When it comes to registration, students always struggle with their confusion and uncertainties. It always seems to be a challenge. Most issues lie in getting an appointment with an advisor, getting the first pick of classes, or even just knowing when registration occurs.

Every year a single email is sent during the fall semester to say it is time to register for spring. At this point, students are barely halfway through their current semester. The stress and anxiety of balancing classes and thinking about the ones for next semester can overwhelm any student. Normally, the first thing to do is shoot your advisor an email so you can try to register at your priority date. However, a lot of advisors will direct you to Starfish which adds another step to the process.

Starfish is a website through Pace that allows you to make appointments with advisors. Sometimes it is tricky to navigate on your own and so students do not end up scheduling an appointment. They tell themselves that they will just email their advisor again but then never get around to it. If you are able to get an appointment with an advisor, even if it is not your original one, that’s great. However, there are still steps to take before you meet.

I know for me, when I have met with advisors in the past, some either try to make a schedule for you, or do the opposite and give you all free range. Both cases make it hard to navigate, and you feel pressured to pick classes right then and there. A good idea would be to plan out your schedule ahead of time and make a list of back up-classes. Then you don’t need to fully rely on your advisor as much.

There is a yellow sheet that you can get from your advisor or print on your own, that tells you all of the courses you need to graduate. This sheet is really helpful to have on paper because you can write on it and use it as a guide for the rest of your time here. It shows what you took and what you still need to take. Then, you can log into your Pace portal and click on schedule and registration. There you can search all the courses on your sheet as well as any other courses offered. They will tell you a summary of the class, when it runs and what the prerequisites are. This is a good way to play around and make a few schedules to see what works best. Some classes are only offered on certain days and times, so you could even make that a base schedule and work around it. When registration starts, you can go back online and see how many seats are already filled so you know what to expect. Then it might be time to get your backup schedules ready.  

Once you’ve completed your own version of schedules, make an appointment to see your advisor and then all they have to do is sign you up. Hopefully they can also offer guidance and suggestions if you have any questions.

It’s always stressful when you have to decide your next set of classes during the middle of your current semester. Hopefully some of these tips and tricks I’ve learned from fellow classmates along the way, can help.