Virtual SOAR 2025: Advising Appointments for Incoming Transfer Students

Schedule your Psychology Major Academic Advising appointment through Starfish. You should complete this appointment during your designated virtual SOAR week. *Please note that Psychology’s academic advising team may not have the capacity to meet with you after your designated virtual transfer week. 

How to schedule your Psych Major SOAR Advising Appointment

We strongly encourage you to schedule an appointment with the individual who will be your assigned advisor once you declare a Psychology major. We assign students to academic advisors based on your last name:

VALERIE JOHNSON meets with students whose last name starts with A,B or R-Z. You can access her Starfish calendar through THIS LINK. 

KARI MAAS meets with students whose last name begins with C,D or K-Q. You can access her Starfish calendar through THIS LINK.

STEPHANIE OSBORN meets with students whose last name begins with E-J. You can access her Starfish calendar through THIS LINK. 

• Under appointment reason, select SOAR Academic Advising (Transfer Student). Under location, select Zoom.
• Step-by-step instructions for how to get started with Zoom. Note: All UW students have access to Zoom. Your computer/device will need internet access as well as speakers, a microphone, and video camera. Please install Zoom ahead of your advising appointment because set-up can take some time.
• Advising meetings will begin promptly at the designated time, so please make sure you are logged into Zoom and click the Zoom link in your confirmation email to begin your meeting.

*Please note: It’s ok to meet with a different Psychology advisor if your intended advisor’s schedule doesn’t align with your availability.

The primary goal of this appointment will be discussing your Fall 2025 schedule and making course recommendations based on your academic goals and interests. We will also discuss how your transfer credits apply toward your degree and major requirements and take time to answer your questions. We don’t have capacity to discuss long-term planning during this meeting. Once the Fall semester begins, you are welcome to schedule a meeting to discuss future semesters.

We will also give you permission to enroll in ONE Psych Breadth OR Psych Depth course. These classes may currently appear “waitlisted” or “closed” in the Course Search and Enroll App. However, we have seats saved for incoming transfer students in the courses listed below. If you can come into your advising appointment with an idea of which course you hope to take (including some back-up or alternate options), that will make our appointment more efficient. 

(Courses subject to availability – these seats will be released to all students after SOAR concludes).

More information about these courses, including date/time of classes, class descriptions, and pre-req information is available in the Course Search and Enroll App.

ALL incoming students should complete Steps 1-4 of the L&S SOAR Academic Advising Canvas course before their advising appointment.

Those steps will help you learn more about degree requirements, how to enroll in courses, and generally prepare for your advising appointment. Reviewing information in this module ahead of time will make your advising appointment much more productive. You MUST submit the intake form and acknowledgement check in Step 4 to be able to enroll in courses! 

Psychology’s website also contains information that will help you learn more about our major. We recommend looking through the following resources and documents:

• The Guide -> Psychology
• Psychology Major Checklist
• Tips for Incoming Transfer Students 

Our major has its own “Psychology Advising Canvas”. Students who indicate an interest in the Psych major in their SOAR registration will be automatically added to our Canvas course right before the Fall 2025 semester. In the event that you’re interested in exploring Psychology’s Canvas course during the summer, you can find instructions for joining the site through this link: https://canvas.wisc.edu/enroll/J3P9LY. Alternatively, you can sign up at https://canvas.wisc.edu/register and use the following join code: J3P9LY.

You can declare the Psychology major AFTER the start of the Fall semester AND completion of Psych 202 using our online major declaration form on the Canvas course!

If you have issues joining our Canvas course, please email advisor@psych.wisc.edu for assistance.

After you meet with your academic advisor, make sure to do the following:

• Enroll in your Fall 2025 courses!
  • L&S SOAR Peer Advisors will host drop-in hours to assist students with any questions related to using the Course Search and Enroll App, if you need additional help. You can find information about peer advisor drop-ins in your L&S SOAR Academic Advising Canvas module.
• If you haven’t done so already, complete any remaining Student Life and/or L&S SOAR Advising-related Canvas modules.
• Review Psychology’s Undergraduate Major page for information about our major requirements and additional opportunities in the Department, including information about getting involved in research, joining a student organization, attending major-related events, and career exploration and planning.
• Make sure to check and read emails from advisor@psych.wisc.edu, which is our academic advising team’s shared email account.
• You can declare the Psych major after you complete Psych 202 AND after the Fall 2025 semester has begun.