Or do they get stuck wih the leftovers?
My daughter did not get every class she wanted first semester of freshman year. I think she really wanted to get her quant requirement out of the way while her high school math was fresh in her mind, and didn’t want to take Calc or Stats. But couldn’t get another quant class that semester, ended up doing something second semester.
But this is true at every single college – frosh register last, and they often don’t get their first choices. She had no trouble over the course of her eight semester (two actually spent off campus) getting all the classes she needed and really wanted to take by the time she graduated. There was no sweat about it in the end. I remember that Appalachian Trail Hiking fills up fast – she did not get to take it until she was a senior. 
My kid at one of the 5C colleges has struggled to get into visual arts classes. She finally has priority enough to get into them as a second semester junior. If it were her major, it would have been easier.
Thanks, this is helpful.
I think it’s common for freshman not to get everything they want. My daughter had a similar experience at Dickinson. Couldn’t get into the Chem class that was a pre-requisite for many of the other classes she needed for her major. When she couldn’t get it again fall semester of Sophomore year, she emailed the President of the college with her concerns about not being able to graduate on time without this class and within 2 days a new section of the class was added. We found Dickinson to be very accommodating in every way.
Dickinson specifically reserves spots in a lot of 100-level classes for freshman. My D was lucky and got into all of the classes she wanted freshman year, but certainly knew a lot of people who didn’t.
It’s not that hard. I got all of my classes freshman year except for one second semester.