Class Registration
- sjm3zm
- Apr 5, 2022
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 13, 2022
By Sean McHugh
Welcome! It seems it's your first year and you've already found yourself to be a little lost. Dorms, friends, a new city—all of it can be a bit overwhelming at first. While we can't convince your new roommate that they need to maybe wash those pajamas sooner rather than later, what we can do is make sure that you don't end up lost and at Virginia Tech (we don't like them by the way). So, before anything else, we wish to welcome you to a student-made page that should be a little easier to use than a ten year old reddit page and a little less stale than the welcome to UVA letter.
1. Relax, it doesn't matter as much as you think it does.
First, relax! An important thing to realize is that you've made it, and you're in. Even though you will inevitably miss a deadline (I forgot to pay tuition every semester)
it is not the end of the world. While it shouldn't become a goal to see how many you can miss, just relax and get through as you can and you'll be fine. We have four thousand undergraduate students come in every year, and all of us made our unique mistakes, and there is a reason we have people hired to take care of these mistakes.
2. Classes, classes
Now, this may not be the first thing you do, but you also shouldn't be seeing the classes available for the first time when you come to orientation. A quick google search (Lou's List will become your friend) will show all the classes available and give you the opportunity to start seeing the options available. Don't get overwhelmed! It is a lot to take in, so grab a drink (definitely not alcoholic, right?), sit down, maybe grab a parent or friend, and just go through it all.
Note:
1000's: very introductory or tangential in nature, and is perfect for a first year student who doesn't think they will get a degree in this field but wants to learn a thing or two.
2000's: formal introductory classes, and often are the classes a student begin their major.
3000's: for student getting a degree in this field and have completed the introductory classes.
4000's: final courses taken, nearing graduate level and usually only for majors, and occasionally for minor students.
APs:
So you were told that you'd taken these tough college level courses in high school and now you're looking for a payday. Well, you're in luck... maybe. Each AP almost always gets some form of credit, but the score required and its use varies. If you scored a 5, congratulations! You're assured some form of credit. Otherwise, get ready to start digging through the UVA system if you're curious. You can also just send them in, and wait to see on your transcript what equations to what. Monroe 138 is your friend here if you have some issue. If it shows as X000T then unfortunately, it counts for almost nothing practically beyond boosting your number of college credits you have, and those don't count for in the college either. But take what you can, and get running before they take more from you!
3. General Education Requirements
Welcome to the new UVA general education requirements! Honestly, the breakdown is done about as well as it can be, but we'll try our best to give you some value. To choose which you'd rather do, the best question you can ask yourself is: Would I rather take a small course on random topics, or would I rather dive straight into the true lecture hall college courses and get charging ahead?That choice we'll leave for you (partly because many of us didn't have either), but once chosen, start outlining what you're looking for with the courses you'll take, and revisit that Lou's List to see what options you have now (told you to get friendly with Lou).
4. Planning the Future
Alright, we are almost there, and if you aren't a go getter, you can skip this. Otherwise, in your pursuit of doing more work, we have for you, unsurprisingly, more work! This is for those who already know their major, or maybe even want to grab two (three technically isn't allowed, but I am trusting y'all to find a way!) It's time to start planning. First, go and find the major you are looking for, and their major requirements. Just google "UVA XXX major requirements" and you should already be on your path. This will take you to their page. Then, just peruse until you find a declaration of major sheet, or a guide, and find what courses you need to complete this major. Repeat for any degrees you think you might want. Now, put these requirements into an excel, or on a sheet of paper (I'm old school), leave the electives as they are (2000 ECON, 4000 HIST, etc.) as we are just trying to set up for success in your first semester (and you have years to figure out these later ones). Once you have your list, it's time to sprinkle in those general education requirements we outlined above. Once you have these, time to schedule! Generally, 15 is a good goal for each semester, with 17 as the max without permission and 12 the minimum for a full time student. Finally, try to see if there is any overlap that you can count twice (I'm looking at you, Calculus) and rewrite and reform until you have a pretty good idea of your schedule. Congrats! You now have a schedule, a game plan, and a path to get those little pieces of paper we all covet so much.
5. Finishing Up
Finally, it's almost time for you to show up to orientation over prepared and ready to still make some gaff. Remember part one, it'll be okay. If things change, you can switch classes even once classes start, and we have all done it before (I changed my entire schedule). Now, with those little electives that we kept general, its time to look at Lou again (I told ya, she keeps reappearing) and find some that look good, fit your schedule, and you can get to! If you have one class after another, do a quick google map search to make sure you can reach it. If it takes more than 5-7 minutes on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday or 10-12 on Tuesday or Thursday , you probably aren't making it. Make sure you have
extras! You aren't going to be the first to schedule (unless you're an athlete, but then you probably don't need this guide and have someone scheduling for you) so inevitably some dreamy course with a cute professor is already full. Don't panic, and make sure you come with backups. Write it down, sum it up, and you're good to go for class signups! Remember, we've all been there, and we all screwed it up.
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