Course registration has taken several major steps up from recent years when all registration was done with paper, and scheduling was a painstaking process that could go on for months. Now that almost all of the registrar's functions are performed electronically, the process is much more streamlined. Still, there are some tricks that will help you get through the daunting task of choosing your classes.
Your success in registering for courses depends on any number of factors, ranging from your major to the time at which you wake up the day registration begins. Upperclassmen certainly have the benefit of earlier registration, but remember that they were once in your shoes and couldn't get into that one class they really wanted.
If you're looking to get into the large lecture courses that make up most of the prerequisites for many majors, you shouldn't have too much trouble. Big classes like Intro to Chemistry (030.101) and Intro to American Politics (190.101) are quite easy to get into, but have an unfortunate disconnect between the students and professors. Nonetheless, you need them to get the background necessary for smaller, upper-level classes.
However painful they may be at times, avoid skipping these classes if you're sure what major you will be. If you're not sure about the future of your academic career, it's not best to use large lecture courses as your litmus test for selection of your major. Try taking a 200- or 300-level course without prerequisites to find out what a specific major's classes are actually like.
Many majors boast smaller courses, such as Writing Seminars, but with this benefit comes added difficulty. You may find that even some of these introductory courses fill up relatively quickly. At times, this problem can be solved by personally contacting a professor and asking for help getting into a given class. But even this can be a shot in the dark.
For instance, Professor Freedman lets just about anyone with an add/drop slip into his History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (191.335), but Professor David's Political Violence (190.372) is practically impossible to get into. When trying to add a course that is full, make sure to get the professor's permission (his/her signature) before heading to the Registrar's office, or you'll be out of luck.
For freshmen, the one message to take away about course registration is that you are at the bottom of the totem pole, so plan early and give yourself a lot of backups. You'll be able to get into those upper-level classes in a few years when the time is right.
Don't forget about your distribution requirements, either. Depending on your major, you have to satisfy a certain number of credits in departments outside of your own. Talk to your advisor and get some tips from upperclassman who will be able to tell you that as an anthropology major you should take Sustainability (270.201) for an N credit rather than Biochemistry (020.305), as the latter will immediately take your GPA down a solid point or two.
Another option is to take care of these classes in the Intersession term between winter break and the start of the first semester. Prior to last year, students could take a three-credit course and get a grade for it as well.
The classes, however, were admittedly pretty easy, so the university decided to cut back on the number of credits (most are worth only one or two credits) and the number of graded courses. As such, Intersession isn't the treasure trove of easy A's that it used to be, but it can still help take care of distribution requirements for students.
If you are having trouble deciding which classes to take, look in the Academic Course Evaluation (ACE) Guide, which is available on the Registrar's web site.
This collection of evaluations is compiled by students, so you know that you're getting a reasonably accurate review of just about every course offered at JHU.
The most recent update to the registration system is a new Add/Drop policy. Students can no longer wait until halfway through the semester to slip in or out of a class. Beginning this September, students only have two weeks during which they can change their schedule. In very rare circumstances students can make changes during the third and fourth weeks of the semester, but there is no clear definition of what a "rare circumstance" is just yet. Make sure to drop classes before this date, because if you wait too long your transcript will be marred by a "W" (for late withdrawal).
Another thing to keep in mind is the limitation that "holds" on your University account will cause in terms of changing your schedule, or even registering at all. If you haven't paid tuition, updated your health insurance information or met with your advisor each semester, you'll have some serious difficulty getting in the classes you want to.
Some final advice: Most students use Microsoft's Internet Explorer when registering, but the large number of people signing on at 7 a.m. the day registration starts often slows down the process for over a half hour.
Consider using Mozilla's Firefox browser, which has a faster refresh rate and will get you in and out of registration in only moments. This little adjustment, among others, can make this potentially disastrous process a little less painful for you.
