The Registration Game

Hey everyone!

So not much but the same old same old going on here. We won our meet this past Saturday! Actually, we won twice? It was a double dual meet against Colby-Sawyer and Gordon Colleges, so all together the team came out with 4 wins total. We've got another meet down at Skidmore this Saturday so wish us luck.

Other than that, registration is finishing up and everyone will be done by the end of the week. I figured I'd take that topic and run with it, especially since most schools don't really disclose the logistics of registration until you're already attending.

So as a first year, you register the summer before you get here. Most people will register on their registration weekend here at campus. Some students come just for registration, but most go on a weekend trip (POW, WOW, Trek, Pontigny, etc). I DEFINITELY recommend one of these trips. You meet people right away and don't feel as nervous about coming to school in the fall. In fact, I was super excited after my POW weekend. If anyone wants any more information about pre-orientation, let me know and I can do another post on that. I probably will anyway.

So back to registration. If you don't come to one of those days, you can register on paper I believe. But for those that come to campus for the process, you are given a temporary advisor (you're assigned another one once you declare a major/get to school in the fall). This advisor helps you pick classes you should start off with first semester, teaches you how to schedule them all together in terms of timing, and shows you how Knightvision works. Knightvision is the computer program that makes registering happen. Basically you go to your page, search for the subjects and sections you want, add them to a list, and register for them.

After your first semester, students are all required to meet with their advisers (probably new ones) about how everything is going and what we are planning to take the next semester. Registration is fairly early (we're finishing up for spring semester already), but it's good to be ready and have it out of the way. Each class year is then broken up into three groups which will register on three different days. So obviously seniors register first, juniors, and so on. I was in group 3 for sophomores, so I registered with the last group of sophomores. The class year you are in is determined by number of credits, so people who came into school with extra credits may get to register a class ahead of their own. Registration starts at 7am so everyone sets their alarms to as late as possible, gets up, sits down at their computers, and waits to click the "submit" button. Then, you hold your breath and hope that when the screen reloads you have gotten into the classes you wanted.

For the most part, it's not too bad to get into classes. Obviously higher level classes will be filled up with upperclassmen first, but there's always a way to work out a problem. You can get put on the professor's wait list for the class, petition into it with a specific form, and even show up on the first day of classes and ask if there is room for you. People tend to drop out of specific classes the first week so there's always the chance a spot will open up. That's actually what I'm planning to do for one of my classes. I go into 3 of the 4 I tried to register for, so not a bad deal.

Anyway, hope that was a helpful insight into the inner workings of being a student here at SMC. If any one's got any more questions on that feel free to ask them via comment or email or facebook or whatever. Until later!

-Christine