You need credit for ENGL 1101 and ENGL 1102 in order to graduate from UGA. You can obtain credit for these classes in a few ways:

1. AP/IB transfer credit
2. Transfer from another college/university
3. English Placement Test
4. Taking a FYW course

The English Placement test is administered by UGA Accessibility and Testing. You should register for the test directly with A&T. You can take the test online on your own schedule. The test aims to place you into the correct ENGL course for you. When you take the test, it will place you into UNIV 1105, ENGL 1101, or ENGL 1102.

You must take the placement test if:

• You scored below 590 on the SAT Critical Reading Test/Evidence-Based Reading and Writing Section
• OR you scored below 26 on the ACT English Test

You might want to take the placement test if:

• You don't already have credit for ENGL 1101 and you'd like to earn credit without taking the class

You shouldn't take the placement test if:

• You already have credit for ENGL 1101

The placement test will not give you credit for ENGL 1102. It can only grant credit for ENGL 1101.

If you take the placement test and miss the cutoff by one point, you are eligible to retake the test. For a retake, write to us at fywsupport@uga.edu. Only one retake can be granted.

We accept AP and IB test scores for credit for ENGL 1101/1102.

The following test scores grant credit for ENGL 1101:

• 3 or 4 on the AP Literature & Composition or the AP Language & Composition exam
• 4, 5, or 6 on the IB High Level (HL) English exam
• 5, 6, or 7 on the IB Standard Level (SL) English exam

The following test scores grant credit for ENGL 1102:

• 5 on the AP Literature & Composition or the AP Language & Composition exam
• 7 on the IB High Level (HL) English exam

You need to send your official score reports to UGA Admissions in order to receive this credit. Screenshots of score reports will not be accepted: your credit needs to show up in Degreeworks and on your transcript. We do not provide prerequisite overrides for FYW classes.

You can check and see if your course already has an equivalent at UGA by using the Transfer Equivalency Search. If your course is already listed, all you need to do is send your transcript to UGA Admissions. If your course is not listed, you should contact your academic advisor to begin the transfer credit evaluation process. Screenshots of transcripts will not be accepted: your credit needs to show up in Degreeworks and  We do not provide prerequisite overrides for FYW classes.

Write to us at fywsupport@uga.edu! We often will have your exact syllabus on file, but if not, we can also provide you with a template syllabus for your new institution to evaluate.

No, we do not provide overrides for any FYW class for any reason whatsoever. Please make sure that you prioritize registering for FYW classes before they fill, that your prerequisites are displaying in Degreeworks, and that you do not have any registration holds.

• We cannot provide prerequisite overrides. Because these classes are both graduation requirements, we are prohibited from making overrides, even with a picture of a transcript or AP or IB exam score. If you believe you should have credit for ENGL 1101 but you cannot register for ENGL 1102 due to a missing prerequisite, you should contact the Registrar directly (reghelp@uga.edu).
• If you attempt to register for an 1101 or 1102 course and Athena returns a Permission of Department error, this means you are attempting to register for a section that is reserved for students who are English language learners. If English is not your first language, read below for more instructions. If English is your first language, you will need to select another section.

• If English is not your first language and you wish to gain Permission of Department for the ESOL section of ENGL 1101 or 1102, please email us at fywsupport@uga.edu. Make sure your email contains your 811 number and the CRN of the section for which you wish to register. You must identify as a non-native speaker of English to gain permission. Once we've given you permission to register, you will need to add the class yourself in Athena.
• ESOL classes have the same content and display the same on your transcript as other 1101 or 1102 classes, but proceed at a different pace. If you are eligible for ESOL, but aren't sure if it's right for you, you can contact Dr. Danielle Bray (dbray@uga.edu), our ESOL instructor, with any questions.

• Our program serves thousands of students each semester, and we have limited classroom space. As a result, our classes fill quickly and often have waitlists. You should prioritize registering for ENGL 1101 and 1102 if you absolutely need this class this semester.
• The FYW program does not provide capacity overrides for our courses for any reason whatsoever. If your desired section is full, you will need to either select another section or join a waitlist.
• If you drop your class and then find yourself unable to join a new section or rejoin your previous section, we cannot manually add you back in — you will need to select another section or join a waitlist. When classes fill, we highly suggest you stay in your section rather than trying to swap between sections. If something glitches or goes wrong, we are unable to fix it for you.

Once registration begins, FYW courses are open for registration regardless of whether you see an instructor listed or not. Due to the unique way our courses are staffed and scheduled, we sometimes need to add instructor names after registration begins. Please do not wait until instructor names are loaded to secure your seat as classes may fill before then.

We do not provide late adds or section changes in FYW except in extreme circumstances, usually involving significant clerical errors on the university's part. If you think that might apply to you, please write to us at fywsupport@uga.edu. We can't make section changes or late adds for other reasons such as instructor preference, schedule conflicts, or a failure to register on time.

