Rob Hasker's Survival Guide
for Advance Registration
It's time to play the registration game again! But first, you need a game
plan. If you're one of my advisees, please sign up for an advising
session so we can discuss what courses you should take next semester.
Note that you will need to use my online signup sheet to make an
appointment; there is no signup sheet on my office door. The system will
require you to sign up at least 12 hours in advance, and you should sign up
for a time reasonably close to when you register so we can make sure the
classes you want are open. Sign up soon!
I advise students who are interested in Software Engineering and Computer
Science. If you've decided to switch to another major, you should switch
advisors to someone in that major so you're more likely to get into the
right classes. I'm always happy to talk to students and I'll certainly try
to help you out if you have questions about different majors, but like most
advisors I don't have detailed knowledge about what you should take for the
other majors and so won't be able to give you your PIN. If
you're totally unsure of what major to pick, I strongly suggest talking to
the Advising &
Career Exploration Services office. If you're interested in
engineering but not sure which area, talk to someone in General Engineering.
Strategy
If you don't have one yet, get a major's checklist that shows what classes
you've taken and which ones you still need. These are available at the
departmental office; you might also find one online. Mark which
courses you've taken to help you track what you still need.
When you come for advising, you should bring a list of at least 5 or 6
classes you'd be interested in taking next semester. Your list should
include both classes in your major and classes which satisfy general
educational requirements. For first and second year students, top
priorities include CS 1430, CS 2430, CS 2630, Calculus, Discrete
Math, and English Composition.
Note that I generally am not concerned about your exact schedule;
that is, I'm not worried about which sections of a class you take. I
figure you can make those sorts of decisions for yourself. What I
am concerned about is which classes you take in general; for
example, Software Engineering majors shouldn't take Conceptual Physics to
satisfy general educational requirements since they're required to take
General Physics I anyways.
General Engineering students: be sure to bring your advising folder
to your advising session! You can get it from the General Engineering
office in Otts 153.
Tips on Picking Classes
- Use UWPClasses (or
PASS, if that works better for you) to make up your schedule.
- Be sure to check prerequisites! The online class schedules don't list
prerequisites, so you'll need to check them out in the
catalog.
- Review the requirements your major; the CS &
SE programs are
online, but refer to the online catalog for other
information.
- If you haven't done so, read through the section on "General
Educational Requirements and Approved Courses" in your catalog. The list of
General Education courses offered next term is available at the CSSE advising site.
- When picking general educational classes, try to pick ones which also
satisfy international education or ethnic and gender studies requirements.
Of course, these classes are very popular, so you may not be able to
sign up for them in your first or second year. But there's no harm trying!
Just be sure to pick useful alternates as well.
- Some classes--especially CS 2430, CS 2630, Calculus, and
Physics--require a lot of time. Try to balance these with classes
having smaller workloads.
- Work out a daily schedule. Note that Monday / Wednesday / Friday class
times between 10am and 2pm are extremely popular, so if your registration
time is late then you might not be able to get into a popular class during
these times. I'm not concerned about which sections you take, so you can
decide if you prefer early morning or late afternoon and evening.
Bring a printout of your schedule to your advising session to speed
things up.
The Game Plan
Note! There's a lot you should do before
coming to an advising session. The key thing is to read up on general
educational requirements; knowing the rules for these is critical for
making sure you don't have to take extra classes down the road.
- Log in to PASS
and see when you can register by clicking on "Registration Appointment".
You will not be able to register until this time has passed and until you
have entered your registration PIN (which you must get from your advisor).
- Students in General Engineering only (those who
are not yet officially software engineering majors): obtain your advising
folder from the General Engineering office in Otts.
(I already have
the folders for computer science and official software engineering majors.)
- Using the above tips, figure out which classes you'd like to take.
- Use UWPClasses
to make up a schedule. You can also do it through PASS, but some find it
like trying to measure the length of the Mississippi with M&M's.
Note that UWPClasses will allow you to save your schedule on a
disk or USB memory stick so you can reload it later.
- Sign up for an advising session online.
- Come to your advising session. If you're still a general engineering
student, don't forget your advising folder! Also, bring a printout of your
anticipated schedule.
- Get your registration PIN from me.
- Right after you get the PIN, type it in to remove your advising hold.
- At the appropriate time, register using PASS.
- Send me email (using hasker) if you had to make
significant changes to your schedule. I'm not worried about
changes in sections, but I do need to know if you change what classes
you're going to be taking.
By the way, if you end up changing your classes at the beginning of the
next semester (possibly because you failed to meet a requirement for a
class that you signed up to take), please talk to me or send me
email before changing to a new class. This is especially
important with classes related to your major. If you take the wrong class,
you may have to stay in school for an extra semester or year, costing you
tens of thousands in lost wages!
For more useful information related to advising, registration, and classes,
check out the following web sites: