New Student Information

Advising Process: All students are assigned a faculty advisor. The faculty advisor may change due to unavailability of the advisor, academic probation, and other factors, but in most cases, a student’s faculty advisor does not change from semester to semester. Advising occurs roughly two weeks prior to the time that students can register for classes. You will receive an email from Patty McNulty and from your advisor when it is time to begin advising. Please mail Patty any time in the semester for questions related to significant academic or personal challenges, etc.

Each semester, we create a comprehensive curriculum overview that includes curriculum requirements, helpful websites, and contacts to know.

Advising Preparation: Use Clemson's iRoar system to search for courses ahead of the advising session. If introductory courses are full, spots may open before the semester starts.

• Curriculum Requirements: view curricula by program in the Clemson Catalog.
• Advising Worksheets: Once you complete some of the online orientation, an academic advisor will email you information about advising to your official Clemson email address, including an electronic advising form. Please make sure you check your Clemson email address at least once a day to stay on top of important advising information.
• Registrar Forms: change of academic programs (including declaring minors), academic forgiveness, and permission to take courses elsewhere (e.g., transient), are located on the Student Advising page. 

Clemson requires all entering students to own a laptop, recommendations that you order by the end of July to ensure home delivery before you leave for Clemson. The cost of a laptop is automatically included in the cost of attendance for all entering first-year students and can be included for upper-level and graduate students upon request (a receipt may be required).

Clemson's Computing and Information Technology (CCIT) publishes information on laptop support, and lists recommended laptop configurations for each fall. We strongly urge students to consider extended warranties for laptop purchases. Extended warranty coverage can help recover quickly through manufacturers' authorized service centers. Clemson's CCIT offers limited computer repair services and a loaner laptop program for certain laptops purchased through Clemson. About half of our students opt to purchase a laptop on their own.

Electrical and Computer Engineering does not endorse a particular laptop model—but Windows is the preferred operating system. Please note that the required software may only be available for Windows or Mac in some cases. If you plan on developing iOS applications, Apple's Developer Guidelines specify that you must use a Macintosh-based computer to run the XCode integrated development environment.

Which Laptop Should I Get?

One of the most common questions incoming students ask us is, "Which laptop should I get?" In addition to the information provided by CCIT, our recommendations stem from the experiences of systems support staff, faculty, and students.

For most students, personal preference is a driving force when selecting a laptop, and ECE does not specify one particular model. Our students use a mix of laptops from different manufacturers, with Dell and Lenovo commonly used.

• Size and weight: Consider how you may use your laptop—in class, in your residence hall room, at the library, or in an auditorium. Generally speaking, larger laptops give you more screen real estate at the expense of being less portable (e.g., heavier, larger). A minimum display resolution of 1080p (1290x1080) is recommended.
• Processors: Most modern processors (e.g., Intel i5, i7) are powerful enough for the majority of programming assignments students will encounter during their tenure at Clemson. 
• Operating Systems: Our students mostly use Windows. For off-campus connection to some resources, the Clemson CUapps remote Windows application system may be needed.
• “Future Proofing”: - While technology changes at a very quick pace, there are a few factors that can help you select a laptop that will extend its useful lifespan:
  • Durability: choosing a laptop that has a strong reputation for being long-lasting and can handle being hauled to class each day.
  • Memory: many laptops do not allow you to upgrade the memory, so choosing a minimum of 16 GB of RAM for a Windows is recommended.
  • Storage: like memory, storage may be difficult or impossible to upgrade after purchase, so think carefully about how much space you need. We recommend at least 256 GB (512 GB if you plan on installing multiple operating systems or plan to keep a lot of photos or videos)
  • Warranties: consider an extended warranty for your laptop purchase. An extended warranty can help you recover more quickly from an unpleasant experience through manufacturers’ authorized service centers.
  • Power adapters: Consider purchasing a second power adapter for your laptop and keeping one at home and one in your bag. Not all classrooms have power ports at each desk, so you may need to find time to top off your laptop’s battery during the day.

Clemson's Office of Admissions maintains a Transfer Course Equivalency List, commonly referred to as TCEL, that allows you to search by institution to see if coursework has been previously evaluated as being equivalent to a course at Clemson. Individual departments are responsible for determining equivalency for coursework with their course prefix (e.g., the mathematics department evaluates all coursework containing the MATH prefix). If a course is not in TCEL or you believe TCEL to be inaccurate, you may contact the department responsible for evaluating the course. We strongly encourage you to provide a detailed syllabus for the course in question. A detailed syllabus typically includes the textbook used, a schedule of topics, and a reading calendar.

Please be sure to read through ALL of the policies concerning credits taken at other institutions and then fill out the form below and return it to 104 Riggs Hall.

NOTE: a student must complete through instruction from Clemson a minimum of 37 of the last 43 credits presented for the degree.