Welcome to Mines and CASA!

You don’t have to do anything to create your first semester schedule- the Registrar’s Office will take care of it for you!  To help the Registrar’s Office in that process, please submit the Registration Survey found in your Admissions portal. 

Your schedule will be based on your intended major and any applicable AP/IB/TR/Dual enrollment credits and will include the classes you need to make progress to graduation.

You’ll have access to your schedule around mid-August. At that point, you’ll be able to make changes to your schedule, yet we highly recommend you contact us first before changing your schedule as classes are often quite full.

Every incoming student is assigned a CASA advisor by last name. You’ll start working with your CASA advisor after your first semester schedule has been created by the Registrar’s Office, so you don’t need to do anything except wait for your schedule to come out (sometime around mid-August).

If you have concerns about your schedule after it’s made, you can contact your advisor or our office and we’ll work with you on any potential changes you would like to make.

Your schedule should be great for your academic program needs. If you are questioning an aspect of your schedule, reach out to CASA.

Please note that time preferences are unlikely for first-semester schedules.

Once schedules are created by the Registrar’s Office and available to you in Trailhead (around mid-August), you’ll have the ability to change it.

We highly encourage you to contact us before changing your schedule as classes will likely be very full.

We’ll walk you through how to make changes to your schedule if it is something that needs to happen.

That’s a great question! The Mines curriculum is structured in a way that allows for a common core curriculum experience and a specific set of courses for majors and minors. We want everyone to make progress in their first semester at Mines and the Registrar’s Office uses their expertise to ensure you’re progressing towards graduation in a timely manner by registering you for your first semester. We’re also able to take your AP/IB/TR/Dual Enrollment credit into consideration when creating your schedules so you’re not having issues with prerequisites.

You will register yourself each semester after this first semester. 

CASA! You can contact our main office at casa@mines.edu or call us at 303-384-2600 once your schedule is out (around mid-August).

The last day to add a class to your schedule is typically one week from the first day of class.  Census Day is the last day you can drop a class from your schedule.   

We recommend adding a class as early as possible so you’re not missing out on coursework.

If you no longer wish to complete a class after Census Day, you can withdraw from a class. You will receive a W on your transcript when you withdraw from a class.

Be sure to check the Academic Calendar for specific dates. 

That is a great question. Our goal with your first semester schedule is to make sure you are set up to advance in your intended major and make progress towards graduation. Depending on what that class is, you might already be in it, or you might be able to add it when your schedule comes out (around mid-August). It all depends on what the class is, when it’s offered in comparison to your other classes, if you have appropriate prerequisites to take the class, and if it’s open.

If you can’t get in that class your first semester, you can include it in your class wishlist for the spring or other semesters. You’ll have the ability to control your schedule every semester after your first!

For this first semester, you are not able to provide such course preferences as a specific section, time, or instructor. Our goal is to make sure all new students get the best schedule for them, and we simply cannot accommodate such requests. 

You will register yourself for every semester after this, however, so you’ll be able to include those preferences after fall.

Some classes at Mines offer the opportunity to test out of a class. The process is by invitation only and is called a Challenge Exam. More information about the Challenge Exams will be available later this summer, yet please visit the Challenge Exam website on the Registrar’s Office for more information.

Math offers honors versions of Calc II, Calc III, and Differential Equations. Students with AP Calc credit will receive an invitation from the math department to join in one of these sections.  After this first semester, you can enroll in an honors version of math if you are interested in it. 

The honors versions cover the same core content as the non-honors classes, but instructors have considerable opportunity to enrich the class through additional applications, the use of technology, and different modes of instruction. The honors classes are an excellent option for students who are curious about mathematical ideas, and who are intrinsically motivated to learn the “how and why” of mathematics.

You’ll receive a survey in May (you may access in your Admissions portal) to update or confirm your intended major and your schedule will be based on that intended major.

After that point, you can change your intended major after your first semester schedule has been created through CASA. If you changed your intended major over the summer, contact us to discuss any potential schedule changes to reflect your new intended major.

Our AP credit guidelines are decided by Mines faculty and our standpoint is that students should accept AP credit and move forward into the next course.

If you are unsure of what you learned in the AP course, you can decline your credit. However, we often see students who have denied their AP credit wish they had accepted the credit because they already knew the information. This can lead to being bored and not doing well in the class.

Some semesters might have more or less credits, yet those are common for full-time students. The Catalog (https://catalog.mines.edu/undergraduate/programs/) provides sample four-year course listings with credits. 

You are in control of how many credits you take each semester. Some students might opt for fewer credits each fall/spring semester and make up for those credits over the summer or add to their graduation timeline. We encourage students to make their own decision about how many credits they want to take in consultation with their CASA advisor.

The Mines Core is a set of required courses all students need to take for graduation requirements and often comprise the first year or so on campus. This can allow for students to possibly change their major without taking extra courses that won’t count toward their degree.

Sometimes students take a class that counts toward one major and not another. In that case, we encourage students to look at a potential minor in the other subject or simply know that taking a “decision-making” course is a wise decision to help select a major.

Always reach out to your CASA advisor if you have questions about your potential major. We’ll do our best to make sure your courses count toward any potential major you’re pursuing.

Many students have back to back classes. Whether you have 10 or 15 minutes in between classes, you’ll most likely be able to make it across campus in time for your next class. Some classrooms are on the outer edge of campus, yet the majority of our classrooms are within the middle academic portion of campus. 

That’s great! We’re here to help you explore all of your academic possibilities! Contact your CASA advisor for full details and to create a personalized plan, yet read on for more information.

A minor requires 18 to 21 additional credits to your degree program, 9 of which you can overlap with your major.

A double major requires at least 30 credits beyond the first major. The courses are decided with the faculty advisor of the second major. No credits may overlap and some major combinations are allowed.

A 4+1 program requires admittance to the graduate school of the master’s program.

You’ll need to send in your official scores/transcripts from College Board/IB, or the institution affiliated with your dual enrollment credit. Send them to Admissions for processing and evaluation.

Please note- your high school transcript may contain this information yet it is not official. We will need your official scores/transcripts.

AP Credit Information – https://www.mines.edu/registrar/ap-credit/

IB Credit Information – https://www.mines.edu/registrar/ib-credit/

Transfer Credit Information – https://www.mines.edu/registrar/gen-transfer-credit-info 

You’ll need to contact Admissions to defer your enrollment to another semester. 

Every class at Mines is graded on an A-F scale. Mines does not offer pass/fail or pass/no pass. 

Mines does provide Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grading at midterm for core courses, yet these are not included on transcripts.