Advising

If you have questions about majoring in communication or need information about communication courses, please see undergraduate advising located in 2101E Skinner. You may either schedule an appointment using our online calendar (see above) or send questions to commadvising@umd.edu.

If you have questions about Gen Ed or foreign language requirements, please see the College of Arts and Humanities (ARHU) advising located in 1120 Francis Scott Key Hall. The phone number for ARHU is 301-405-2108. To learn more about ARHU, visit www.arhu.umd.edu.

If you cannot come to advising for an official audit, you can run an unofficial degree audit through uachieve.umd.edu. For instructional videos on how to use u.achieve, see the Registrar's Office.

Yes. The Advising Office staff is available to assist students who have questions about admissions to the major, LEP application, appeal process and course selection.

The Department of Communication is part of the College of Arts and Humanities and students who major in communication are required to have dual advising consultations during their undergraduate studies program.

All first-year students (both freshmen and transfers), students on academic warning, students reinstated, students who have completed 45-55 credits and seniors who have completed 86-100 credits have mandatory advising in both the College of Arts and Humanities and the communication department. If you have questions, please see the Communication Advising Office.

An LEP program means that there are admission requirements. Students must satisfy admission requirements prior to becoming communication majors. For admission requirements, click here.

If you're a first-semester freshman or freshman connection student, you may declare COMM as your major before the last day of classes in your first semester. As a freshman declaring COMM, you are required to complete successfully a communication performance course (COMM107, 200, or 230), a statistical course (BMGT230, CCJS200, EDMS451, PSYC200, or SOCY201), and introduction to communication theory (COMM250) no later than the semester in which you reach your 45th credit. First-semester freshmen wishing to declare COMM should schedule an appointment with the Communication Undergraduate Advising Office (see above) to begin the major change process.

If you intend to declare COMM as your major after the end of the first semester of your freshman year, you must follow the Limited Enrollment Program application process. If you have any questions, please schedule an advising appointment (see above) or email commadvising@umd.edu.

Current students apply online here.

Applications are reviewed after the application deadline (the 5th business day in January for spring admission and the 5th business day in June for fall admission). The Undergraduate Admissions Office notifies students of the admission decision via email once the applications and transcripts have been evaluated. Students can only apply once to either the College Park or the Shady Grove Communication program.

Students may officially change their major (or add the COMM major) upon notification of their admission to the COMM program. Students must pursue the following steps:

1. Meet with an advisor in COMM to begin an updated academic plan
2. Complete the Foreign Language Placement Assessment for Arts and Humanities
3. Meet with an advisor in the College of Arts and Humanities (ARHU) to complete the academic plan

Students must meet with the Communication Advising Office and complete the Foreign Language Placement Assessment prior to meeting with ARHU about their academic plan. All of these steps must be completed by the end of the schedule adjustment period for the semester for which the student is admitted or the student will be unable to declare the COMM major and will be unable to reapply.

Students who plan to add COMM as a secondary (or new primary) major have to obtain signatures and approvals on a double major form. In addition, the revision of the academic plan will be built on the student's current academic plan, combining requirements of both majors and college(s). 

Communication majors wanting to enroll in the internship course must meet specific requirements. For detailed information, please visit the Internships page.  

The department relies on the Transfer Credit Center to designate course equivalencies. For communication-related courses not in the Transfer Credit Center's database, students are asked to send the course syllabus (not just the short description) along with your name, UID, name of the institution where the course was taken, the course ID and course title at the transfer institution to: transfercredit@umd.edu and they will forward the syllabus for review. If the course equivalency is verified and approved, Transfer Credit will update the student's record accordingly. Students seeking to enroll in another institution and transfer the credits to the University of Maryland have to complete a form called Permission to Enroll at Another Institution. This form must be approved by both COMM and ARHU prior to the student's enrollment in another institution.

Many students take COMM courses abroad. You can view approved courses by using the Study Abroad Course Database. Please meet with a COMM advisor to determine if the course you wish to take will count for your COMM major requirements. If not, you will need to submit a course syllabus for review. In either case, once Education Abroad approves your application you will need to complete a “Study Abroad Course Approval” form and have a COMM advisor sign off on it before you begin your semester abroad in order to ensure that the credits will be accepted.  Please contact Education Abroad for more information.

There are a number of reasons why courses are limited to a specific number of students. Sometimes the room will only hold a certain number of chairs and other times it is necessary to limit the number of students because of the nature of the course and the material being covered. Therefore, oversubscriptions are done at the discretion of the course instructor on a case by case basis. If you are on the waitlist for a class make sure you show up for class the first day and inform the instructor. Many students who are on waitlists find that space opens during the first week or so of classes.

A student's inability to register for classes may be due to one of several reasons: the student must see both major AND college advisors, the student must provide the Health Center with immunization records, the student must resolve a financial block, among other reasons. Students should refer to Testudo to identify the registration block that pertains to them. If there is a departmental advising block, please visit the Communication Advising Office during the posted advising hours.

If you have a financial block, contact the Student Financial Services and Cashiering at extension 4-9000. Questions about vaccination blocks should be addressed to the Health Center at 4-8180. If you have a fundamental studies block you must register in person at the Mitchell Building or with an ARHU advisor.  

Remember the university offers a number of FREE academic and non-academic support services on campus including:

• Tutoring@UMD
• Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Education tutoring services
• Oral Communication Center offers assistance with improving communication skills through peer consultants and workshops.
• Department of Mathematics, 1117 Math Bldg. (301) 405-5053, offers tutoring in MATH 013/113 and 015/115 in addition to calculus courses.
• The Math Success Program, sponsored by the Department of Resident Life, Oakland Hall, Academic Enrichment Center, ground floor. Offers math coaches and collaborative study groups. For more information, call (301) 314-4255. 
• The Writing Center, 0125 Taliaferro, (301) 405-3787, will help you revise drafts, identify and correct grammatical errors and clarify your assignments. Please call to schedule an appointment.
• Personal and/or counseling support is available at the Counseling Center (301) 314-7651 and at the University Health Center (310) 314-1493. Services in both offices are FREE and CONFIDENTIAL