It’s that time of the semester again, class registration. Some see this as an exciting time where they get to create a new daily schedule for themselves, while others look at this day as extremely stressful. Regardless of how you’re feeling about the upcoming spring registration, here are the steps and tips to consider thinking about in order to get yourself completely prepared.
1. Meet with your advisorIt is important to not forget to do this! Your advisor is the one who has your pin that is needed in order to log in and register for your classes. Forgetting to get your pin will take time away from the time you would be using to register, as you will have to go down to the library and wait for them to retrieve it. Make sure to email your advisor a few weeks in advance to set up a time to meet with them. Keep in mind, your advisor is going to be receiving emails from every one of his students so their last concern is going to be to try to track you down to have this meeting.
2. Do your researchMany fail to realize how beneficial it is to ask around about certain classes and teachers. Get even more prepared by asking other students the difficulty levels of different classes as well as the teachers who teach them. You’d be surprised how many people will be quick in telling you to avoid some classes or to even give you an alternative for that class, but just with a different teacher.
3. Have a list of classes readyThis is probably the most important step when it comes to registering. These classes are first come, first serve. As you sit down to register, you want to make sure you have a list of all the classes and times you want to try to get into. It is important to not only have this list prepared, but to also have a few backup classes for each subject just in case you find your first pick to be full.
4. Stay calm during registrationIt can be extremely overwhelming and frustrating when you go to sign up for a certain class and you see that it is full. Don’t panic when this happens. Just simply resort to your next choice for that class and keep going. It’s important to remember to not waste time and to just get yourself in the proper amount of courses. A way to make registration a little less stressful is to go to the library during your time slot. There are always people ready to help you with any questions or difficulties you may have during this process. Lastly, don’t worry if you walk out of registration unhappy with your upcoming schedule. What you may forget to realize is that people’s schedules change. This means that as the next semester approaches, other students will continue to be adding and dropping classes. Make sure to watch out for this, as your favorite class that you found to be full during registration now has an open slot!