New Student Onboarding Guide

Track your progress on the Admissions Portal, including personalized information about your submitted documents, placement tests, credit evaluations, and more.

Some incoming students may need to complete math or English placement exams.  Check for emails from the Office of Testing and Evaluation for more information about the math and English placement exams and Baruch’s course placements.

For the Pathways curriculum, Baruch students are required to complete two semesters of college writing (ENG 2100 and ENG 2150) and a Math and Quantitative Reasoning course.  Keep in mind that math requirements vary by major. Click through the Undergraduate Bulletin to review the math requirements for your intended major.

First-year students: As a first-year student, you’ll be enrolled in a block program, which means you won’t choose your classes for the first semester.  Instead, your schedule will be created for you.

Next steps:

• Complete any required math or English placement exams as soon as possible.
• Once your placements are set, you’ll be invited to register for Orientation.
• After completing the Orientation Registration Form and selecting your Orientation date, we’ll get to work building your schedule.

Your first semester course schedule will be designed based on your math and English placements, incoming credit, and your responses to the Registration Form.

Click here to learn more about first-year student course scheduling.

Transfer students: Transfer students register for classes on their own.

Step 1: Check your Enrollment Appointment in CUNYfirst.

You will receive an email from the Registrar’s Office once your Enrollment Appointment has been posted to your account.  Your enrollment appointment is the first time you have access to registration on CUNYfirst.

• Log in to CUNYfirst
• Click on “Student Center”
• Select “Course Planning and Enrollment”
• Find “Enrollment Dates” on the left menu to see your appointment details

Step 2: Review your Holds

Holds are associated with the college that added them; some holds may prevent course registration while others will not.  In CUNYfirst, click on ‘Tasks and Holds’ and then view details to see the school associated with the hold and its enrollment impact.

Note – All Bursar or Collections holds, from any CUNY school, will prevent registration at Baruch.  Resolve the hold by contacting the college that added the hold to your record.

Baruch Holds that may impact your registration:

• MMR/Meningitis Immunization – you must submit proof of MMR immunization and proof/waiver for Meningitis immunization to the Admissions Office before the start of classes.  Contact medicalrecords@baruch.cuny.edu.
• SPARC – the SPARC hold may impact some students who were accepted for a previous semester but decided to postpone their enrollment.  Contact deanofstudents@baruch.cuny.edu.
• Testing Hold – if you transferred credit for a course that enabled Baruch to confirm your placement, but you still have a Testing hold on your record, contact the Office of Testing & Evaluation at testing.evaluation@baruch.cuny.edu.

Step 3: View your Transfer Credit Report

Your Transfer Credit Report will show you which courses transferred, their Baruch course equivalent, and Pathways designations for Pathways requirements.

• Log in to CUNYfirst
• Select Student Center
• Select Academic Records
• Select View Transfer Credit Report from the left-hand menu

Contact the Undergraduate Admissions Office to update your transfer credits at New.Transfer@baruch.cuny.edu.

Step 4: Review your Degree Requirements. 

View the Transfer Advising Tutorial and your DegreeWorks Audit in CUNYfirst to help understand your degree requirements and course options for next semester.

Additional online resources:

• Undergraduate Bulletin – view major and minor courses requirements
• Zicklin School of Business Eligibility Criteria – review the eligibility criteria required to begin your business major.
• Weissman Registration Resources – department faculty advisor information, registration permission for Weissman majors and more.
• Bachelor of Science in Public Affairs Requirements – review the requirements for the BSPA.
• Learn more about advising services for new transfer students here.

Step 5: Use Schedule Builder to Register

Use Schedule Builder to register for classes.

• Log into CUNYfirst
• Select Student Center
• Select Schedule Builder
• Choose the term you want to register for classes. If you have holds on your account, you should still be able to click into the term for registration.
• After you’ve built your schedule, click ‘Get This Schedule’ at the bottom of the page and then ‘Do Actions’ on the enrollment page.

View this helpful tutorial or the CUNY How-to Guide to learn how to add, drop and swap classes on CUNYFirst/Schedule Builder.

Common Registration Issues
CUNYfirst error messages are very specific to the issue that is impacting registration.  Be sure to read the error message carefully and review this list of common issues.

• Holds – double check your Holds.  Review Step 2 for common holds that impact registration.
• “You do not have a valid enrollment appointment at this time” – Double check that your Enrollment Appointment day and time has passed.  Review Step 1.
• “Department Consent Required” – Some seats in classes are reserved for particular groups of students, this error message indicates that the remaining seats in this section are not available for enrollment without permission from the department hosting the course.
• “Maximum Session Unit Load Exceeded” –  Baruch students may enroll in:
  • up to 18 credits per fall/spring semester
  • 2 courses per summer session
  • 2 courses for the winter intersession
  • Credit overloads are not available for the first semester.
• “Time Scheduling Conflict” – Students cannot have an overlap in course times, even if there is a zero-minute time conflict (where one course ends at the start time of the other course).
• “Pre-requisites not met” – Double check the pre-requisite for the course and your Transfer Credit Report to see if you have the courses needed.  Registration in 3000-level business courses requires that the Eligibility Criteria has been met and the proper coding (ZKTP, ZICK, ZKWP) has been added to the student record.  If the course is still in progress at your previous school (listed as CIP on your Transfer Credit Report), you will need to wait until the course has concluded and the credits have been transferred.  Contact:
  • Admissions if you need to have your Transfer Credits Updated: New.Transfer@baruch.cuny.edu
  • Zicklin Undergraduate if you believe you meet the eligibility criteria but are not able to enroll in 3000 level business courses: ZicklinUndergraduate@baruch.cuny.edu
  • The Registrar’s Office if you have the pre-requisites but you are still not able to add the course: RegistrationIssues@baruch.cuny.edu

It may take 24 hours after registration for your tuition bill to appear on CUNYfirst.  View the Bursar’s website to learn about the cost of tuition, payment options and more Frequently Asked Questions.

Review all the important dates for the college from the last day to add a course, the refund schedule, withdrawal deadlines, school breaks and more!

Academic Calendar

Registration for Spring 2026 Orientation opens soon!

First year students will meet their Peer Mentor either at Convocation or on the first day of their FYS 1000 course.
Transfer students will receive an email introduction from their Peer Mentor at the very beginning of the semester.

Our advice on how to make the most of a Peer Mentor relationship: 

• Come prepared with questions – big or small.
• Be honest about your challenges and goals, and share what feels exciting or overwhelming.
• Use your mentor as a sounding board when decisions feel unclear.
• Talk through expectations, time management, and getting involved on campus.
• Stay engaged and follow up to build a meaningful connection.

It’s normal to feel unsure or even alone at times during your first year or while adjusting to a new environment.  A Peer Mentor can help navigate those moments with support from someone who’s been there.