U of L Early Start Experience

Early Start

Are you worried about your first semester of university? Nervous about meeting people, or building the skills needed to succeed academically? The U of L Early Start Experience (ESE) is a two-week course designed to promote student success and to ease the transition from high school to university!  

Students in the Program will:

  • Get a full course credit for a special enhanced version of LBED 1500, The First Year Experience: Mapping our Communities.
  • Build social networks with a diverse group of incoming students.
  • Develop the writing, study and library skills needed to be successful in university.
  • Be introduced to all the helpful services available on campus.

LBED 1500 Course: When students start university, they start a journey on a new stage in life, as they enter a variety of new communities - new physical spaces, new social relationships, and new academic communities and challenges. This course is designed to introduce new students to these communities and to help them find their place in them. Using maps and the process of map-making as guiding metaphors, students will learn valuable social and academic skills that will be useful no matter what their major.

 DATES: August 21 to Sept. 1, 2023, weekdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Full Info at https://www.uleth.ca/future-student/early-start-experience

To apply for 2023 EARLY START, contact Dr. Shelly Wismath at wismaths@uleth.ca

“I am filled with amazement with how much more prepared I am for the year. Many—if not all—of my fears, worries, and concerns were all addressed during the classes.  I feel confident that I will be able to use the tools provided by this program, and that I will be able to succeed…no thrive…in my first year.”   2020 Early Start Student

“Over these past two weeks, I have learnt much more than I initially thought I would. I learnt how to navigate the university; and now, I can walk around with confidence, knowing exactly where I am going. But more importantly, I have learnt about all that is possible here at the University of Lethbridge. Just by coming here, I have opened the door to a world of possibilities that wouldn’t have been accessible to me back home.” 2022 Early Start Student

ACCOMODATIONS: Students who will be living in Residence Housing for the 2023-24 academic year and taking ESE may be permitted to move into their Residence room early (Aug. 18 move-in day).

Students who are accepted into ESE by and who also apply to live in campus Residence by March 31 will be given priority for housing applications, for Kainai House residence and if numbers permit possibly also for University Hall Residence. Please indicate in your application email to ESE if you will be applying for Housing (and which Residence) and wish to move in early; and when you apply for Housing also indicate that you are doing ESE on your application. To secure accommodation in Housing for ESE, please apply by March 31, 2023, via housing@uleth.ca.

COSTS:

  • Regular U of L tuition fees for one course (part of student’s total 40 courses)
  • Early Move-in to Residence ONLY for those staying in selected Residence Housing for 2023-24 year: Early Move-In Cost for 2 additional weeks TBA.
  • Meal Plan: required for those living in Residence; Cost TBD.

WHAT WILL THE COURSE BE LIKE?

ESE will run from 9 am to 4:00 pm each day, Monday to Friday, starting on the morning of Monday Aug. 21.  (Note we will end early, probably at noon, on the last Friday, Sept. 1.) But we are not expecting you to sit through lectures from 9 am to 4 pm every day for two weeks! There will be 2 to 3 hours of lecture per day most days, but that will be broken up and interspersed with lots of activities, tours, discussion time, work time, etc.

“In ESE I evolved academically from a high school into a university student. My high school self was nervous, full of doubt, and wondering what I had gotten myself into. I was really worried about starting university in the fall, what course work would be like, and how I would find things on campus. Basically, I was a quivering mess. My thoughts of what university is like have changed vastly since the first day. I learned in this course what the university workload and pace was like. I learned about all the opportunities that the university offers. I have turned from a quivering mess into a confident student.” 2022 Early Start Student