Perhaps one of the biggest differences between college and high school is having to register for classes every new semester or quarter, depending on what system your school uses, instead of locking down your classes for the whole year. Registration is based on seniority generally so freshmen generally end up being the last ones to choose. Everyone is trying to get the classes they need to graduate so the earlier your registration the better chance you have at getting all the classes you need to stay on track. It’s a free for all.
Some universities provide freshmen with a bit more advantage than others in other words some universities acknowledge standing and give earlier registration dates to freshmen with more credits than the average freshmen. Of course there are also universities who don’t acknowledge standing and make all freshmen register on the same day. The latter universities have an effect on their students and their perception of their college careers.
A friend of mine goes to a university in which she has sophomore standing in terms of her credits, much like I do, but unlike me did not get considered a sophomore for registration purposes. Luck was not on her side and her time was incredibly late on the last day of registration. Her panic was easy for me to read in our messages and it was my task to try and reassure her that everything was alright. She would of course end up with some classes that would still be useful to her.
She was very adamant that there was nothing to be done and that she was about to waste the following quarter. She wasn’t the only friend I had who was thinking along those lines either and it made me think about just how intense registration gets.
Everyone sits on their laptops with the course catalog open in a window and whatever method they use to register for classes. They watch both the classes they want fill up and the clock counting down to their registration time. It’s hectic and it’s emotionally exhausting especially when it seems as if the classes you want are about to become completely unavailable. People deal with stress differently. Some people find themselves crying as their classes disappear, others decide they don’t care anymore and just try to think of something else, and others just force themselves to get through it.
My friend learned a lesson after her registration and I feel like it’s a lesson entirely relevant to college students everywhere, especially fellow freshmen, because this is just the start. Class registration is always going to resemble The Hunger Games and it’s best to be prepared for the worst case scenario.
Plan alternate schedules and alternate courses in case the classes you want become impossible to get. Remember to breathe and remember that there’s always next semester to get what you need. And as dreadful as summer school might sound it’s always an option if you need it.
Things don’t always go our way but there’s always a solution if we look for it. It's probably a bit late for most of us but good luck on class registration if you still haven't done it yet!
