<p>I am an incoming freshman and have been browsing banner looking at the course offerings for the fall semester. I would say about 90+ % of the classes I have seen have no spots remaining. Freshmen register in July. What are we supposed to be registering for? All the classes that interest me are all full and some even have waitlists already. I don't get it... I guess freshmen end up with the worst classes, times, and professors..?</p>
<p>You will not end up with the"worst" professors, don’t worry. The faculty at W & M is one of the school’s strong suits, and many excellent profs teach freshman classes. Your freshman writing seminar will allow you the opportunity to work closely with a professor in a small setting. In the larger classes that fulfill basic distribution requirements, you’ll be taught by a professor and have separate break-out sessions with a grad student; the prof will be available to you in office hours.</p>
<p>The registrar will add new sections of large intro classes such as Econ, Bio, Chem, Psych; you’ll be able to register for some of these when it’s your turn, even if they don’t exist in banner now. Ditto the writing seminars. You also have the option of taking your seminar second semester, which can mean you’ll have more of a choice. You also always have the option of emailing a prof for an override to be admitted to a full class.</p>
<p>Freshmen may end up with the worst times, though - challenging, but it gives you something to aim for in future semesters. Many of your classes freshman year are intro courses, which can’t fairly be considered the “worst” classes - everyone has to take them before moving on to the more specialized ones. When my kids registered for the first time, there were student mentors who coached them through the process in advance via email. Don’t know if this still exists. There are tricks to winding up with a decent schedule; I know one of them is typing up your selections in advance so you can cut and paste them when your registration window opens. Hoping current students here can help you with this.</p>
<p>My rising junior d has been lucky so far and wound up with the classes she wanted each semester. She has had to sacrifice convenience for that - she had a 3 PM history class on Friday last semester. Sucked for traveling. It is challenging to get the history classes you want, but the profs are accommodating when they can be. Good luck!</p>
<p>They add spots to a lot of classes before freshmen register. So don’t get so worried yet.</p>
<p>Although I recommend that the first semester you target large classes that you need to complete your GERs. Unless of course you need some of the smaller classes to start a sequence (ie you need Spanish 101 in order to take Spanish 102 in the Spring semester). If there are any classes that you really need, professors are usually pretty generous with overrides. Especially if you just show up to the class for the first week without being registered and keep telling the prof to give you an override… Though in some cases a class may have such a long waitlist that the prof will tell you on the first day that no one is getting an override.</p>
<p>okay great thanks for the responses!</p>
<p>some classes open up…but in general you do get screwed your first year when it comes to registering for classes. make sure you have backups to your backups, and just pray that your internet and timing is good when register day comes</p>
<p>Virtually all 100 level classes, most 200, some 300, and even some 400 level classes have additional spots open up for freshman registration. If you don’t get what you want, there is always the add drop period at the beginning where you can usually switch around at will, save for the most popular of classes (i.e. it will be hard to switch from the 8am macroecon class to the 2pm version).</p>
<p>Keep in mind that some of the “most interesting” classes are also among the more advanced and it’s likely best to reserve some of those for when you’re an upperclassman. After meeting with your academic advisor during Orientation you’ll have a better idea of what is appropriate for a first-semester student to take.</p>
<p>Additionally, keep an open mind. Some of the classes you end up in by default end up being some of the best you’ll take.</p>
<p>there will be plenty of spaces in the large intro classes (bio/chem/econ etc)</p>
<p>freshmen seminars are only for you</p>
<p>the lower level classes have more spaces that will open up</p>