<p>I know this is done during orientation along with your adviser. But just how does the procedure work? Let's say a bunch of people want the same course. Is it done on a first come, first serve basis? Do the first-years have trouble getting courses they want? Is preference given to those who express strong interest in a particular major? Do you register AFTER meeting with the adviser or concurrently? Lots of questions but since it's a slow time I was hoping the usual suspects will jump in here. ;)</p>
<p>Concurrently with advisor by assigned meeting time. Luck of the draw on that, earlier is better for some classes. Competition is fiercest for some FYS classes. The upperclass women have already registered so you de facto get what’s left of the other classes but unless you’re chomping at the bit to take a particular intermediate class your first semester it’s not a problem. (All this assumes Things Haven’t Changed.)</p>
<p>OK, the way it used to work is that you were assigned a time to meet with your advisor and then you registered with your advisor at that time. Which sucked if you got a later meeting time, because a lot of the good spots were taken by the people with the earlier meeting time. </p>
<p>However, I think that they’ve changed the process now so that you meet with your advisor before you register, and then you register starting at a set time the next day (i.e. registration opens at 8 AM, and the fastest typers win). </p>
<p>Most of the classes that first-years are interested in, will be either intro courses with no caps on admittance, or courses aimed specifically at first years. So you should have no trouble getting into those. For classes that are not specifically aimed at first years, the rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors will have already completed registration, so it’s not uncommon for some classes to be full by the time incoming first years register (especially for Exercise and Sports stuides classes and dance classes). </p>
<p>Don’t despair if you can’t get into the class you want right away. The first two weeks of term are a shopping period, where everyone can add and drop at will, so don’t assume that, just because a class is full, you won’t be able to take it. Also, you may sign up for a class that sounds good on paper but is terrible in practice, so shopping period gives you a chance to test things out. Spots do open up (especially in the aforementioned ESS classes), but newly freed spots are also given out by seniority. </p>
<p>So, for example, if you’re trying get into a colloquia that only has 15 or 18 spots in it, and there are also some juniors or sophomores trying to get in, the prof will probably tell you that, as a first year, you’ll have other chances to take the class, so they’re giving any free spots to the people above you. If you are trying to get into a course that’s full, make sure you show up to its first class meeting, and speak to the prof afterwards. They can usually tell based on how many people are waitlisted, how many show up, and how many free spots they have, whether it’s worth your time to keep coming back. Or at least they’ll let you know when they plan to make a decision.</p>
<p>For first-year registration last year, everyone met with their advisers on one day of orientation and then registered at 2 the next day. The system crashed in about two minutes, so there was a big lag, but anyone who had quickly copied their course registration numbers (CRNs) was able to get in and out without much hassle. </p>
<p>The biggest problem was probably when it came to first-year seminars. There are several classes that it seems every first-year wanted last year, such as Reacting to the Past (which is well-deserved), Celtic Worlds (which I don’t think is offered this year), and Rebellious Women. Even if a first-year doesn’t want one of the popular FYS classes, she would be well-advised to select several different FYS courses that would fit into her schedule–because those people who were locked out of their first choice quickly scramble for the “less popular” ones, and thus there is a domino effect. </p>
<p>S&P is definitely right on about the shopping period–people do a lot of jockeying to figure out what classes they want, and there is a melt in even some of the most crowded courses. My history class, for example, started with 40 and was down to about 30-35 by the end of shopping period; even Reacting to the Past had two students quickly drop. Moral of story: watch BannerWeb like a hawk (but don’t forget to do your homework :D).</p>
<p>The tentative orientation schedule came out and apparently you will meet with your adviser on Wednesday morning and then register that afternoon. Should be interesting.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.smith.edu/sao/firstyear/orientationscheduleDRAFT2011.pdf[/url]”>http://www.smith.edu/sao/firstyear/orientationscheduleDRAFT2011.pdf</a></p>
<p>Phanatic’s right, if you plan to register for an FYS, make sure you register for that FIRST and also have several back ups. Those will be the most competitive ones.</p>
<p>Have your CRNs at the ready and remember to be flexible.</p>
<p>Ah. They have changed things. Dang it. I may have to retire from giving out info.</p>
<p>Some hints based on experience and anecdotes:</p>
<p>1.) Macs beat PCs at registering for classes
2.) The computer lab internet is faster (especially with every first year on the wireless)
3.) Breathe, things generally work out (whether it was the way you expected or not)</p>
<p>Yeah, I second having your CRNs typed up and ready to be super quickly copied and pasted.</p>
<p>You can also see on BannerWeb right now what classes are still open and how many open spots there are, so I’d definitely recommend looking at that, especially for popular classes in dance, ESS and foreign language.</p>
<p>Just one more thing…the computer lab you refer to, is that the one in the basement of Seelye or somewhere else? Thanks.</p>
<p>I like the ones in Ford the best, but really any of them should be fine. I was an SAA, and my fellow SAA and I took all of the first years from our class to a computer lab so we knew they were on good internet connections, macs, and all in one place. They all got into classes fairly successfully except for the one who had a hold on her account and hadn’t realized it.</p>
<p>Make sure you don’t have a hold on your account before you register.</p>