Advance Registration - Pandemic Edition
One nice thing about university life is the dependable rhythm of the academic calendar. Students can expect classes to begin and end at relatively the same time each year. As each semester commences, orientations are offered to newly arriving students. Each semester ends with Reading Days and Final Exams. Although not as exciting as the start or end of the semester, Advance Registration also takes place each semester and requires planning. If you are currently a college student and have not begun to think about the courses you intend to take next semester, now is the time to consider a number of factors.
The most important factor related to the Advance Registration process is ensuring the courses you are planning to take will help you make progress towards the completion of your degree. If you are not sure what courses you need to take in order to graduate in a timely manner, you should schedule a meeting with your academic advisor as soon as possible. If you have a clear understanding of what requirements you need to fulfill, your next step should be researching what courses are being offered in the spring semester and whether or not you meet the prerequisites to take these courses. It is also a good idea to look ahead to the fall semester to determine if there are courses required for your major typically and/or only offered in the fall semester with prerequisites. If there are courses you need to take next fall with prerequisites, make sure you have taken them or add them to your spring schedule.
Once you are aware of what courses you need to complete and what is available to you based on the courses you have completed so far, I would encourage you to think about creating a balanced course load. To do this will require some thought and additional research. When thinking about the spring semester, make sure you are acknowledging any commitments you have and how they will impact your ability to focus on your coursework. For example, do you play a spring sport, will you be recruiting for a summer internship, do you have plans to conduct research, will you be participating in an artistic performance, or have you taken a job that requires you to work a certain number of hours each week? Next comes research; if you are fortunate to attend an institution with a course review system in place, start here. If not, try to connect with upperclassmen in your major. Conducting this research, will help you ascertain the level of difficulty of a given course (how much work is required and how challenging the subject matter is) and the skill of the professor teaching the course. Your goal is to create a schedule with a mix of challenging/time consuming and more manageable/interesting courses.
Since we are currently living through a pandemic and some students maybe uncertain of whether their courses will be offered in person or remotely, two additional factors should be kept in mind. The first is how well the course in question can be taught remotely. Remote learning with its dependence on screen time can be very draining. If the subject matter is dry or of little interest to the student because it is a general education requirement, students may struggle to keep up with online lectures and therefore not fare as well in the course as they would have done taking it in a more traditional format. The second is the professor’s ability to adapt to online learning, create a dynamic presence virtually, and engage students in the subject matter remotely.
As I share my thoughts on advance registration, I am aware college students are dealing with a lot - what can seem like a never-ending cycle of midterms, post-election anxiety, feeling a sense of dread at the rising positivity rate of COVID-19 and how it could impact their loved ones. It is a stressful time; there are numerous real-world issues competing for our attention and energy. Sometimes it can be hard to plan when there are so many unknowns but it will benefit you, if you can plan ahead. If you are struggling with one or more of these issues, I encourage you to reach out to your advisor for support. Having worked at the University of Pennsylvania for almost two decades, I can think of numerous former colleagues who are ready to help, and I am sure this holds true for other institutions as well. If for some reason your advisor is unresponsive or you do not have a good relationship with your advisor, it might be time to request a new advisor or seek the assistance of a Student Success Coach. Good luck and I hope you get all the courses you register for!