Registering for classes

[rooibos]

So...has anyone registered for their grad courses yet?

[Riotbeard]

So...has anyone registered for their grad courses yet?

Are you able to register yet? School of liberal arts only just sent out the how to info to us history kids. I did get a reading list and syllabus sent by the prof for the one class all first year history students have to take in the fall!

[poco_puffs]

I got to register May 17th, but I got my hands on the seminar list a month earlier. No REAL reading list, but some detective work has revealed at least some of the stuff I'll have to read for my Medieval Romance class, and I need to get started on that soonish-- it's all in Middle English and it's gonna take me forever.

How late are schools making you guys wait to register? Do you have lists of classes available yet? When does your term start? I think my first class is in the last week of September, but I know some people start as early as August.

[Bumblebee]

My term starts on August 30th. The week before classes start I have my department orientation and that's when I'll have the appointment with my advisor. I won't be able to register until then. However, I already know the courses I'll be taking since I already met with my advisor during my campus visit.

[Eigen]

In many of the hard sciences, entrance exams are common, and you can't schedule classes until you've taken them at the departmental orientation.

I know last year when I started we didn't register until the day before classes started.

Edited June 22, 2010 by Eigen

[Riotbeard]

I think I could technically register now if I had gotten all my vaxination stuff in, but the department hasn't put classes up yet or sent out a course list. My advisor said I also need to take the civil rights seminar. Term starts August 24th. We have a summer reading list....

[rooibos]

Ahhh, stupid typo in the title!

Are you able to register yet? School of liberal arts only just sent out the how to info to us history kids. I did get a reading list and syllabus sent by the prof for the one class all first year history students have to take in the fall!

Yep! I met with my graduate adviser to talk about courses a couple weeks ago, and he okayed my choices. I don't have to take the required pedagogy course until the spring, so I just chose three French courses and one history course, but I'm all registered!

Your mileage may vary, though. My department seems really laid back-- I don't know about yours!

[joro]

I've registered for 3 classes. I should have no issues with one class. I might encounter a few problems with the second class. And I think I'm in over my head for the third class even though I meet all the prereqs.

[Jae B.]

Not able to register for classes until the end of July...not that it matters, because my first semester is all required courses.

[coyabean]

No registration, no reading lists, no proof that I'm really going to school in a few weeks. :/

[rising_star]

roibois, I edited the topic title for you. Hope you don't mind!

Both times I started a grad program (MA at one place, PhD at another), I didn't register for classes until like the week before. At my current program, there was a departmental orientation, after which students met individually with the DGS, grad program secretary, and their prospective advisor to look at the available courses and choose which ones to take. Personally, I liked not having to worry about that sort of thing in advance since there's already so much to be done with moving, finding the right hangout spots in your new locale, making friends, etc.

[joro]

I actually have a schedule of classes I've come up with for the entirety of my program. This is a little habit of mine since my freshman year of college.

[rooibos]

roibois, I edited the topic title for you. Hope you don't mind!

Thank you! It bothered me every time I saw it!

[UnlikelyGrad]

No registration, no reading lists, no proof that I'm really going to school in a few weeks. :/

Hang in there coyabean!

When I sent in my acceptance to my school in April last year I asked my advisor if there was anything I had to do before school started. In particular, I wanted to know what classes I should register for. Her reply: "You shouldn't register for classes until you have your entrance interview. But don't worry, we can do that the week classes start."

So I flew in 2 days before orientation. The first day I got in really late. The second day was a Sunday. On orientation day they told me, "We can't give you a school ID (which I needed for a lot of things) because you haven't registered for classes." So I asked my advisor at the end of the day when they were going to do my entrance interview. She said, "Oh no!! I forgot to schedule it! Well, just sign up for a few classes...this one is the only required one offered in fall, ask Dr. R here what else you might want to take."

I finally got my entrance interview in November, just in time to register for spring classes!!

[Halfpasser11]

I'm right there with some of you too. I talked to my advisor and he said that there will be plently of time to get registared before classes start. I start my TA assistantship on Aug 16th and I start classes on the 19th. I guess in my program to TA you sign up for what classes you would like to TA the most and then try and get your grad classes around that. A little backwards but I guess it's easier to fit everything in. I'm starting to get really nervous about what I am going to do those three days I'm TAing, making copies of handouts no doubt.

