First Year Experience

Student Cohort: To help you establish connections quickly, we place you in a group of 25 to 30 first-year students (included in First Year Seminar described below). Your group will meet weekly to support one another as you live, work, and study throughout the first semester.

Peer Mentors: Each incoming student is paired with a commissioned student peer mentor. You will meet with your peer mentor one on one every other week for 30 minutes during the first semester. The focus of these meetings will be prayer and encouragement to help you get off to a positive start in your academics, spiritual life, and transition to Moody.

Move-In Day: When you arrive at Moody that first day, we don’t want you to feel lost. Your peer mentor will greet you and welcome you to campus, guide you through the check-in process, help you move in, and make sure you know your way around.

NSO (New Student Orientation): This course provides new students with all they need to know about attending Moody. You’ll learn about life on campus and how you can be successful in and out of class.

First Year Seminar: FYS is a weekly seminar designed to enhance your Moody experience and prepare you for college life. During the seminar, you’ll discuss many of Moody’s core values and other important topics, such as:

• Navigating challenging cultural issues from a biblical perspective
• Discovering your unique design for vocation or ministry
• Resolving conflict in a healthy way
• Engaging in civil discourse
• Understanding our identity in Christ
• Serving successfully in your PCMs (Practical Christian Ministries)

As mentioned above, FYS also includes your participation in a small cohort of students that meets weekly for encouragement during the first semester.

Please note: First-Year Seminar and peer mentoring are part of New Student Orientation credit, not academic credit. Participation is required for all students regardless of past collegiate experience, age, or other life circumstances.

SLiC (Spiritual Life in Community): This required course is designed specifically to help you flourish in your relationship with Christ and with other Christ followers as a first-year student. Most of the students in this class will also be with you in First Year Seminar. One of our main goals for your first year is to help you get connected to a tightly knit community of students who will support you and enrich your experience and development at Moody.