With registration time coming around again, I know this can cause everyone a lot of anxiety. As a first year, I know this process can become extremely overwhelming and confusing. I am hearing the buzz all over campus about the struggles of registering for classes. Who doesn’t dread pressing the enroll button and seeing nothing but red X’s? As a sophomore, it is still difficult for me to get into the classes I need sometimes. But, I have found some tips and tricks along the way that I thought I would share with you. Hopefully these can make registering a little less stressful.
First, take advantage of the advanced search section of Connect Carolina. You can search by class attributes, times, days of the week, professor and much more. This feature is really helpful in finding classes that knock out multiple gen-eds in one! Second, make sure you put multiple sections of each class you want into your shopping cart. The more options you have, the better chance you have of getting into one of them. If your first choice is closed, you will be prepared to enroll in the second choice. Also, look into first year seminars and take advantage of them! Only first-years can take them and they are interesting and usually fulfill gen-ed requirements. You can easily find them all if you do a search of classes “less than or equal to” 100.
Finally, do not freak out if you do not initially get into all of the classes you need. Make sure to get on the waitlist for classes and sign up for text alerts for when they open up. People change their schedules around all the time and it will all work out. Good luck, and remember, registration is a struggle for everyone. You are not alone!
Paige Balint
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 2018