A large group of Saint Lawrence University students wearing matching pink shirts cheer and smile during an outdoor event, with one person singing into a microphone and others holding up phones.

First-Year Program

Our First-Year Program (FYP) is a built-in web of support from the moment you step on campus and through your entire first year.

Academics
First-Year Program

A Community from Day One

As one of the oldest living/learning programs for first-year students in the country, the First-Year Program (FYP) is designed to strengthen the speaking, writing, and research skills you’ll need to find academic success in college while providing support as you begin exploring your interests beyond the classroom.

Living and Learning Together

A group of Saint Lawrence University students roast marshmallows over a fire pit on a grassy lawn during a social event. Some are standing and chatting while others are focused on toasting marshmallows. The scene is relaxed and surrounded by trees and open space.

The FYP is where faculty and staff from across campus come together to support your transition to college life as you carve out your place at St. Lawrence. From the faculty members teaching your class, to the Community Assistants in your residence hall, to coaches, career counselors, librarians, and more, the FYP is a true network of support with your academic and co-curricular potential at its center.

First Semester

During your first semester, you will live alongside classmates in your First-Year Program, making it much easier to collaborate and learn together.

You and your classmates all chose to take the same course, which means you already have a common interest. You’ll explore that interest (and learn more about one another in the process) as you collaborate on projects, ask one another questions about assignments, attend readings or discussions together, or simply grab lunch after class ends every Monday and Wednesday afternoon.

Second Semester

A group of students sits on a low stone wall outdoors, listening to a person standing and speaking while holding papers. The setting is shaded by trees, with a stone academic building in the background.

Your second semester at St. Lawrence will include a First-Year Seminar, which is often a smaller class size and brings you together with a different group of students, likely many from outside your FYP.

First-Year Seminars (FYS) strive to continue the communication skills, critical thinking, ethical reflection, and liberal learning goals of the FYP courses but with a specific focus on critical inquiry and research. Each of you will engage in an in-depth research project over the course of the semester.

Explore the First-Year Program

Your first year is a time to discover all that your St. Lawrence experience can be, and the possibilities are endless. Here are just a few of the resources that will help you along the way.

In the weeks leading up to the fall semester, faculty and staff will answer your burning questions about what to expect during your time at St. Lawrence. Topics range from housing to well-being, academic life, registration, finances, and clubs and organizations.

What better way to start your college experience than exploring your new backyard, meeting new friends, and experiencing the beauty of the Adirondack Mountains? Our outdoor program offers incoming students the opportunity to experience outdoor adventure in the surrounding Adirondack Park before the fall semester begins.

Discover everything the North Country has to offer during your first week at St. Lawrence. These group outings are designed to help you connect with your new community. Whether you’re into screen-printing, escape rooms, hiking, pottery, virtual reality, ropes courses, or apple picking, there’s something for everyone—and plenty of ways to start feeling at home.

We know that you’ll bring a solid foundation of writing and communication skills with you when you arrive at St. Lawrence. Our goal is to hone and strengthen them to prepare you for the expectations of your majors or minors, no matter what you choose to pursue. Assignments in the FYP are designed to build your confidence conducting research, forming an argument, communicating your ideas in writing, and delivering an oral presentation at the collegiate level.

Recent First-Year Program Themes

Changing the World: Justice & Advocacy
The Intentional Life: Interconnectedness & Wellness
Figuring It Out: Purpose, Problems & Solutions
Human Invention: Knowledge, Practice & Action
New Horizons: Global & Historical Conversations
Visionary Ventures: New Advances & Entrepreneurship

Recent First-Year Seminars

Energy and the Environment
The Science of Attraction and Relationships
Who Gives You Work, and Why Should You Do It: Placing Work in Human Experience
Techniques of Creative Nonfiction Writing
Adirondack Arts & Archives
Psychology of Hidden Bias
Sensory Bubbles and Perceptual Biases

As your FYP instructors will get to know you as a student and as a person throughout your first semester, they’ll help you begin to map out a path for your time at St. Lawrence. Whether you already have an idea of what you’d like to study or aren’t sure yet, they’ll help you choose classes that help you explore possibilities and align with your interests.

They’ll also show you how you can incorporate opportunities like off-campus study, career mentoring, or research into your academic and co-curricular journey. They invest in your holistic experience as a student at St. Lawrence.

What some call “Resident Assistants” we call “Community Assistants.” CAs live in your residence hall and help to foster a community among your FYP through intermittent activities or simply by being there to answer questions about campus life.

Community-Based Learning (CBL) at St. Lawrence gives you the chance to combine civic engagement with coursework, critical thinking, and reflection in a reciprocal relationship that benefits you, our community partners, and our professors. Several First-Year Programs and Seminars have a CBL component.