Frequently Asked Questions

A Core course is a course that fulfills the Core Curriculum, which is a shared group of course requirements that ALL students at LMU must complete. Your major and minor will also have specific required courses. While many of the Core courses you take will fall outside your major and/or minor, it is possible that some courses in any given major or minor program will also satisfy certain Core requirements. Please see your advisor for more information on this. If you take a course in your major or minor that has a Core attribute or Engaged Learning flag, you are not required to take another course in the Core area. An elective course does not fulfill your major or Core requirements; however, all students take electives to graduate.

First Year Seminar is a seminar-style course that is co-taught by a full-time disciplinary Faculty member and a Writing Instructor. Aimed at improving students’ written and oral communication skills, the FYS invites students to engage critically and reflectively with scholarly discourse in a variety of formats. The topic for each FYS section is chosen and developed by the disciplinary Faculty member, who works closely with the Writing Instructor to develop writing assignments and to provide guidance to students in presenting, developing, and revising their ideas.

Rhetorical Arts furthers the development of essential skills in written and oral communication and information literacy, and provides opportunities for active engagement with essential components of the Jesuit and Marymount educational traditions. This course teaches an integrated set of skills, competencies, and knowledge that enables students to engage in public debate with persuasive force and stylistic excellence. Typically students choose a research topic at the beginning of the semester and complete a series of speeches and writing assignments on their chosen topic.

No, Rhetorical Arts and First Year Seminar should be taken in different semesters in the first year.

See Core Policies. 

These courses have a cap of 19 students per section. Overrides can only be granted in situations where a student has an unavoidable scheduling complication that can only be fixed in this way. If there is an open seat in another section of FFYS 1000 or RHET 1000, you should register for the section with an open seat rather than request an override. Overrides will not be granted because of student interest in a particular section or desire to take FYS with a specific faculty member. If you would like to request an override for other reasons, please contact the Core Director.

Core attributes will be listed in the University Bulletin, PROWL, and on the Real Time Schedule of classes. Before a student registers for a class expecting it to count for a Core attribute or flag, they MUST verify through these means that the course will count for the anticipated requirement. Syllabi and departmental course descriptions may contain errors. Advisors should never promise a student that a course will count for a Core attribute or flag before the course has been approved by the University Core Curriculum Committee.

Once you have started at LMU, it is expected that you will complete all the core courses required of you. Though many students transfer in Core credits from other institutions or through AP courses, further waivers of Core requirements for continuing LMU students can only be given in very specific circumstances. Please contact the Core Director if you have a question about this.  

Some study abroad courses may count toward Core requirements. These courses must be in programs which LMU directly administers or those in which LMU officially participates (those appearing on the LMU Study Abroad Office website). Consult with the Study Abroad Office for more information. For a study abroad course to count as a flag, it must be offered through one of the programs directly administered by LMU.

The Core requirements for transfer students depend first on the number of credits a student transfers in at the time of acceptance.These rules apply ONLY to students who are classified as “transfer” students, not students who come to LMU as “first-time students” but who may have taken college courses while in high school. Transfer students who come in with more than 31 units may choose to waive either the FFYS or FTRA requirement.Students who transfer in more than 55 units will also have their FPHI and FTHI requirements waived. Transfer students may also satisfy other Core requirements if they transferred in equivalent courses from another school, subject to a transcript review by the Registrar’s office.

Yes, you can. However, remember that you must obtain prior approval to take a summer course from your college Dean’s office and submit a Transfer Course Review form. Core credit for summer courses taken outside LMU is contingent upon a final review from the Registrar’s office. The following requirements cannot be fulfilled through courses taken over the summer at other institutions: FFYS, FTRA, all Integrations courses, and the Engaged Learning Flag.

Students may be granted credit at the time of entrance into the University for subjects in which they have completed the AP examinations with a minimum score of 4. No more than two Explorations courses may be met by AP exams. To satisfy the Creative Arts requirement, students must have AP credit in both a critical and a creative arts area. At the Foundations level, FQTR may also be satisfied through AP exams in Calculus or Statistics. Since AP credits can be applied to the lower-division major, minor, and Core courses, it is highly recommended that students discuss their options either with their associate deans or with their school/college
academic coordinators. AP courses do not fulfill flag requirements.

See Advanced Placement Credits. 

It may be possible for you to get Core credit for college courses you took in high school. However, you can only satisfy up to three Core area requirements through transfer courses. Combining your AP credits and transfer courses, you can fulfill up to four Core areas. First-time students may not use transfer and AP courses for FFYS and FRTA, which must be taken at LMU. Core credit for courses taken at another college or university is subject to a transcript review by the Registrar’s office.

No. All Core courses must be taken for a letter grade.