FAQs

Counseling appointments are held by Zoom and phone. If you would like to make a counseling appointment, please utilize the Counseling Online Drop-In Hours or call (650) 574-6400. If we miss your call, we will respond to you as quickly as we can.

Yes. The CSM Counseling Department is open until 7:00 pm on Tuesday and Wednesday. An appointment is required to meet with a counselor.

No, you may select the counselor with whom you would like to work. Our counseling faculty are generalists and all can assist you in achieving your educational goals of earning associate degrees or certificates, transferring to a university or pursuing other educational interests. We encourage you to select one counselor to develop a student-counselor relationship so the counselor can partner with you and assist you in identifying and achieving your educational and career goals.

You should meet with a college counselor at least once a semester to discuss educational goals and create and monitor a Student Educational Plan (SEP). This will help keep you on track to achieve your goals within the time period you expect, and help you be ready for transfer to a university, if you choose. By keeping your SEP up to date, you will also receive priority enrollment each semester.

In addition to meeting with a counselor to begin to discuss educational decisions, Counseling Services staff can help you understand your educational goals and options and help you use tools to research what college major might be the best fit for you. Also, look at the Career Services website as well as the CRER/COUN curriculum listed Career Classes. Our CRER/COUN classes are designed to help you learn how to choose a major, how to transfer, how to complete an associate degree, and how to survive in college. Our CRER/COUN classes are designed to help you learn how to choose a major, how to transfer, how to complete an associate degree, and how to survive in college. We recommend you use ALL of these resources to help you plan and achieve your goals. For help with navigating personal issues and stresses, you can also speak to a personal counselor in our Wellness Center.

A prerequisite is a course that must be taken prior to being permitted to take another course. For example, if you have taken General Chemistry 1 at another college, it may meet the prerequisite for General Chemistry 2 at CSM. Please see the Prerequisites, Corequisites, and Recommended Preparation page for more information.

If you would like to apply prior coursework to a CSM associate degree, vocational certificate, or a university general education certificate then you must request a Transcript Evaluation. Follow the steps to request an official evaluation of how your prior coursework will be applied to your CSM goals.

This message means that you are trying to register for a class that you have completed with a C or better, or you have attempted 3 times already. Every attempt at the class counts, including times where you earned a substandard grade of D or F, and non-completed attempts, including W or NP.

If you need to take the class again, you may petition for Course Repetition to take the class one more time. These will be approved or denied based on your reason for needing to repeat the course. Please fill out the Course Repetition Request Form and submit to the email address on the form.

Please see WebSMART for the date your registration will open. You will be able to register for the upcoming term on that date or after that date.

If you do not have a registration date, please contact the Welcome Center for assistance.

This message is letting you know that you have been out of good academic standing due to low GPA or low completion rate for three or more consecutive semesters and your registration is blocked. This can be from recent semesters, or semesters attended years ago.

Please see our Academic Standing page for instructions on how to petition for reinstatement. This is required in order to be considered to continue taking classes.

Be aware of the drop deadlines listed on the CSM website. If you drop a class before the last drop deadline, it will not appear on your transcript or affect your completion rate.

Before dropping or withdrawing from a class, it is wise to check with a counselor or Counseling staff member to see how it may affect your progress towards your academic goal. Contact Counseling Services for information.

To withdraw, go to WebSMART – Registration – Add/Drop Classes. Look for the class you want to withdraw from. Choose Withdraw and click the SUBMIT button.

Be aware that withdrawing from a class will lower your class completion rate. You must have a cumulative completion rate of 51% or higher to be in good academic standing.

If you registered for a class and did not pay for the class before the payment deadline, you will be dropped from the class for non-payment. This may be avoided if you apply for financial aid or set up a payment plan. Contact Financial Aid for details.

If you have paid for a class, and are suddenly dropped, the instructor may have dropped you. This usually occurs when a student has too many absences. See the class syllabus for guidelines and contact the instructor to find out what happened.

The best thing to do is to attend the office hours and ask any questions you have and see if you can resolve any problem you have with the instructor or the class. If you are not able to resolve the situation, you can speak to a Counseling staff member or make an appointment to speak to your counselor for advice.

Speaking to your general counselor is a good place to start. They can discuss the issues with you and help you come up with some solutions. You can also speak to a personal counselor in our Wellness Center and receive referrals to external services if necessary. Balancing school with work and life can be stressful, so please nurture your wellbeing by taking advantage of these services as needed.

Please follow the Concurrent Enrollment process. You will be allowed to take up to 11.5 units free of charge.

The Middle College program at the College of San Mateo is a collaboration between the San Mateo Union High School District and the San Mateo Community College District. Middle College offers a unique pathway for students to accomplish their high school and college goals while challenging themselves in a supportive and small learning community.

See the Middle College website for more information.