form Submission: April 28th, 2025

Use this form to petition for any action outside of the parameters of our academic forms and petitions or policies. Return the completed petition to the Academic Advising Center after gathering all required signatures. For help with filling out or submitting your College Board petition, visit the Academic Advising Center for assistance. Please note that it can take up to 14 business days for the paperwork to be reviewed and filed with a final decision.

Reasons for College Board Petitions can include, but are not limited to:

  • Missing deadlines for Clark administrative forms like course withdrawals,
  • Appealing application denials by Clark departments,
  • Appealing final course grades.

Download College Board Petition for Special Action

Download College Board Petition for Special Action Fillable Form

Transferring Credits into Clark

A student may receive a maximum of 8 units from their AP exams. One unit for each College Entrance Examination Board AP score of 4 or 5. A score of 5 for English Lit/Comp will result in a waiver of the Written Expression (WE) requirement. Scores of 4 or 5 in other areas may result in Clark Core (Core) waivers. Students may receive a maximum of 3 PLS waivers in total.

Please submit these scores before starting your first semester at Clark to prevent classes from overlapping with your accepted AP units. You will have to use your college board portal to submit these credits to Clark.

Credit is awarded for: full International Baccalaureate Diplomas are given one full semester (4 Clark units) of advanced standing credit. The full diploma with 36 or above will be given one full year of credit (8 units) provided all exam scores (including SL scores) are 5 or above.

Individual IB courses (at the higher level) with scores of 5 or higher are awarded one Clark unit each; British A-level courses are awarded 1.0 unit each for grade of C or better up to a maximum of 4.0 units; Ontario 13th Year earns up to 4 units of advanced placement; Quebec CEGEP program earns 8 units of advanced placement for completing the full 2 years of study; the German ABITUR (4 units); the Swiss MATURA and Italian MATURITA (4 units); the French or Moroccan Baccalaureate will earn 4 units with the diploma (level of “admis” at least), otherwise one unit will be awarded for each eligible course (with a coefficient of at least 4 and note of at least 10) up to a maximum of 4 units.

Other international academic experiences are evaluated individually. Students who have completed Bard Early College are eligible to receive a maximum of 8.0 units of advanced standing credit for appropriate college level courses in which the student has earned a minimum grade of B.

Generally, students may earn up to four units of university credit for college courses completed while in high school. Students must have the college send an official transcript to the Academic Advising Center at Clark. Courses are then evaluated for possible transfer credit by the Academic Advising Center. Students should check with the Registrar’s Office to confirm that their transcript was received. If the course work has been evaluated positively, the student will receive notification. If there is a problem, the student will find out what it may be at that time.

This form should be used before registering for courses at another college or university to ensure the acceptability of course and credits at Clark University. Department Chair approval is required for courses that will fulfill a major requirement. Turn in your completed request form with course descriptions to the Academic Advising Center (if it is an online course then a syllabus is required). Please make sure to submit this form prior to taking the transfer class when possible.

Download Transfer Credit Approval Fillable Form

  • No credit is awarded for successfully passing CLEP (College Level Examination Program) tests, Regents Exams or credit by exam from another college.
  • No credit is awarded for any elementary language courses if you have completed more than two years of that language in high school.
  • No credit is awarded for internships, vocational classes, sports, club activities, or personal wellness classes.

The Academic Advising Center handles all Academic & Disciplinary Report requests should any student need to send this information to other higher education institutions through the Common Application for transfer. Please make sure to fill out the top part of the reports prior to emailing them to advising@yopin365.com and check whether the report will be submitted directly to the other institution. Please note that it can take up to 5 business days for the paperwork to be reviewed and filed so please plan accordingly.

Transfer Student Support

All transfer students will have their transcripts reviewed and approved by the Academic Advising department. Once this is complete, you can use your degree audit tool to see how your previous credits have transferred over to your degree program at Clark.

During your first semester at Clark, all transfer students will be assigned to a staff member in the Academic Advising Department. This staff member will serve as a point person for any questions or concerns that arise as the assigned students acclimate to being a member of the Clark community and learn to navigate Clark’s many supports and resources.

The Academic Advising Department will host events for transfer students throughout the year to connect with Clark offices and develop a community of current and past transfer students across the campus.

Contact Information

Academic Advising Center

Office Location
Office Hours
  • Monday – Friday
    9 a.m. to 5 p.m