Planning for course registration

Making decisions about where to enroll in college should include a deep dive into specific major coursework and university general education requirements. Here are a list of tasks for undergraduate students to compare and contrast campuses and to prepare for first term class registration.

1. Review the college General Catalog for various college-specific information.
2. Determine if you will be required to take placement exams before you can enroll in classes.
3. Familiarize yourself with General Education (GE) requirements and other. Consider areas outside of your major that you may want to explore that also meet GE requirements.
4. Read and understand the course requirements for specific major(s) and possible minor(s). Determine the order in which major courses should be completed.
5. Review required prerequisite courses or special granted permissions for any class you plan to take now or in the future.
6. Know how and if you can transfer in credits. If you have taken AP or IB exams, or courses at another college or university, you will want to know if you get credit for them, and how it will impact your academic requirements.
7. Check if the campus has required First-Year / Freshman seminars or classes.
8. Preview the campus bookstore. Learn which book formats are available (new, used, rental or digital versions) and note current book prices. If available early, review course required and optional textbooks, supplies or materials.
9. Note if your campus has term enrollment limitations that limits the number of course units or course load you can enroll in each term.
10. Know what the campus expects and provides for students who have challenges with completing enrollment due to full classes. Is there a 2nd enrollment appointment? Do students need to try to add classes first day instruction?
11. Find out how the campus handles course waitlist.  A waitlist is a list that students can join and wait for open seats in a class. If all the seats in a class have been filled, students may be able to join the waitlist. If a student in the class drops, a seat may open up that could be filled by a student on the waitlist.

Also, don’t forget to do these tasks before you register:

1. Attend orientation and/or speak to a college academic advisor. Some campuses provide new students with a recommended first term schedule of classes.
2. Learn when will you be notified of your enrollment appointment time. Most campuses offer students a short window of time to register for classes. You will need to mark this date and time on your calendar and be ready to complete your schedule during the determined time.
3. Check if your student account has any “holds.” If you have holds, contact the office that placed the hold to get it removed.
4. Look for provided scheduling tools that can help students plan classes. For example:

• • projected course schedule
  • academic department/program advising
  • schedule planner