tributes! Are you ready?
We rise to the platform, glance at our fellow competitors and exchange silent salutes while fearfully anticipating the bang to set us off on the embark to the cornucopia. However, instead of the cornucopia, it’s logging into GOLD- the keeper of courses. I regard Pass One as the most intense year of the Hunger Games to date. Katniss and Peta had it easy. Just 24 tributes? PLEASE! At UCSB, competition is fierce with 24,000+ students awaiting the sound of the cannon to take charge. It’s stressful and it’s unpredictable, but it’s not hopeless.
Where to begin
If you’re looking for the perfect schedule, the best course of action is a well-thought-out strategy. The tributes from Districts One and Two did NOT go in without planning ahead well, and neither should you.
Tip #1: Know the registration timeline
UCSB posts the registration Pass Times for all quarters at the beginning of the year on their Office of the Registrar website under the “Registration” tab, where you can then click on “Registration Pass Times”. Confused about where to look? Click here.
Knowing your pass time is the most valuable piece of information for constructing your strategy. Make sure you plan ahead and set an alarm in your phone 5 minutes before that cannon goes off. You don’t want to be left standing on the platform while the other competitors take all the cornucopia goods, leaving you defenseless. Also, pass times let you know exactly where you are in the virtual queue, or, for lack of better words- the hierarchy.
the ways of gold
Yes, there is a GOLD hierarchy. Students with more credits and/or upperclassmen have priority, as they should. We all pay our dues, people. No need for despair though! No matter your place in the GOLD line of order, there is a way to secure those necessary courses.
Tip #2: Plan ahead & save things to your cart
GOLD just added a new feature allowing you to play around with what your schedule will look like using courses saved to your cart! All you have to do is click “cart weekly view” and GOLD will generate a blank schedule where you can select and deselect from courses you saved in your cart. This is a super helpful tool that can help you visualize each potential schedule arrangement you’re considering and also help you recognize time conflicts. Aside from the new tool, I cannot stress enough the importance of allocating the necessary time to selecting, saving, and determining early on which classes you want to add during each specific pass time, a strategy I discuss below.
Tip #3: Have at least 2-3 backups for each class you need
This is not always possible for those who need specific courses, such as the chem sequence, math/science courses, or lower-division prerequisites for your major/minor which have no course alternatives. However, for those classes that aren’t set in stone, know that most majors (and even some minors) have a pre-approved course substitution sheet. Pre-approved course substitutions are classes your major/minor department has already approved to be petitioned to apply to your degree. Essentially, they’re an extra major sheet with various courses not listed on your major/minor sheet for you to choose from. Be aware that your department may have a limit on the number of courses permitted to count to your degree; I recommend clarifying with them before diving head first.
For those all-or-nothing courses, be smart about these by looking at class size, enrollment history, and the time the course takes place.
Class Size, Enrollment History & Times (what to know)
1.Class sizedetermineswhich pass time you should add the course to your schedule. For those of us who are upper-classmen, we remember the days when Pass One allowed us to enroll in 12 units, but those days are OVER. I often save big classes for Pass Two (sometimes even Three). A class with 300+ spaces may fill up a decent amount especially if there is a section you need; however these rarely fill up immediately in the first go unless they’re insanely competitive. If you’re still worried, that’s where enrollment history comes in.
2. When you click on a class, you can tap “course info” and on the left column at the bottom is “enrollment history.” This tells you which quarters this course is offered, which is THE BEST TOOL for planning far ahead, especially if you need an extremely competitive course that’s not offered often.
3. Enrollment history also gives you a comparison between the class size and the number of those who actually enroll. This way you can get a feel of how full the class will truly get when deciding if you should add it during Pass One or Two.
4. Usually when two lectures are offered for the same course, the 8 A.M. class will NOT fill up first. If you’re an early bird, maybe hold off on those 8 A.M. classes until next pass, because those are almost always the last to go.
Keep your eyes open (You see the Hunger games x T-swift reference??)
Another tip is to NEVER commit 100% to an alliance with a course you selected within those first few hectic moments after your pass time opened. Go back and check each day, even multiple times a day during your Pass Time to check if that massive lecture you were saving for Pass Two or Pass Three still has adequate space for the next rounds to make it to Pass Two. If not, you may have to do some tinkering to your schedule. You’ll notice as the days go on and other students’ pass times occur that some classes are more in demand, and the one you thought was gonna be hot, was actually not. This is exactly why you have multiple days for each pass time. USE THEM!
Closing tips
I could write a novel on GOLD at this point from all I’ve discovered over the years. Overall: plan ahead, save classes to your cart, have back-ups, get in the second GOLD opens, and check the class size and demand through enrollment history. Lastly, remember the rest of these students are just like you—most don’t jump for joy for an 8 A.M.
Good luck fellow tributes, and may the odds be ever in your favor.