Resources for Your Senior
Save the date
Commencement
The 238th Commencement for the Class of 2025 will be Saturday, May 10, 2025. Stay
tuned for additional details.
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 senior 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 Adivser (HA) position.
Students who don't receive housing in one of these options participate in the annual room selection proccess, 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
Senior 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).
Senior 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
As a fourth-year student, your senior will be balancing their senior capstones while increasing their focus on preparing for a meaningful life and productive path after graduation. Your senior’s faculty adviser will focus their advising on providing your student with individual pre-graduation goals while supporting their ambitions for life after F&M.
Here are some topics your senior should discuss with their faculty adviser:
- How has your understanding and identity as a scholar in your major discipline shaped who you are?
- As you think about life after college, what is important to you, and how will these things inform your future decisions?
- List several career options that you would consider. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? What do you need to figure out to select from among them?
- What experiences contributed most to your growth at F&M?
Center for Career and Professional Development
Your senior will graduate from F&M prepared to embark on the first of many paths they can pursue with an F&M education, and to excel at top-level graduate and professional schools. Our Center for Career and Professional Development helps your senior articulate — via their resume or CV and application materials, and online via their LinkedIn and social media brand — their abilities to think critically, communicate clearly, and lead confidently. With the help of our mentors, your senior will enter the next stage of life after F&M ready to self-advocate, embrace their unique experiences and value, and seize the opportunities that call to them.
Our signature programs for seniors include:
- “Living Beyond F&M” series consisting of sessions on financial literacy, public speaking, the etiquette of the business meal, and more
- On-campus and virtual employer visits
- Night of Networking, a hallmark student-alumni event designed for students to connect with alumni in a low-stress, virtual environment
- Job and internship 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
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.
Learn more about F&M off-campus study
Have They Considered…
Campus Employment?
Internships?
The Career Center will help your student discover internship opportunities they can complete during their last two semesters or as a first step after graduation. They will provide guidance through the internship search, application and interview process, 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