About Enrolling in Classes

<p>I'm a bit confused. (I'm an incoming freshman). </p>

<p>What is the planner? What is it used for? How do I use it?
And, then, for the shopping cart, its best to add whatever classes I want to take and then later enroll at CTOPS, correct? Or should I just choose some classes and hit enroll, and then change it later at CTOPS if I don't like the schedule? </p>

<p>Also, I'm in the Honors program, so how do I view all the honors courses? Putting in "HNRS" on the class search does not seem to yield many results. </p>

<p>I realize these are basic issues, but some help from any upperclassmen would be very helpful to me and any other incoming freshmen.</p>

<p>You will not be able to enroll until your scheduled time at CTOPS. Put the classes you are interested in taking in your Planner in “connect carolina” … there are tutorials, etc on the website to show you how to do this. Then put your “desired schedule” into your shopping cart - when your window opens at ctops - hit enroll and see what you get. You may have to chance a class or two, go on a waiting list etc. Classes will close, open, etc all through august, and you can keep checking back to see if you can add some class you want. You will not be able to enroll until you are at ctops, and at the appointed time. They hold some spots for each of the first year seminars, freshman main classes for each session of ctops. There are threads all through this UNC board about these items, you might comb through some of the old ones.</p>

<p>How do we know if a FYS can “take the place” of one of our General Education requirements? Do ALL of them count as a credit for their respective department or do only certain ones?</p>

<p>read the first year handbook. it’ll answer almost all your questions about enrollment!
[First</a> Year Guide — UNC Advising](<a href=“http://advising.unc.edu/FirstYearGuide]First”>http://advising.unc.edu/FirstYearGuide)</p>

<p>also, about the honors courses, you should have gotten an email a few weeks ago telling you how to register for honors courses. those who registered on time were notified of their honors courses today. i guess just search your email. i don’t think you can register for them the same as other classes.</p>

<p>Thanks all. </p>

<p>I remember the Honors courses now. I’m signed up for two my first semester, which will leave two classes for my major and a single first-year seminar.</p>

<p>Just to be clear - you take very few classes for your “major” as a freshman … mostly you are trying to knock out the gen ed requirements. The goal is to try to take classes that double count in two areas for Gen Ed - so you can knock them out faster.</p>

<p>@humannature, which email did they send the honors stuff to? I registered the night I got the email and I haven’t gotten any notification about my classes.</p>

<p>I never got any notification, but when I logged onto myunc the whole layout was different and at the top it had my class schedule, with just the two honors courses I’d signed up for on it.</p>

<p>Awesome thanks! This is really awesome because I got all the classes I wanted!</p>

<p>Kind of off topic, but how hard is it to get into waitlisted language classes? I was placed into spanish 203 but every single section (except one at like 7 pm) is either closed or waitlisted. I am determined to take Spanish first semester because I haven’t been able to take in in two years and I really miss it. I just feel like it would be harder because they’re capped at smaller numbers and idk if you could just walk in the class on the first day.</p>

<p>I know they reserve spaces at each ctops for intro classes but do they also reserve spots in each first year seminar? Im going to the OOS one in August and am worried I wont get any FYS let alone the one I want</p>

<p>Ok so if you have to wait to enroll in the classes until you get to ctops why are the classes filling up already? Also, i only got my honors seminar and one more honors course… Is that normal or do honors students usually get 2 honors courses plus the seminar? If so, will i be able to enroll in other honors courses at ctops?</p>

<p>Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using CC App</p>

<p>A pro-rated number of seats in FYS and introductory classes are set aside for EACH CTOPS session, including the August one. Having said that, it is hard, I believe, to get your first choice FYS at the time of registration. I recall reading or hearing that incoming students set on taking a FYS should pick out 6 or 8 or 10 seminars that interest them and have them all in their shopping cart at the time of registration. (oh, and I think the classes that appear full (or quickly filling) on Connect Carolina to you now don’t reflect the true class size. i.e. when 10 seats to a class are released at a particular CTOPS session, the overall class size limit grows by 10, too–does that make sense??) </p>

<p>As it has been said many, many times on this board, there is a lot of movement in schedules after CTOPS and during the days leading up to the start of classes and into the first week of classes . . . so don’t despair if you go home from CTOPS with a less than ideal schedule. If you are dead set on getting into a particular first year seminar (or any class, for that matter) and aren’t lucky enough to get a seat in it at CTOPS, then religiously/obsessively check Connect Carolina (later in the summer when add/drop time begins and all the way into the opening week of school) for an open seat. There IS movement but you have to be very good about checking. You might also send the professor an e-mail introducing yourself and stating your interest in the course. If you never clear through Connect Carolina, he/she might add you but I do believe class size is strictly enforced for FYSs. </p>

<p>Bottom line, research classes ahead of time and be over prepared for your registration appointment at CTOPS (i.e. shopping cart full, ready to press submit at the moment your appt begins, and whatever else students here suggest you do) but then–as they have said-- don’t despair over the schedule you go home with. With enough perseverance, you CAN change the whole thing come August. </p>

<p>Finally, sometime early in the summer last year, UNC sent my incoming son a hard copy or a link to something called The First Year Guide. It answered a lot of questions. Good luck!</p>

<p>Part of the reason classes fill up as well - upper classmen have already registered. For example, there may be many future sophomores wanting Spanish 203, so that’s why it might be full.</p>

<p>I’m trying to enroll in ECON101. I know that the little blue square means it’s “closed”, but it has a note that says 378 seats are left open for first year students. That’s ALOT (or maybe not?)
When I go to CTOPs, it might open back up and let me enroll, right?</p>

<p>I think you can only enroll at CTOPS. When I tried to hit enroll on a number of classes, all of them gave me that message.</p>

<p>MetaKirby: Yes, the 378 seats you see available for that particular ECON 101 session are likely being held aside for freshmen and will be divvied up among all the different CTOPS sessions over the the summer. So, for instance, 30 seats might be released at the first CTOPS, 30 more at the next and so on. My son took Econ 101 and the class size was ~400, so this makes sense. You have to sign up for a recitation with Econ 101 so sometime before CTOPS look into when they are being offered as well.</p>

<p>You can NOT enroll until CTOPS at your assigned time at CTOPS - that’s when the classes open up for each section of CTOPS. PUt class options in your planner, and your desired class schedule in your shopping cart. When the window opens at ctops - hit enroll - and see if you get them all or not, then go from there.</p>

<p>I read in the First Year Guide that you can’t sit in on the first day of class in Spanish classes. Like I said earlier, all the Spanish 203 classes are already closed or waitlisted. If I am not able to get in before classes start, is there any way I can still take it or will I have to wait till the next semester?</p>

<p>Waitlist yourself for the class and hopefully you will get in. If you are pulled in off the waiting list, the class will just appear on your schedule - you don’t have to do anything! You can also keep trying to pick it up during drop/add. I couldn’t get into the spanish class I wanted 1st semester freshman year and ended up taking a spanish literature class just to be able to practice speaking. I did get the class I wanted in the spring. Good Luck!</p>