<p>Not sure other states have this problem but here in Oregon, it's very difficult to get community college classes as a first year student. You are last on the list for registration. so by the time you get your shot, almost everything is waitlisted. Right now I'm on the fence about my son going to a 4-year or 2-year college first, and worried that if he can't get classes at a community college he will become demotivated and drop out altogether. I'm even considering having him take one CC class per term during his last year of hs so by the time he needs it, he will have a higher priority registration time. Is that nuts?</p>
<p>Go to the school’s website and see if there is any way he can earn priority registration. Sometimes reserved for service members, employees of the school (tutors and such), and dsps students. If not, it is essential that he take as many units as possible so that he may get into better registration spots.</p>
<p>Is there an honors program at this community college? I attend community college in Pennsylvania, and I’m an honors student. As long as we maintain a 3.5 to stay in the program, we get to register almost a week before everyone else! We have top priority here.</p>
<p>Many CC’s have a registration priority list, check your cc’s website. My d’s cc gives priority to high School seniors who complete a workshop, veterans, honors students, students with student academic plans. Even full time students are given priority over part timers. </p>
<p>Also helps to not be picky about class times and teachers, and be prepared to register at your allotted time. My d’s registration was online on a Saturday at 7 AM. By 7:03 AM she was registered in all her classes. She has a student education plan and has priority over other students.</p>
<p>Nothing on their website to indicate any kind of priority given to high school students, honors students, or anybody else. My son isn’t an honors student anyway. The number of units you are registering for has nothing to do with when you register, only the number of units you took the PREVIOUS term. Wait time on their Admissions phone line is 20 minutes! GAH! I guess I’ll have to drive over there.</p>
<p>This is a common problem in many states, exacerbated by huge budget cuts that most schools have absorbed over the last decade. The best thing your son can do is sign up as early as possible, and look for some more obscure courses or inconvenient schedule times during his first term. He should also get on some wait lists and show up at the class with the goal of impressing the instructor that he really wants to be there.</p>
<p>The good news is that once he gets through his first term, he will get higher-priority registration that will allow him to register earlier than new students.</p>
<p>Most states have laws that require public institutions of higher learning to give priority registration to certain “protected” groups (i.e. veterans and disabled students). Otherwise most CCs do offer priority registration for a multitude of other requirements and it is worth looking into.</p>
<p>a) student athletes - is your child involved in sports or does he plan on participating in a sport in college? This doesn’t help initially, depending on when the sport is started during the school year, plus the student usually must be a student athlete for 2 or more terms to gain the benefit, but in the long run it’s worth looking into if sports are an interest.</p>
<p>b) honors students - after the first term (of full-time status) if your son maintains a certain GPA, then he can apply to take honors courses, which allow him better priority. I’m not positive on these requirements, but to my understanding even just one honors course allows for the earlier registration benefit.</p>
<p>c) veteran - have him join the armed services first, gain valuable experience and college credit through the military (often for free) and then go to CC or a 4-year.</p>
<p>d) student council/gov’t office holders - student elected as a student representative also typically grants PR because the student must fit his or her courses around mandatory council meetings.</p>
<p>e) student-workers - tutoring and working as a student FOR the CC is treated very much like being a student-athlete or student-rep: courses will need to fit around other commitments related to the school itself. Is he willing to go in and work in whatever position the CC can place him?</p>
<p>There are a few others, but the main idea is that most of them don’t affect a brand new student. BUT, if he gets involved in sports, student gov’t, or other things then he starts to get bumped up. That’s the idea if his intended CC offers PR like CCs in most other areas.</p>
<p>As a side note, at my CC, HS seniors get the lowest priority. But, as pointed out, of there’s a special workshop for a HS student to complete to take advantage of earlier registration, then ask about that too.</p>
<p>So . . . for the first term, and possibly the term after, I also suggest not being picky about course professor or time. The more open the student is to taking a course regardless of the time or prof, then the more likely they will find an opening for the course he or she is trying to take. It really helps going into CC with a plan. Really look into the requirements to transfer (have transfer options in mind) and manage course selection from there. Meaning at the beginning if you need a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, and l course to transfer to X university, then when you look at the available schedule determine which courses are already full and which ones aren’t (essentially casting your net as wide as possible). Say he ends up taking course a, d, and f in the first term, then he knows next term he is now focusing on b, c, e, etc. His net is being cast more narrow since there are less courses needed to transfer, BUT by that time he may be in a better position to be on a sports team, working at the CC bookstore/cafe, or planning on running for student gov’t. Then by time the PR kicks in he would be able to get those remaining classes even with the “narrow net”.</p>