Registering for Classes 101

One of the most daunting parts of college is not finals, nor making new friends, nor dealing with the winter weather. The scariest part is ~registering for classes~ I still get (unnecessarily) nervous about getting into the classes I want as a senior. Here is my guide to making it less scary.

Decide what to take in advance

As a first year, everyone has a liberal-arts advisor. This is usually your A&I professor, and their goal is basically to encourage you to explore courses. My favorite approach for the first year is taking one class that is in something you could see yourself majoring, one class that is something you are unfamiliar with and maybe would not otherwise consider, and one class to fill a liberal-arts requirement. At the end of your sophomore year, you will have declared a major and will be assigned an advisor within your major. Their goal is to make sure you finish your major on time.

However, having an assigned advisor doesn’t mean you can’t talk to other professors about what courses to take! The best decision I have made is to engage with professors outside my major.

Save your schedule in Workday

This, I don’t know how to describe. The platform that we use to register for classes has a feature where you can save a schedule and then when it is your registration slot, you click one button and are instantly registered for all the classes on the list.

Have a backup plan

If you think that one of your desired courses will be more popular, find another class that you would be happy to take instead. That way you don’t have to panic when it’s your registration slot, but the course you wanted is already full. It’ll give you some piece of mind and make the process way smoother.

Explore outside your major!

I like to load up my schedule, so my advisor is usually reigning me back in (that didn’t stop me from auditing a language class though). Make sure to take some wildcard classes solely because they sound fun. Not every class should be within or related to your major! Exploring different subjects will make you more well-rounded. I explored outside my major and now I am applying for grad school in that subject instead of biology. Academic exploration could change your life for the better!

ALSO, start taking those PE courses early on! I really wish I finished my PE requirement during my sophomore year so I didn’t have to worry about it now as a senior.

Email the professor

Worst case scenario, you are placed on the waitlist for a course that you really wanted to get into. This isn’t the end of the world. Reach out to the professor and let them know that you’re still interested! It helps if you are able to show up on the first day of class and reach out again at the start of the term. I have gotten off of every single waitlist that I was on by doing this (even when I was 9th on the list).

A final word of advice: don’t worry about always choosing the perfect class schedule. Just try your best and try new things.

Ronnie (they/she/he) is a senior Biology major from Oak Park, IL. Outside of blogging, she is also an Admissions tour guide and a Student Ambassador for Alumni Relations. You can usually find them in Cowling Gymnasium with the Ballroom Dance Team, practicing for the next competition or chatting with teammates. They also have very strong opinions about food on campus (especially LDC eggs and Burton fried tofu). She is also the commodore of  Carleton’s sailing club and a DJ for KRLX, the student run radio station.