Shirleyne McDonald
Director of Financial Aid Communication and Service

*The Live Chat function is monitored during business hours (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT)

📚 Submit your placement credit exam results - due July 15 (one more week!)

📸 Upload your One Card photo - due July 15

✅ For a more detailed checklist, click the link below!

"The first friends you make might not be your "people"—that's alright! It may take time, but eventually you'll fall into the right friend group. Some of my best friends didn't come along until late sophomore year, but the fact of the matter is that they came along!"

Abby Quirke, Orientation Chair
College of Arts and Sciences (CAS)

As part of your first-year College Writing class, we have chosen a "community text" that you will refer to for discussion and writing in your College Writing course. This year's community text is Dr. Ashley Shew’s Against Technoableism: Rethinking Who Needs Improvement. Dr. Shew will be at American University this fall during the 27th Annual Writer as Witness Colloquium, where she will address the AU community and meet with students and faculty to discuss the book, as well as the craft, artistry, and research that went into its creation.

To learn more about the colloquium and where to purchase a copy of the book, click the button below.

🖥️ Join us for an informative virtual session about the many resources available on campus! Incoming students should plan to attend one of the remaining upcoming New Eagle Essentials held over the summer on Zoom. New Eagle Essentials will be held:

To RSVP for one of our upcoming webinars, please visit this webpage or click the button below.

And to those who joined us for our first New Eagle Essentials webinar last week: thank you! We can't wait to see you again in August!

📒 American University’s Emerging Eagles Leadership Program is now accepting applications! Tailored for first-year students but open to all who are interested in exploring their leadership potential or aspiring to be change makers, this program empowers you through leadership development, mentorship, and community engagement.

Program highlights include...

For more information, contact the Center for Leadership and Community Engagement (CLCE) at volunteer@american.edu.

Don't miss this opportunity to grow as a leader and make a positive impact at AU! Applications close on Wednesday, July 31.

💰 Last week, you and your proxies received an email alerting you that your first bill is ready to be viewed. This bill is due Thursday, August 1. To view this bill, click on ‘Account Activity’ to see an itemized list of all tuition, mandatory fees, and financial aid.

Because you're education is an investment of time, effort, and money, AU wants to make sure you're protected. We have recently partners with Grad Guard to provide tuition refund insurance should you need to withdraw for a covered reason at any time during the semester. Visit the tuition refund insurance website for more information on Grad Guard how how to apply purchase the tuition refund insurance.

🩺 And speaking on insurance, don't forget that all students are automatically charged for health insurance once you're registered as a full-time student unless you submit a waiver request if you are already covered by a comparable insurance plan. Visit AU Central to learn more.

🧳 Now that you know where you're going to live, then next question is, "When do I move in?" Our staff in Housing & Residence Life (HRL) are working hard to schedule all new students' move-in dates and will share that information with you in just a few weeks.

While you're waiting to figure out when you'll be able to move into your residence hall, don't wait to think about how you want to decorate your space. HRL makes it easy to plan what to bring—as well as what not to bring. If you want to review the packing list, visit the HRL website or download a PDF version of the list here; or, if you want to see the dimensions of your room and the furniture it comes with, visit this webpage and click on your residence hall.

👋 Throughout the end of July and into early August, meet other new Eagles even before you get to campus during our Summer Send-Off series! Hosted by the Office of Alumni Relations, the AU Summer Send-Offs are in-person social gatherings to help welcome the Class of 2028 to the AU community. You will have the chance to socialize with other new AU students and alumni.

To find a send-off close to you, click the button below.

✨ Hosted by the Office of Alumni Relations in collaboration with the Office of Enrollment and the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, the 2024 Summer Welcome Series invites incoming students to meet fellow Eagles, hear from alumni about their AU experiences, and learn about resources offered to students by the Alumni Association and our Alumni Affinity Alliances and Networks. All welcomes are virtual and will be hosted on Zoom. Learn more and RSVP here.

💖 At AU, we recognize that gender identity is one's internal, deeply held sense of gender, and that it's at the discretion of the individual to identify and/or share their gender identity on their own terms. To update your name, pronouns, or other personal identifiers, click the button below.

🎉 Looking to get involved? Engage is your one-stop shop for student involvement; it allows you to find student clubs and organizations and discover events happening on campus. (It also allows you to RSVP to the New Wagle Essentials webinars.) To get started, simply click the button below, and sign in using your AU username and password.

⚾ If you want to get involved even before you get to campus, RSVP to join us for AU Night at Nationals Park on Wednesday, August 28! Everyone who purchases a discounted ticket through this link will receive an exclusive Nationals-AU Day co-branded jersey, while supplies last. More information can be found at the link below.

✈️ From pool to plane, a student lifeguard helps save a life at 30,000 feet. Click here to read an article from the Summer 2024 issue of American, the American University magazine.