#class registration

12.02.20 | 12:33 PM [...technically]

So it’s actually been quite a day since I took this photo. My Wednesday was purely defined by the fact that I had class registration at 4:30 PM and then a closing shift for work starting an hour later. Registering for classes is usuallyyy less messy, but as a student switching majors + seeing waitlists fill up to more than 50 students... lemme just give thanks to the existence of the french press and oh no it’s nina (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ

Day 2: The Winter Studying Challenge

🌨️ December 2nd - What is your favorite thing about winter? 🌨️

I’ve been wanting to make this post for awhile -- here it finally is!

For any college students or incoming college students reading this, you know or will soon know the pain and stress that is registering for next term’s classes. :’-) I developed this system my sophomore year and it has not only been the most effective, but also the most successful in getting the classes I need. Of course, every school does their registration process differently, so I’ll briefly explain how my university does it before continuing.

About halfway through each term, registration rolls around for the upcoming term. There are 8 brackets for each year (fr/so/jr/sr) categorized by last name. For example, my last name starts with a C so I fall in the Junior A-C bracket. Each of the brackets has a set time that their registration period opens, and it’s important that you register as soon as your bracket is allowed to register as classes and sections will fill up fast. This is especially true for classes with good meeting times (i.e., not 8-am’s), or classes that are split up over 2-3 days as opposed to having one 3-hour lecture. 

As a sophomore I tried to create 2-3 schedules in the event certain classes filled up before I could register for them, and I highly recommend you also do this if you’re an underclassmen. However, now that I’m a junior/rising senior, I register before a lot of students and am more guaranteed to get the classes I want. 

Now, for the important part: how to stay organized! This is done on Microsoft OneNote, but it can be easily translated into whatever you want to use, whether that be GoodNotes or Google Docs or even a physical notebook.

My general system:

1. If you get given a registration PIN or something similar, write it at the top under the semester you're registering for. That way if you have to go back and change classes or drop them, you have it in an easy-to-access location.

2. Write out all the details of your classes -- including the full name, course code, credits, meeting dates/times, and CRN’s. This helps you fully see if you got everything you need for the next semester.

3. Visualize your classes using colored blocks on a weekly agenda. This helps you see when you’ll have free time, how long you’ll be in class, and which days are your “heavy” days. 

4. Keep your CRNs on an end-column of your table. I do this because I copy and paste my CRNs from my table to my registration page, and it’s easiest if it’s on the end so I don’t have to worry about accidentally copying something else in the rush of registration.

5. Be ready to think on your toes if one of your classes gets full before you can register for it. I used to have several schedules set up because usually only one or two classes will fill up, as opposed to every single one. Account for this.

Most importantly: take deep breaths! You can always talk to your advisor if something goes wrong and they can help you get on waitlists and adjust your schedule so you get what you need. Be open to early morning or late night classes, I found I actually don’t mind evening classes after being forced into one. College is about figuring out how you function best in school, so be open to change and try to go with the flow -- not everything is going to be perfect.

Just a few things to keep in mind when choosing + registering for classes in university. I tried to keep the advice general because every university will have their own way of running things, but I hope this helps someone!

Have a copy of your program/degree requirements handy. These are your #1 priority. These should be available somewhere on your university’s website but, if you can’t find it, email an academic adviser. (Basically, if you’re ever confused about anything, talk to an academic adviser! You can email them or set up an appointment. Some might have drop-in appointments at certain times of the year too.)

First year is usually full of a bunch of prerequisites/requirements for your degree, so you may not have as much choice. If you’re taking less than a full course load, for example, make sure you have the necessary prerequisite classes for classes you must take the next year.

Not everyone takes a full course load. Do what suits you best. Consider how much time you’ll need to invest in each class (Does your class have a 3 hour lab portion? Is your class known to be difficult? Have you always struggled with the subject?). If you are better off taking 3 or 4 classes and getting good grades than taking 5 classes and failing/almost failing, then go for it. 

If you don’t take a full course load you will have to complete those other classes at another time. You may have to do summer classes or even take an extra year. Keep in mind what is financially plausible for you (i.e. take summer classes if you can’t afford living away for an extra year). If you are taking summer classes, keep in mind that your options will be limited (so summer is actually a good time to take electives).

As much as your program allows, try to take a variety of classes in first and second year. You don’t want to get to fourth year and suddenly realize you have a passion for one of your electives and could care less about your classes for your major. I took psych in my first year on a whim and now I’m a psychology major!

Plan your classes carefully if you decide to do a double major! I was going to a bio + psych double major (I ultimately to go with psych b/c I narrowed down my goals) and during that time I had my classes carefully planned out. If you’re not sure about something, talk to someone who does know! For example, I needed a certain number of upper level science electives. I talked to an adviser and found out that my bio classes counted as upper level science classes for my psych degree and vice versa. However, she said for double majors that are more similar, like geography and environmental science, the classes didn’t count as credit for both so students would have to take additional classes to fulfill that requirement.

Check out ratemyprof.com and talk to students who have already taken the class. In my experience most professors are awesome -- even if you don’t connect with their personality they still teach fine and are enthusiastic about their subject -- but there’s always one prof who is rude or makes learning suck. Take everything you hear with a grain of salt. Often the people ready to complain about a professor are the ones who did receive a bad mark or had issues with the prof.

Make note of which building/floor each of your classes will be. If your uni is small this might not be as much of a worry, but if you go to a bigger university make sure you have enough time to get to your next class! And don’t tell yourself “oh ya it’s far away but if I run I can get there on time,” because you won’t run (trust me) and this won’t work if campus is busy, weather conditions are bad, etc.

