First-Year New Student Checklist
Here you’ll find all the information you’ll need to prepare for your first year on campus.
We created helpful to-do lists for all populations. Find your checklist below.
Transfer New Student Checklist
Spring (First-Year & Transfer) New Student Checklist
Graduate New Student Checklist
New Parent & Family Checklist
You did it—you’re #ButlerBound! After you receive your admission decision, these are your next steps in the enrollment process.
Your online decision letter is available on your student status page. Viewing the online decision letter will give you access to other important status page activities, like replying to your offer of admission—which must be done before you pay your enrollment deposit—and registering for admitted student visits.
To do this, log in to your student status page and navigate to the Status Update section. Click View Update.
We encourage all families to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at studentaid.gov. The federal formula takes several factors into account and many families mistakenly self-select themselves out of the financial aid process, missing the opportunity to explore all aid programs available, including Butler University aid. Use school code: 001788.
Due to the FAFSA Simplification Act, the 2024-2025 FAFSA will not become available to families until December 2023. We encourage families to complete the FAFSA as soon as possible once it becomes available. March 1, 2024 is Butler’s Priority FAFSA Deadline.
More information about completing the FAFSA is available here.
Admission visits are an important step in the college search, particularly as you near the end of your decision-making process. We offer a number of exclusive visit options—including both on-campus and virtual options—designed specifically for our #ButlerBound students and their families. Schedule your campus visit here.
You will use your Butler Network Account throughout your time as a student. As an incoming student, this account will grant you access to your My.Butler student portal, your financial aid notification, online bill status, housing information, and more.
You will receive your Butler username and email address about one week after you’re admitted. Instructions for establishing a password for the first time are available here. You must establish your password before you will be able to access Butler sites.
Don’t want to check multiple email accounts? You can forward your Butler email to your primary email account.
Information about preparing your technology for campus, the Butler App, smartphone email set up instructions, and more is available at Information Technology’s Quick Start for Admitted Students resource.
Financial Aid Offers will be released on a rolling basis beginning in March 2024. Admitted students will be able to view all financial aid items in our Student Financial Planning tool.
Students can access the Student Financial Planning tool from My.Butler under Academic Tools. Please be sure to review all Pending items in red on the Home page, and review any red numbered notification badges in the navigation header. Check back regularly to be sure that you don’t have anything pending, and watch for your financial aid notification to become available.
Students can grant their parents access to Student Financial Planning, too! Additional instructions on how to navigate your Student Financial Planning tool or grant your parent or guardian access are available here.
To officially reserve your place at Butler University, submit your $500 enrollment deposit by May 1, 2024, National Candidates Reply Date. This deposit is refundable with written request submitted prior to May 1. To avoid bank processing delays, we recommend paying with a credit card instead of a debit card or check.
To pay your deposit:
- Log in to your student status page and navigate to Status Update. Select View Update.
- Select Reply to Offer of Admission under the Forms section. Complete and submit the form.
- From your status page, select Submit Payment for $500. Complete and submit the form.
- Verify your addresses on the main status page. If anything is listed incorrectly, you can correct it by selecting Edit Addresses.
Once you’ve made things official, it’s time to start preparing for your first year on campus.
Completing placement exams is a required task for New Student Registration and for enrollment. Results are for placement purposes only, and your academic advisor will share them with you during your academic advising appointment when discussing appropriate courses to fit your academic plan. Placement exams become available to incoming first-year students in early February 2024. Students who finish the required placement exams by April 1, 2024 will be included in the first group to move through the New Student Registration process.
You will gain access to required placement exams soon after receipt of your $500 enrollment deposit, and will receive additional information about the process at that point in time. Reference your To Do List on My.Butler, where any required placement exams will be listed. We recommend completing placement exams within two weeks of gaining access to ensure an efficient advising process.
The housing application will be available beginning March 15, 2024. Your $500 enrollment deposit must be submitted and processed in order to access the housing application. You will receive instructions to complete the online application via email.
Housing assignments and preferences are not based on when you pay the enrollment deposit and/or complete the housing application. We do encourage you to complete the housing application before May 5, 2024. Housing application changes, including roommate requests, can be made until June 1. Building and roommate assignments will be emailed beginning July 8 and specific move-in times will be assigned and emailed in August. For more information, visit the Housing and Dining website.
New Student Registration is an important milestone in the new student journey. During New Student Registration, you’ll have a virtual appointment with your academic advisor, schedule your first semester of classes, and learn more about your academic college. Your advising appointment will be held with the College of your primary major.
Students who submit the $500 enrollment deposit and have completed all required placement exams will have access to the New Student Registration process beginning in April 2024. Students must complete all required placement exams before an appointment can be scheduled.
