First-Year Writing Requirement (FYWR). The goal of the First-Year Writing Requirement is to prepare students for the type of writing most often assigned and valued in University classes.

The First-Year Writing Requirement should be completed in the first year with a minimum grade of C— and must be satisfied before electing a class to satisfy the Upper-Level Writing Requirement. Advanced Placement (AP) credit is not equivalent to the FYWR.

Overall learning goals for students are as follows:

  • produce complex, analytic, well-supported arguments that matter in academic contexts;
  • read, summarize, analyze, and synthesize complex texts purposefully in order to generate and support writing;
  • demonstrate an awareness of the strategies that writers use in different rhetorical situations;
  • develop flexible strategies for organizing, revising, editing, and proofreading writing of varying lengths to improve development of ideas and appropriateness of expression; and
  • collaborate with peers and the instructor to define revision strategies for particular pieces of writing, to set goals for improving writing, and to devise effective plans for achieving those goals. 

First-Year Writing Requirement courses offered for a particular semester can be found by using the advanced search function in the LSA Course Guide and selecting “first-year writing” under the "Other Requirements/Groupings" feature.

Students who seek a more individualized and gradual introduction to college writing, may want to take SWC 100: Transition to College Writing (offered by the Sweetland Writing Center) before a First-Year Writing Requirement course. This course provides intensive one-on-one feedback on writing assignments, as well as the creation of an electronic portfolio, which enables students to integrate technology into their learning and reflect upon their development as writers.

Transfer students who have completed writing courses at another college or university may be able to use those courses to satisfy the First-Year Writing Requirement. The list of currently approved and non-approved courses is available at: www.lsa.umich.edu/swc/undergrads/transfer. This webpage also provides information on what steps to take if the transfer course is not on either list.

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LSA Bulletin