If you still can’t decide which classes to take, learn as much as you can about classes. Talk to upper year students, find a copy of the syllabus online (I google something like “myuniversity CHEM 101 syllabus”), find past class averages online (I think some universities are required to release this info it might just take some searching), etc.

If you’re planning ahead for classes, make sure you know when each class is offered! My university is smaller so most classes are only offered once a year or even every other year. You don’t want to have a plan and then realize all of the classes you want to take are only offered in the first semester.

Make a few mock schedules before your registration. On the off chance some of the classes you want are full when you register you want to have a plan B ready. It’s easier to have a complete back-up schedule than trying to fill in the gaps in an incomplete schedule when spots are filling up. Of course, once you’re registered in a somewhat decent schedule it’s always good to take a second look and see if you can switch things around to make your schedule better.

Be ready for your registration time. This means log on to your student account a little bit before your registration opens up. When your time hits, refresh till it’s open and register ASAP (I can just click a “register all” button -- make sure you know how your uni’s system works).

If you can’t get into a class you need email or talk to an academic adviser as soon as possible and register on the wait list (if there is one). An adviser will be able to help you the most. They may recommend you attend class for the first week in case someone drops the class.

In terms of wait lists, your school may open up more spots in the class if there are enough people on the wait list (and if there is enough physical space in the classroom). Otherwise, if someone drops the class, the first person on the wait list will automatically registered in the class. I’ve also had classes where you aren’t automatically added -- they’ll send you an email if a spot opens up and it’s up to you to actually register. If this is the case or there is no wait list, check up on the class every day to see if a spot opens up (fun fact: I got a spot in a virology class at 1 am because of this).

Disclaimer: This post is based on my experience in at SCAD where we take 3 classes a week and run on a quarter system (10 weeks per quarter: 3 quarters = 1 academic year). 

Incoming Freshman (Welcome!)

I just wanted to let you know that for your first quarter, you will not choose your own schedule. The sign-up process is a bit difficult and the advisors assign you all classes to minimize mistakes and also they tend to group you in a single class with your roommates and neighbors. You’ll be taking a class called First Year Experience (FYE) and it meets just once a week and you essential learn the in and outs of how SCAD works. You may hear that it’s a waste of time from older students but really it is such a good resource because your teacher is one of the advisors and they will teach you how to sign up for classes and how to access the different pages on mySCAD.

THINK EARLY

Plan out what you want to take weeks before registration! Look through your required classes, SCAD Pro Advisor, and even take a visit to your academic advisor. Registrations will happen in order of Grad Students and Athletes, Seniors, Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshmen. And within those, you’ll be organized among your peers by academic hours completed. [To find SCAD Pro Advisor: Log into mySCAD > Student Workspace Tab > Student Toolkit Channel > It’ll be listed under the title ‘Courses and Academic Resources’ > SCAD Pro Advisor]

Don’t be afraid of early classes. Through my own experience, I actually enjoy having 8 am classes. Not because I like waking up that early, but because I’m able to start my day and get more done which is convenient for my outside of class requirements, job, and I can still have free time for friends. It’s not for everyone, and it’s not always easy but try it out once. I work better in earlier classes but some of my friends work better in evening classes. Just know that most classes, save for some architecture, interior design, and film classes, are 2.5 hours, meet twice a week, and start at 8 am, 11 am, 2 pm, 5 pm, and some foundation courses are also at 8 pm. 

CHECK THE PREREQUISITES. You can’t go wrong by visiting your academic advisor to make sure you take classes in an order that will benefit you best. Especially if you want to graduate early or you changed your major. Just sign up for an appointment early because it does fill up close to the course registration dates. Also know that if you want to attend one of the abroad campuses in Hong Kong or Lacoste, France, you will need to plan 3 quarters minimum ahead because of the signup processes. It’s an amazing program (I’m writing this from France :D ) but not every course can be offered each quarter so it’s best to plan ahead so you don’t accidentally take something on your home campus in Atlanta, Savannah, or Hong Kong.

Give yourself enough time to get to class. There are only 30 minutes between classes so if you don’t own a car or the building you’re going to has limited parking spaces it may prove stressful but it is doable. Ex) This last quarter I had an 11 am and then a 2 pm class that was about 7 minutes away by car but the building my first class is in rarely has an empty spot so I would have to walk back home, get lunch, and drive to class within those 30 minutes. I’d make it to class early so it’s doable but know your comfortable stress levels when it comes to transportation. 

Registration Day!!

 If you have the SCAD app, use it to register. You are able to pre-save the course you want, and once your registration time starts all you have to do is select the classes and hit submit. You can save a lot of classes so if you need to, you can save multiple options just in case something fills up. As a freshman, I don’t remember it being an option so I would write out all the codes on paper and the general class info.

Start checking for your registration time around week 3-5 on mySCAD. Set an alarm and make sure you don’t miss your time to give you the best chance to get the classes you need. Sometimes registration is described as the Hunger Games because there are so few spots in some courses.  *the fasted I ever registered was less than a minute and one of the courses I got was full after a few minutes.

Embody Santa’s habit. Check your registered class list twice after you’re finished.The worst thing is to realize you signed up for an online class when you wanted one on campus or you signed up for a course offered on a different campus than the one you’re on. 

Something Go Wrong?

“Registrations will happen in order of Grad Students and Athletes, Seniors, Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshmen. And within those, you’ll be organized among your peers by academic hours completed.” That being said, try to have multiple sections of a class you’re happy to take, or completely different types of schedules just in case the class(es) you want fills up before you get to sign up. 

Waitlist! It’s not fun to realize that the class you wanted is full so consider the waitlist. There are only 5 spots available and because it’s a waitlist, no guarantees can be made that you’ll get in but it is an option available. It’s come to my saving before, just make sure to be checking your email as that is how the system will notify you that a spot has opened for you.