Current Students

Academic Advisors are your guides throughout the undergraduate college process. There are many paths and choices to get to the graduation finish line, but you don’t have to make them alone. Your advisor will help you discover what is important and how to get to your goal.

Use the Navigate Student mobile app to schedule an advising appointment.

Your course selections are a product of careful planning done in consultation with your network of advisors, faculty, and peers. You will typically either already have programs of study in mind or you might be undeclared.

Have you declared a major?

Undeclared students are encouraged to pursue courses in potential majors of interest, areas where they can identify transferable skills, and or Hunter requirements that must be fulfilled regardless of the major ultimately chosen.

A typical schedule will include at least 15 credits, including:

• 1-2 major specific requirements
• 1-2 Hunter Requirements like Hunter Core, Pluralism & Diversity, and or language
• An elective of your choice

We encourage declared students to make timely progress towards degree completion.

When planning courses, consider the following:

1. Will your chosen courses check off the requirements listed in DegreeWorks?  If you have not declared a program, you can click on “What-If” and see the requirements for programs of interest to you.
2. Are you sequencing major requirements on a schedule that will allow you to finish your degree within four years? Every major has a Degree Map in the Hunter Course Catalog. See Programs of Study and then select the program and navigate to the bottom to see how courses can be mapped to be completed within four years.
3. How much room for electives will you have? If you have declared your major, DegreeWorks will list at the bottom of the worksheet how many electives you’ll need to take to get to the minimum of 120 credits needed to graduate.
4. Are your chosen courses being offered when you plan to take them? Use Schedule Builder in CUNYfirst to check course availability and to have your courses ready to go the day of registration!

The easiest way to create your own plan is to use our semester planning worksheet where you can map out all the requirements noted on DegreeWorks.

Your academic journey includes very specific requirements needed in order to earn your degree. DegreeWorks is an innovative tool that shows all your courses in progress, in addition to the ones you’ve completed. DegreeWorks shows you which requirements are outstanding and what courses can be taken towards those outstanding requirements.

In addition, you will be able to see how your coursework can be applied toward a major, minor, certificate or major concentration using the ‘What If’ option.

If you are a TAP recipient, you must declare your major by the semester in which you will earn your 60th credit.

TAP will provide up to 8 full-time payments (8 semesters/4 years) subject to Satisfactory Academic Progress.

FACTS helps you quickly see whether your courses are eligible for TAP each semester.

At least 12 of the credits being attempted are required for your:

• Declared major (1st major only)
• Declared Hunter Focus/Concentrated Study
• Electives that fit under Electives for Degree
• If the required credits for a declared minor, certificate or 2nd major fit under Elective for Degree, these courses can be counted.

Important Considerations:

Students who are approaching their Elective for Degree limit should note that once this limit is exceeded, credits taken towards remaining minor, certificate or 2nd major requirements are no longer TAP eligible. Such courses should be taken above the 12th credit.

When a student opts for a minor, certificate or 2nd major in place of a Hunter Focus/Concentrated Study, the number of language credits exempted are also TAP-eligible. For instance if you were exempted 6 credits, the first 6 credits of your minor, certificate, or 2nd major are TAP-eligible. The remaining credits will need to fit under Electives for Degree or be taken above the 12th credit.

The first place to find out if you have any outstanding Financial Aid issues is CUNYfirst.

1. Log into CUNYfirst and go to the Student Center.
2. Check out the To Do List — Each To Do List item will link you to very specific documents you’ll need to provide. Click on the items and see if any have a status of “Initiated.”
3. Once you submit the required documents, the status will eventually change from “Initiated” to “Received”.
4. It is important that you submit all documents to the Office of Financial Aid as quickly and early as possible since processing can take 4 to 10 weeks.
5. All documents can be uploaded via the CUNYFirst Document Upload feature.
6. For additional information please consult OFA’s FAQ.

If your To Do List items have a status of “Completed,” but you don’t see your Scholar Program Scholarship, please contact scholarp@hunter.cuny.edu.

Common Issues:

• HESC and or Hunter is requesting Proof of US Citizenship. — Provide a copy of your signed Passport to Hunter via CUNYFirst Document Upload feature and also a copy to HESC.
• OFA has advised “I am missing my FAFSA and or TAP Application.” — Please ensure you have submitted an application for this academic year, you are required to apply every year.
• It’s been 4-10 weeks and you have had no update from OFA — Please be patient because OFA processes a high volume of inquiries. OFA will advise via your Hunter e-mail if anything further is needed. However, please feel free to reach out to Scholarp@hunter.cuny.edu and we can verify with you whether OFA has everything they need or attempted to reach you about more information they need.

If you have received partial or full language exemption, you will need to declare a Focus Study. Alternatively, you can declare a minor, certificate program, or 2nd major.

If you are a TAP recipient, only the number of language credits exempted are TAP eligible. For instance, if you were exempted six language credits, you can declare a six-credit focus study or a minor, certificate, or 2nd major, but only the first six credits of that optional program are TAP eligible.

To declare a a Focus Study:

• Complete the Declaration Form
• Please attach it to an e-mail and send the form to regweb@hunter.cuny.edu

Learn about taking courses at other CUNY colleges or other institutions

All Hunter College undergraduates must declare a major. Learn how.

Learn how to win a prestigious scholarship or fellowship.

Get extra help, advice or tutoring at the Chanin Language Center, Dolciani Math Center, Rockowitz Writing Center, and the Skirball Science Learning Center

Below are some of the technologies where you will need to create accounts in order to successfully plan your program and communicate with faculty and advisors:

• Academic Planner
• Blackboard
• CUNYfirst
• DegreeWorks
• FACTS: TAP Audit
• Hunter Email
• Navigate