Soon-to-be graduates must prepare in advance

By Desiree Marx
Western Herald

April graduation is right around the corner, so for some this checklist is complete, while others think that graduation is too far off to worry about. Here is a graduation checklist to help you through this big step in life.

Go to an advisor in the school your degree is in and get your senior audit done, the sooner the better. The cost is $45 and gets added onto your WMU account.

In six-eight weeks you will receive the results of your audit in your WMU e-mail account. Make sure you look it over and call if you have questions. Save this until graduation to remind yourself what you have done and what you still have left to do.

Ten of your last 30 credit hours have to be taken at Western Michigan University, so don’t plan on spending your final semesters at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.

You have to have a minimum of 122 non-repeated, non-developmental semester hours and a GPA of 2.0 or above. Add up your credit hours with the most up-to-date course listings available; some printed copies have not been updated to reflect changes.

Six weeks before the end of your final semester, you will receive an e-mail with more information about the commencement program, such as how to purchase your cap and gown and what time your ceremony is at. Go to www.wmich.edu/commencement for more details.

In order to reserve your tickets and place for graduation, you need to RSVP through GoWMU by April 15 in order to receive four tickets. You can also register by calling 387-4300.

Tickets can be picked up at the bookstore April 20, through April 25, graduation day. Extra tickets will also be available on a first come first serve basis April 24, at 8 a.m. at Miller Auditorium. Each student can receive up to two additional tickets with proper student ID.

Textbook express is the place to order your graduation regalia, which includes your cap, gown, tassel and honor cords. The cost is around $30 to $35, depending on any extras you choose to purchase. At this time you can also buy graduation announcement cards, photos and WMU alumni gear.

There are some resources on campus you can use to help job search before you graduate. BroncoJOBS is a great place to start. You can start an account and get e-mails where there are jobs in the categories you are looking for.

You can also go to the career resource center to help in your search for a career after graduation.

Make sure to utilize all these resources now, for their availability will drastically decline once you’re no longer a student.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=5346

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Mar 31 2009. Filed under Campus, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
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