Resources for Your Junior
Living on Campus
Housing
Our four-year residency requirement means students are required to live in F&M-owned or -approved housing for all four years.
Housing applications for returning students are available in February each year. Your junior student has several housing options. They can reside in:
- Their College House
- One of our two residence halls on campus: Thomas Hall and Schnader Hall
- Theme, special interest, and fraternity and sorority housing
- One of three F&M-affiliated apartments
Your student can also choose to apply for a House Adviser (HA) position.
Students who don't receive housing in one of these options participate in the annual room selection process, the Housing Lottery. Housing Lottery information sessions are held in March and April. All students participating in the lottery are encouraged to attend a session in any College House.
Students who did not select housing through the Housing Lottery will receive a housing assignment from the Housing Office in the weeks prior to the start of the fall semester.
Contact Housing
If you need to get in touch with your student’s College House, you can reach out to the assigned faculty mentor (don) and administrative facilitator (dean). If you have
questions about F&M housing in general, you can explore our FAQ to learn more or reach out to our housing team at housing@fandm.edu for additional help.
Meal Plans
Junior students living on campus are required to purchase a campus meal plan unless they are commuting (though commuting students can also purchase a meal plan).
Junior students living in apartments may decide to reduce or opt out of their meal plans.
Meal plan pricing is automatically folded into your student’s tuition details.
Academics
Academic Advising
Your junior will experience important changes in their third year, which provide many opportunities for academic and personal growth. For many students, this year provides increased opportunities for leadership and experiential learning. Your junior’s faculty adviser will guide and help them prepare for study-abroad experiences, faculty-student research, academic internships, and co-curricular leadership experiences.
Here are some topics your junior should discuss with their faculty adviser:
- Classes they still need to complete for their major, including the capstone seminar
- Questions within their major that they have enjoyed learning about and want to explore further
- Internships for credit or research opportunities
- Programs, clubs, and leadership opportunities on campus
- What they are most excited to accomplish over the next two years
- If they are studying abroad, how the experience will integrate with their studies and activities at F&M
Center for Career and Professional Development
As your junior begins the “second half” of their F&M experience, their vision for life after college becomes less theoretical and more concrete. The Center for Career and Professional Development will help them plan by mapping out more specific goals for life after graduation. They’ll help your junior develop a list of roles, companies, or schools they’re interested in pursuing; prepare for interviews and standardized tests; update and refine their resumes and cover letters; and explore summer experiences that will provide them with hands-on experiences in fields of interest.
Our signature programs for juniors include:
- “Life After College Success,” a one-semester, cohort-based program specifically designed for juniors to prepare them for success in their lives and careers
- LinkedIn, networking, and resume workshops
- “Designing a Future” course
- “Living Beyond F&M Series” consisting of sessions on financial literacy, public speaking, the etiquette of the business meal, and more
- Job, internship, and summer experience fairs
- F&M’s True Blue Network, a career network platform exclusive to our community
Your Student’s Career Center Adviser
Your student should have built a rapport with their Career Center adviser. If they haven't already met, we recommend that your student reach out to their adviser and schedule an appointment. Your student’s primary Career Center adviser is assigned to them based on their College House.
Off-Campus Study
Most students choose to study off campus during their junior year. If your student plans to study off campus during their senior year, encourage them to reach out to our off-campus study staff to get started. The advising and application process begins one academic year prior to their experience.
If your student is participating in off-campus study this year, we will email you directly with detailed information. Please keep in mind:
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- If your student submitted an application for off-campus study, they have met with an off-campus study adviser throughout the advising and application process. Our office provides holistic advising to help your student make decisions that will suit their interests and also challenge them to grow personally and academically. We ask that you contribute to this process by helping your student reflect upon their motivations and goals.
- We will email you our off-campus study financial policy. Please pay special attention to this so that you understand how much you will be invoiced and by whom.
- F&M partners exclusively with independent study-abroad organizations who operate high-quality programs in many locations around the world. Your student will be participating in one of these partner programs and will have access to the program’s on-site staff, offices, and support services while abroad.
- Not all programs or locations can accommodate all students' needs, so it is important that students disclose this type of information to their program after an acceptance decision is made but before a program deposit is paid. The program can advise them on what can and cannot be accommodated, as well as provide additional resources so that students are making informed decisions before paying program deposits.
- Our office will continue to communicate with and provide guidance and support to your
student throughout the off-campus study experience, from pre-departure preparation
through their return home.
Explore our parent guide to off-campus study to learn more.
Have They Considered…
Campus Employment?
Internships?
The Career Center will help your student discover and land these positions, guiding them through the internship search, application, and interview processes, and facilitating connections with F&M alumni parents and friends of the College for potential opportunities.
Research?
Do you have any questions? We're happy to help. Feel free to reach out to us at families@fandm.edu or visit our contact page.Get in Touch With F&M