[jlee306]

Yes! I registered in early May as soon as I could! I will be taking an Intro to School Psy class, Cognitive Assessment class, and a Learning and Cognition class. Plus two practicums that go with the intro class and the cog assessment class. One of those practicums I will be shadowing a School Psychologist around and in the other practicum I will be doing IQ testing to volunteers. I am sooooo excited!

[coyabean]

Hang in there coyabean!

When I sent in my acceptance to my school in April last year I asked my advisor if there was anything I had to do before school started. In particular, I wanted to know what classes I should register for. Her reply: "You shouldn't register for classes until you have your entrance interview. But don't worry, we can do that the week classes start."

So I flew in 2 days before orientation. The first day I got in really late. The second day was a Sunday. On orientation day they told me, "We can't give you a school ID (which I needed for a lot of things) because you haven't registered for classes." So I asked my advisor at the end of the day when they were going to do my entrance interview. She said, "Oh no!! I forgot to schedule it! Well, just sign up for a few classes...this one is the only required one offered in fall, ask Dr. R here what else you might want to take."

I finally got my entrance interview in November, just in time to register for spring classes!!

There seems to be a lot of variety in how this is handled. It would help if my best friend wasn't having a totally different experience at Carolina. She's registered, has met her entire cohort, is on a cohort facebook, has made friends and everything. I'm only sure about three of us, have had no contact with the department since I accepted their offer and minus my financial aid and ID picture, no contact with the school. I never did get any kind of packet or anything. Thank God I have the letter or I'd think I made this all up!

But, from the website it looks like we do about what your department did. After orientation we meet with the general first year advisor to discuss direction, register and tentatively request our permanent advisor. But until then? Nada.

[fuzzylogician]

There seems to be a lot of variety in how this is handled. It would help if my best friend wasn't having a totally different experience at Carolina. She's registered, has met her entire cohort, is on a cohort facebook, has made friends and everything. I'm only sure about three of us, have had no contact with the department since I accepted their offer and minus my financial aid and ID picture, no contact with the school. I never did get any kind of packet or anything. Thank God I have the letter or I'd think I made this all up!

But, from the website it looks like we do about what your department did. After orientation we meet with the general first year advisor to discuss direction, register and tentatively request our permanent advisor. But until then? Nada.

It was the same before my first year as well -- except for some visa forms and housing information I got in May, I had absolutely no contact with the department or my cohort until I arrived in the States in the last week of August. No facebook, no registering for classes, no choosing an advisor, no ID photo. But then it all worked out fine - the week before classes began we had orientation, were assigned a temporary first-year advisor, met with the advisor to go over registration, took the registration forms to the card office to issue an ID, and met everybody in the cohort. I admit I was worried for a while that silence must mean I was imagining things, but it turned out I wasn't, in the end

Edited June 24, 2010 by fuzzylogician

[Phyl]

I registered in May but other than that no other contact . I could go get my id but I have no reason to yet probably go do that on the first day of classes.

[ScreamingHairyArmadillo]

I just registered for classes after some phone/email conversations with my advisor. Apparently, once I get there I start planning my courses for the rest of the program with my committee. Of course, I'll probably start planning them now.

[RNadine21]

I just registered for classes after some phone/email conversations with my advisor. Apparently, once I get there I start planning my courses for the rest of the program with my committee. Of course, I'll probably start planning them now.

Haha, same here. I think I can register myself online since I have required courses I need first. Ideally I wouldn't plan the rest of my courses until I have a committee, but obviously I already have since I know what I want to study. I'm loving my new Excel spreadsheet! It'll probably get all messed up though once I learn when I'll be running labs.

[joro]

I emailed the director for my program because it said that we should if we had any class selection questions. He seemed really puzzled when I asked him to look over my schedule because he said that he didn't need to give me an okay, but also mentioned that everything looks fine.

[coyabean]

I just registered for classes after some phone/email conversations with my advisor. Apparently, once I get there I start planning my courses for the rest of the program with my committee. Of course, I'll probably start planning them now.

Of course.

[metasyntactic]

My registration opened sometime at the end of March, but I registered in April. Thankfully my program is fairly straightforward to register for and I'm pretty sure I don't need anyone's approval. What surprised me a little bit is that at my new school they don't allow you to register for the Spring term until the end of the Fall term. At my undergraduate institution, you would register for both terms during the summer. Anyone else have any registration surprises like that?

Edited June 25, 2010 by metasyntactic

[Venetia]

I just registered yesterday, and I was already behind the 8-ball! Back home we don't register online, so I was a bit flummoxed by it all. Why is Thursday shortened to R???