Registration begins

Come every mid-semester, registration for classes hangs over the heads of VCU students.

It’s every student’s favorite time of year to stress out about next semester’s schedules, overrides and 8 a.m. classes.

Senior mass communications major Raven Williams said procrastination goes hand in hand with registration woes.

“When you’re unprepared, you won’t be able to get your desired classes,” she said.

Advising for some students is scheduled for their convenience. Marilyn Day, a freshman adviser for the past four years, said that since freshmen entered the STAR program, they’ve been scheduled at appropriate times for guidance about their second semester at VCU.

Day also said students who are not assigned to a specific adviser will be broken up by major, granting them more informative advice for their academic path.

In August, VCU opened a more centralized advising atmosphere with the introduction of the University College. Seth Sykes, associate dean of undergraduate academic advising, said the need for the UC arose from concerns of students who were sent to different parts of campus for advising.

“It (University College) makes advising more consistent for first-year students,” he said.

Some students, like senior political science major Morgan Smith, have had communication problems with advisers.

“When I was a freshman, I was given some misinformation by an adviser about a qualifying test, and I ended up having to take a remedial course at J. Sergeant Reynolds Community College,” Smith said.

On other occasions, Smith said advisers referred him to handbooks to answer his questions instead of personally answering them.

Despite bad habits or ill advising, students like Smith realize the importance of preparedness.

“Keep track of dates, and prepare different schedules to ready yourself for unexpected changes,” Smith recommended.

Williams said students have to be on their toes the first hour of registering to successfully acquire their schedules.

“Sign up as fast as you can. Don’t wait for another class because it makes it that much harder,” Williams said.

Developing multiple schedules is always a good idea because some classes fill up quickly, and some require pesky pre-requisites. A student also must have an updated immunization to register.

“Don’t assume everything will be available. Have two or three alternate schedules readily available on your registration date,” Sykes said.

Commuter students who are not within walking distance of campus can be just as prepared as students who have daily access to VCU’s facilities. VCU makes it easy for students to find out about the upcoming schedule of classes by putting the information in PDF form on the university Web site.

Even with these options, there is still a problem with registration.

“With eServices, everyone signs on at the same time to register. The network just doesn’t allow it, so it makes it a slow and grueling process for impatient students,” Smith said. Sykes said eServices must have technical problems, which need to be looked at.

“eServices is slow mostly on the freshman and sophomore registration dates. It literally takes hours for unprepared students to develop a schedule,” he said.

Preparation is key to the art of scheduling, so beware of the potholes in the path to registration.

With honors and senior registration already underway, registration for the rest of VCU students is right around the corner.