<p>I've heard mixed messages from my college friends. Some of them get all the classes they want; some of them get none. Does it just depend on where you go to school or what classes you want to take? Is it easier to get into General Education required classes or Major required classes? Is it less difficult to get the classes you want at a larger university because so many more classes are offered, or is it easier at a smaller one because there are less people trying to take the classes? What about schools with low vs. high faculty:student ratios? Does it get better as an upperclassman? Thanks for all your responses!</p>
<p>Generally it's pretty easy to get into Gen ed requirements at my university. You may not get it at the time you want, but more than likely you can get it at some time or other. For major classes, in my major at least, we have waiting lists for all the upper level classes, and the earlier you sign up in addition to your class (senior, junior, etc), the more likely you are to get in. I don't think there's really that many people that don't get in the ones they want. I've gotten in both the ones I've signed up for and I definitely signed up pretty late for the last one.</p>
<p>It depends on what university you attend. At many schools seniors register for classes first, then juniors, sophomores, freshmen, and rising new students. Does your school have on-line registration? If it does, then you can check the online list of course schedules to see if the classes you want are still available before you're allowed to register for it. Then if they are still available, then you can register for them.</p>
<p>So far (I'm a sophomore) I haven't had any problems registering, and I always have one of the last time slots within my class to register. Despite having the very last time slot this semester I still got all the classes I wanted, and I'm at a big state university. I even was able to get the lab time I wanted for my gen ed science</p>
<p>i went to a very small school and never heard of anyone not getting a class that they wanted</p>
<p>I had trouble as a freshman/sophmore getting into the times i wanted, and was on waiting lists for some labs, due to registering by grade levels. But as an upperclassman i have no problems arranging my schedule exactly how i want it. (this is at a medium/large state school)</p>
<p>I've gotten every single class I've wanted to take, and only had one semester with a 9am--last year I started with 11am's and then second semester was 10am's, and this next one will be 1pm's, and I'm only a sophomore. I think it also depends on your major and its flexability. if you're sciencey and have a prescribed set of courses you must take each year it's more difficult to pick and choose. I also go to a small LAC, where many of my classes have been 30 or less (some even 20 and less). I guess I'm just very lucky that I've been able to get into everything I want.</p>
<p>I think it really depends on the school and what classes you are trying to take. At my school where a lot of the classes are quite small some of the more popular classes are very difficult to get into. Registration is done by class year and then by time. I've always had very late registration times but still been able to get in because I've been taking classes in smaller, less popular departments. Some of my friends have not been able to get into classes they wanted because they filled up too quickly.</p>
<p>large state school... depends on your major. my major is very popular but is also the largest dept so getting into classes for the major are not too hard. certain science majors and poli sci are popular and offer less classes, so you're in trouble.</p>
<p>At my school it's easy depending the amount of credits you have. I came in as a freshman with 15 college credits so at each level they give priority to people with more credits. Meaning if I'm a spoh. with more credits than I'm supposed to have then I'll register earlier than other spohs. I registered like about 4-5 days earlier than other freshman which was sweet. I didn't have to deal with classes getting canceled and I didn't have to rush to log into the university website to register for classes. I could only take courses designated for freshman of course but that's how it is at most schools I'm guessing.</p>
<p>USC, large private, fairly low student/faculty ratio - there's only one class I had real trouble getting into - I finally got into a section for this spring though so I'm happy. Definitely gets easier as an upperclassman (I'm a junior) since registration is based on number of units, and AP units count toward that.</p>
<p>Otherwise, every class I really wanted to take, I got into that class the semester I wanted (except for schedule conflicts)</p>
<p>At my school, students register for classes in order of seniority (i.e. seniors first, freshmen last). Class status depends on how many credits you actually have- for example, although I identify myself as a sophomore, I am technically a junior because I transferred in college credit from high school. My school also gives students in the honors program preference. Since I am technically an honors junior, I register ahead of almost everyone I know! </p>
<p>One hint: make sure all your college credit from high school (if you have any) is transferred over well in advance of registration time. If the transcript should get lost in the mail or anything, you want to give yourself plenty of time to straighten things out.</p>
<p>Depends on the school and major, I guess. I've always been in small majors with 30-40 people per year in them, so there are always enough spaces in the major required classes to go around. The only time I didn't get into a class I wanted was because it was canceled, although sometimes I haven't been able to take a class I wanted during a certain term because it conflicts time-wise with another class I want to take at the same time.</p>
<p>My school has an online registration system where you can look up the classes, how many spaces there are and how many are taken, etc., before it's actually your registration time, and you can also look at a big master list of classes for the whole year, so you can work out your schedule well in advance. I think that type of planning combined with the fact that I'm always at the computer right at the time my registration time ticket starts is what helps me. I always figured everyone else did the same thing, but a surprising number of people will be sitting around a week later saying, "Yeah, I guess I should register for classes sometime soon..." A similarly surprising number of people got to their last year without having enough credits for senior status and now have to take six classes per term as well. ;)</p>
<p>depends on the school. At my school any class that is a requirment for any major can have unlimited registration. As more people sign up the class just gets put in a larger room and more TAs are hired out for it. For classes that are not typically majors (at my school this is Literature, Linguistics, History, basically humanity classes) there's a lottery with no preference given. If you are one of the rare few who are pursuing majors in those fields you can get into a class rather easily by simply emailing the professor.</p>
<p>It's actually very nice.</p>
<p>The older you are and the sooner you meet with your advisor, the better off you are.</p>
<p>The exception is the summer...provided you strike early. I registered for a summer class and was only the third one to sign up (out of about 18). Didn't seem to matter what my graduating year was.</p>