Registration is less than week away and I could feel the anxiety across campus. It feels like it hasn’t even been a month since we were registering for this semester’s classes and before I could even get settled in I’m already being asked what I plan on doing next. Without proper planning the stress from all of your current classes combined with the stresses of having to organize a whole new schedule you may be setting yourself up for mayhem. There are so many different things that affect registering that you are going to need to follow a few steps in order for it to run smoothly
1. Check to see if You have any holds on your account.
Before registration, there is a hold on everyone’s account. It cannot be removed unless your schedule is approved by your advisor so make sure you make up a schedule early and bring it to them because it may take a day or two. And waiting until the last minute can sabotage your chances of getting the classes you wanted. Also aside from that hold, having unpaid tuition, loans that haven’t gone through, or any parking tickets, etc. can prevent you from being able to register so make sure you check this early on so you have time to sort things out before its time to sign up.
2. Make sure you don’t sign up for too many difficult classes together.
I know this may be hard depending on your major, but it’s always good to have at least one class you feel confident won’t be too difficult. This will give you more time to focus on your harder classes. It’s better to get good grades in a few hard classes than to try and get all of your hard classes over with at once so you can slack off as a senior.
3. Make three alternate schedules.
Because you probably will only get two out of the five classes you wanted. This will help you avoid scrambling at 7 a.m. trying to find classes that will fit and ending up with the one professor who has 17 out of 20 spots open because he got a D on RateMyProfessor.
4. Get a good nights sleep the night before so you wake up on time.
Especially if you’re a underclassman its critical you wake up at 6:30 a.m. and wait on your computer because you only have about 10 seconds to put in those CRN numbers and claim your place. This isn’t to say that juniors and seniors shouldn’t wake up early either because you know all those juniors and seniors in your major are going to be fighting to get into those required clasess with only one section avaialble.