It’s almost registration time! Here are five tips to help you breeze through the whole process.
1. Be on your computer when registration opens.
Set your alarm for ten minutes before 8 a.m. so you can turn on your laptop and prep to access Portal. It’s tempting to hit snooze, but having your computer ready to go can be the key to landing your perfect schedule. This is especially essential for first years, since many popular courses are almost full by the time registration opens.
2. Register for your favorite courses first.
If a course looks cool to you, chances are it looks cool to everyone else. Don’t wait to register! This is especially true for Maymester: in only a few hours, every open spot for a course can disappear.
3. Take the pre-requisites for the majors/minors you’re serious about pursuing.
Maybe you know you want to major in Biology, but you’re not sure whether you want to minor in Psychology or History. Go through the Course Catalog and find out the prerequisite courses for each. At Chatham, most major and minor courses have one or two critical prerequisites: taking them early gives you maximum flexibility later. Plus, those 100-levels will give you a good sense of what areas of study you actually want to pursue.
4. Spread your required courses out over four years.
By the time you’re a senior, you’ll want a bit of scheduling flexibility (especially with Tutorial). Make sure to space out the core curriculum. This is essential for Wellness courses: despite the fact that each is about an hour, two or three times per week, they’re usually only 1 or 2 credits. They’ll eat up a lot of your schedule if you take them all at once, but they won’t get you close to the minimum number of credits for full-time enrollment. Plan carefully!
5. Leave room for fun.
Will every awesome course fulfill a requirement? No. But don’t let that stop you from taking them! When you graduate, some of the most incredible courses will be the ones you didn’t have to take; embrace the opportunity to study outside of your major and create an academic experience that’s totally your own.