First Year Experience

Student Cohort: To help you establish connections quickly, we place you in a group of 20-25 first-year students (included in the 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 Leaders: Each incoming student is paired with a commissioned student peer leader. You will meet with your peer leader one on one every month throughout your first year. The focus of these meetings will be prayer and encouragement to help you thrive in your academics, spiritual life, and transition to Moody.

Move-In Day: When you arrive at Moody that first day, you won’t feel lost. Your peer leader 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
• Understanding biblical sexuality
• Growing in intercultural competence
• Managing personal and ministry relationships

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

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. Your classmates in this course will also be with you in your First Year Seminar cohort. 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.