New Student Advising

Welcome to Scottsdale Community College, home of the Fighting Artichokes! We are excited you have chosen SCC to begin or continue your higher education. At SCC, we understand that starting college can be challenging, and the Academic Advisement team is here to support you in:

  • Confirming you are declared in the correct academic plan
  • Identifying your first-semester course options
  • Understanding available SCC resources to ensure your success

To make the most out of your first advising meeting, use the step-by-step guide below. The SCC Academic Advisement team is always here to help.

In order to register for classes, you must be admitted to SCC.

Identify Your Degree Plan

Use these online resources to decide your plan. If you are unsure, choose a plan you think you might be interested in, and you can always change it later.

Submit Your Admission Application

Setup Two-Factor Authentication

This is a very important step. In order to access your Student Center, you have to set up the method you want to use to verify it is you who is signing in.

For your academic advisor to be most helpful, they need some academic information about you.

Complete Initial Placement in Reading, Writing, and Math

Reading, Writing, and Math skills are important for all your classes, and we still need to know your skills in these areas. Registering for English and Math classes can be delayed by not having this information.

You can provide information in a couple of ways:

Submit Unofficial Records: You can submit unofficial high school transcripts, GED, ACT, and/or SAT scores.

Complete EdReady modules: EdReady is an online testing system for you to take tests, review the results, practice skill areas that you scored lower in, and retest as many times as needed to earn a minimum score.

  • EdReady English: score 80+ for placement into ENG 101
  • EdReady Critical Reading: score 95+ and be exempt from taking CRE 101
  • EdReady Quantitative Reasoning: score a 70+ for placement into MAT 14X
  • EdReady College Algebra: score an 80+ for placement into MAT 15X

If you submit unofficial transcripts and have EdReady scores, your placement is determined by whichever method provides the highest placement level. We also have some resources that can help you:

SCC Testing Center: More details and videos about the placement process.
Placement Coach: An unofficial tool to provide English, Math or Reading class placement based on what you provide.

Transfer All Non-Maricopa College Credits to SCC

If you earned college any non-Maricopa community colleges or a university, request that they send official transcripts directly to SCC. Even if you sent transcripts to another MCCCD school, you still must do this for SCC.

If you have AP, CLEP, or IB exam scores, connect with the College Board or International Baccalaureate program.

Meetings are 45 minutes and we highly recommend that you schedule your first one in-person, if possible. They can be scheduled up to two (2) weeks in advance.

Schedule a Meeting with Your Field of Interest Advisor

  • Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Management students: Please visit the BBA website before scheduling and view the video information session.
  • Nursing students: Please review the information on our SCC Nursing Advisement and the MaricopaNursing websites before scheduling.

If your Field of Interest advisor is not available, any of the other advisors can help get you started.

Doing a little preparation can go a very long way to making your meeting productive. Take some time to do the following:

  • Be sure your Math, English, and Reading placement is done (Advising Step #2).
  • Print any unofficial transcripts from non-Maricopa College schools.
  • Verify your SCC degree plan is correct. If you want to change it, your advisor will help you with that.
  • Search for your degree on the Degrees and Certificates page. Click the link and review all the information (including courses you will need to take) about your plan to become familiar with it.

Refer to the confirmation email sent to you when you booked your meeting for specific details on its time and location. Additionally, you will receive reminder emails (and texts if you elected) the day and hour before your meeting with this same information.

Make sure to bring the documents from “Advising Step #4: Prepare for Your Meeting”!

If you have to cancel, please refer to your confirmation and/or reminder emails and follow the directions to do so.

After Your Meeting

We hope your advisor meeting is productive and helpful. There are three main things to do now: Register for Classes, Set Up a Payment Arrangement, and complete New Student Orientation.

Your advisor should have given you some suggestions and advice about your first SCC classes. Here are some resources to help you.

Video walkthrough of Adding and Dropping Classes
Pre-Requisite Override Requests

You must have some payment arrangement for your classes on file by the semester’s tuition deadline date. If you do not, you may be completely dropped from your classes.

Set Up a Payment Arrangement

New Student Orientation at SCC includes three components:

  1. Online Orientation: Provides an overview of SCC’s many services and resources
  2. Artie’s Welcome: An on-campus event where you will meet professors and others who will support you.
  3. College Success Courses: Register for either FYE101 or FYE103 in your first or second semester.

Complete New Student Orientation