Butler’s First-Year Seminar (FYS) introduces students to a topic of their choice from over 40 different subjects. It also provides new Butler students with a close-knit community of first-years who will be seminar companions in a small class cohort. Taught by faculty members from disciplines across the University, your FYS group will also work with the same professor all year.
Spend a few minutes reviewing First-Year Seminar course topics before you complete your Pre-New Student Registration Survey. You will be asked to list courses you are interested in as a part of that survey.
A Pre-New Student Registration survey will be sent to both your personal and Butler email address in advance of your New Student Registration advising appointment. Your responses provide your advisor the opportunity to pre-register you for classes that you’ll need to take during your first semester. Pre-registration can help streamline the advising appointment.
Complete this survey before your advising appointment.
Beginning in April, students with completed placement exams will receive emailed instructions to access the New Student Registration Canvas Course. This course can be completed online and is an important way to learn more about the advising process at Butler and your academic college.
Complete this course before your advising appointment.
The summer before your first semester on campus will be a busy one. Make sure to regularly check your Butler email address as we will send you important reminders and tasks throughout the months leading up to Orientation.
Butler offers many great resources for new students and families. Take time to review the New Family Checklist to get yourself acquainted with available resources.
There are a number of health requirements for new incoming students, including a physical exam, immunization records, health questionnaires, and proof of health insurance. Required documentation for incoming first-year students is due August 1. Learn more on the Health Services website.
COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement
Butler University is no longer requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for all students, faculty, and staff, but strongly recommends receiving the series/boosters. You can find a vaccination clinic near you and schedule an appointment through the CDC website.
Please arrange to have your final high school transcript submitted electronically to admission@butler.edu or mailed by your high school to the Office of Admission with your date of graduation listed. Please complete this step by August 1 prior to enrollment.
Mail to:
Butler University
Office of Admission
4600 Sunset Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46208
If you are taking AP exams, please request that your scores be sent to Butler. If you took dual-credit courses, please request your transcript from the college that offered the dual-credit course(s).
Students who applied with self-reported test scores are required to submit verified scores by August 1, prior to enrollment.
The test scores requiring verification are listed on your student status page. Your test scores must be sent directly to the Office of Admission from ACT or the College Board, or from your high school counselor. If your high school lists ACT/SAT scores on your final high school transcript, we can also use those for verification purposes.
The testing agencies can submit your test scores electronically or mail them to the Office of Admission. Your high school counselor can email materials to admission@butler.edu.
The Office of Student Accounts publishes the electronic billing statements in July for the fall semester and December for the spring semester. Visit the Student Accounts website for information about the billing process, payment plans, and additional services.
Your out-of-pocket cost has been calculated in your Financial Aid Notification. If you need additional assistance to cover educational expenses, Butler offers financing options to invest in your education. The payment plan, Federal Direct PLUS Loan, and Private Education Loans are available regardless of financial aid eligibility.
Refer to your Financial Aid Notification or click here for more information on financing options.
Evaluate your options to pay the bill by July 1.
According to federal regulations, scholarships received from any organization are considered a resource available to meet your financial aid eligibility. As a financial aid recipient, a student must report all outside scholarships from sources other than the federal, state, and University programs.
Outside Scholarship Information
- Outside scholarship funds will be used to pay for your family responsibility (out-of-pocket expenses).
- Adjustments in aid may occur if all need-based assistance exceeds financial aid eligibility, the total of all tuition-specific awards exceeds the cost of tuition, or the value of all awards exceeds the total cost of attendance.
- Students are responsible for following up with the scholarship donor to make sure the funds are sent directly to the Office of Financial Aid in a timely manner.
- Checks must be properly endorsed to ensure the appropriate credit to the student’s account.
- Scholarships in the amount of $500 or more will be split evenly between the fall and spring semesters.
Outside scholarships should be reported by sending a copy of the scholarship letter to the Office of Financial Aid. Report any outside scholarships as received.
Butler collects emergency information from all students twice a year. To verify your contact information, read these instructions. There will be a hold placed on your account that blocks registration until you complete this process. Verify your contact information soon to remove the hold.
Order or rent your books. You can either pick them up when you arrive on campus or have them shipped to your home ahead of time. You can also purchase your books by logging into your My.Butler portal and following the instructions provided on your To Do list.
You will need to provide all personal items, bed linens, and towels. Additional items that you might bring include: alarm clock, bedspread, television, computer, Ethernet cord, laundry supplies, shower bucket, plants, fan, simple eating and cooking utensils, desk lamp, stereo/radio with headphones, stationery and stamps, and storage crates.
Butler’s recommended packing list can be found here and more information on the move-in process can be found here.