We offer summer FYW classes during Thru Term each summer. Traditionally, all FYW summer classes are conducted online and fully asynchronously. Registration for these classes opens in late fall or early spring, so check Athena regularly.

Online FYW classes (ENGL 1101E and ENGL1102E) are only offered during Summer Thru Term. We do not offer online courses in the Spring or Fall semesters, or during any other summer term. All online FYW courses are fully asynchronous and do not have set meeting times.

The official FYW attendance policy is as follows:

• Because writing skills develop slowly over time and because in-class activities are crucial to the discussion-based format of the class and its community-building mission, students’ regular attendance is important in First-year Writing. It should be emphasized that when students miss class, including for routine or emergency medical situations, it is the responsibility of the student to keep up with the course. Instructors are neither required nor expected to re-teach material covered in class to students who were absent.
• For classes that meet MWF, upon the student’s seventh absence, including for routine or emergency medical situations, students will begin to incur grade penalties. Students incur no grade penalties for absences 1-6. For each absence in excess of six, three points will be deducted from the student’s final grade in the course.
• For classes that meet MW or TR, upon the fifth absence, including for routine or emergency medical situations, students will begin to incur grade penalties. Students incur no grade penalties for absences 1-4. For each absence in excess of four, three points will be deducted from the student’s final grade in the course.
• The only excused absences are those listed under UGA policy 4.06: jury duty, military service, and religious observances.

Unfortunately, no. We give you a full two weeks of absences that you can use, no questions asked — in our program, there is no difference between an excused absence or an unexcused absence unless you're on jury duty, have military service, or are observing a religious holiday.

If you have an extremely severe situation and want to talk about what this policy might mean for you, please reach out to our program director, Dr. Kreuter, at kreuter@uga.edu. 

If you're a student athlete, you might not want to take this class during your sport's season. If you play a year-round sport, you might want to take the class in the summer online.

If you have an accommodation on file with Accessibility and Testing, then your instructor will get an email informing them about it at the start of the semester. They may want to discuss what that'll look like for you in their specific class. Sometimes, your accommodation won't necessarily apply in an FYW class (like if you get extra time on tests, since very few FYW classes administer exams). We're committed to making sure that everyone gets the accommodations they need, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us if you're having issues.

Aside from the FYW Guidebook, each class will use its own texts. Please check the UGA Bookstore, and make sure that you're typing in the specific CRN that you're enrolled for as we run hundreds of FYW courses each year.

For help with eLC, UGA's learning management system, visit the eLC help page.

For help with eLW, the FYW program's in-house writing platform, write to esupport@uga.edu or visit the FYW Digital Learning Labs in Park Hall 118.

Park Hall is a large and somewhat complicated building, but there are many resources for you to use! We're here to help.

• Our Lost and Found is located in the main department office in Park Hall 254. If the main office is closed during business hours, any other staff member can let you in. The Lost and Found is closed outside of normal business hours, so if you lose something late in the day, you may have to check back in the morning.
• Instructor mailboxes are located in the main department office in Park Hall 254. Jami in the front office can help you find your instructor's box if you need to.
• A WEPA printer kiosk is available in the elevator lobby of the ground floor of the building.
• Vending machines are located on the ground floor of the building near the front entrance.
• There are many places where students are welcome to sit and spend some time. You can visit the Willis Center for Writing's Wellness Hub in room 66, the Student Lounge in room 317, or find one of the many benches, chairs, and couches throughout the building.

Every FYW instructor has an office in Park Hall. A directory of the building is posted on the bulletin board outside the FYW office (Park 128) and lists where to find every single person in the English department! Our instructors have offices on all four floors of the building, so make sure that you're on the right floor.

Many FYW instructor offices are in the large rooms (Room 25 and Room 10) on the ground floor of the building. If your instructor's office number has a decimal point in it (like 25.1) or lists a desk number (like Room 25, Desk 1), then you can find them in those rooms. The doors have keypads on them and stay locked for security, so please knock loudly on the office door (the rooms are big and it can be hard to hear!) and someone will come let you in.

The FYW office in Park 128 is the administrative office for the FYW program. We're here to help with the more technical and programmatic side of things — we don't help with your writing. The lovely folks at the Willis Center for Writing can help you with that, though! You can find help from the WCW in quite a few locations: Park Hall 66, MLC 370, McBay Science Library 201, Main Library 620A, or online!

We're sorry to hear about that! Please reach out to us at fywsupport@uga.edu if you have any concerns or issues while taking an FYW class. Please know that if you're submitting a grade appeal, you must first appeal the grade with your instructor before the appeal can proceed to our office.

Please drop us a line at fywsupport@uga.edu or give us a call at 706-542-2128. During normal business hours (8:00am to 5:00pm), you can also drop by the FYW office in Park Hall 128 — someone is almost always in the office suite, unless we're in meetings.

During registration periods we experience a very high volume of requests, but we generally reply to all emails and phone messages within 24 hours. We don't answer phones or emails outside of business hours, but we'll get back to you as soon as we can.