Howdy!

Our next semester is around the corner, and it’ll be here before we know it! I compiled a list of useful tips and resources for you to use when registering for your classes! This guide is primarily for Texas A&M but certain tools are useful for ALL college registration processes!

The Registration Run-Down

There’s some lingo to be familiar with when getting ready to register for your classes!

• CRN: Course Reference Number; this is important to be aware of for your classes! Since Texas A&M updated their registration app, it’s not as significant, however, this number is essentially the ID # associated with the specific section of a class you want.

• When adding a course to your schedule, you will click the “Add” button, however, it will be “pending” until you press “submit“. DON’T FORGET TO PRESS SUBMIT. In fact, I would just press submit after every single thing you add so you don’t lose your spot in the class.

• There are abbreviated words under the “Status” column in the TAMU registration app. “Act:” means Actual, the current, actual amount of students in the class right now. “Max:“, pretty self-explanatory, the max amount of students the class can hold. “Avl:” means Available, the number of seats available in the class. Sometimes you will see a negative number in the “Avl:” spot, this means there have been students that were forced into the class.

• Force-Request: Some departments have forms you fill out and email to your advisor during registration and some have online submission forms. If you are a freshman, it’s possible you can email the advising office of your department and ask to be forced into a class. However, I think the advisors in your department would have notified you of this option before if it were available. It’s always worth a shot! You will learn throughout college to never be afraid of sending an email!
• NOTE: IF YOU ARE A FRESHMAN, FOLLOW THIS LINK TO READ MORE ABOUT DORMS!

Registering for your classes can be a scary and stressful thing for literally any and every student. Everyone wants so badly to get the schedule they’ve been staring at and dreaming about for the past 3 days! I’m sorry to tell you, these feelings don’t really go away with time, but the process can get easier once you get used to it! Use these 10 tips and tricks for smoother class registration routines!

1. Become very well acquainted with AggieScheduler! The new TAMU registration update has a visual schedule tool, but it’s not nearly as clean, visually appealing, and user-friendly as AggieScheduler. I didn’t know about it coming into my freshman year, but I have used it ever since! It’s super easy to use, this is generally where I “build” my schedule then I transfer my CRN’s over to Howdy! Keep in mind, you need to sign in with your TAMU email.

2. When “building” your schedule, try to evenly distribute your classes. I would recommend not taking more than 3-4 classes in one day. It can seriously get exhausting being in lectures all day long! Try to avoid 8 am’s unless you’re seriously a morning person! I’ve had one semester with 8 am’s… it did not go well is all I will say. Keep an open mind! This is sometimes a strenuous and stressful process, but it always works out. And it is NOT the end of the world if you have a sucky schedule every now and then. You’ll get through it!
3. Use and abuse (not rlly, jokes, jokes) Rate My Professor! I’ve taken a small handful of classes where RMP has been way off, but for the most part, it’s been pretty spot-on for me! Rate my professor is a nationally used online resource that houses reviews for professors across the country. It’s definitely a helpful tool when building your schedule! It helps make a final decision when you are deciding between different sections. But remember that RMP could very well be misleading, and it is not always accurate.
4. Another resource, similar to Rate My Professor, but I would say it’s arguably better, is TAMU Grade Distribution. Grade distribution is the amount A’s, B’s, C’s, D’s, etc. in a professor’s class. This is important to note because it gives you REAL numbers from the TAMU Registrar. Often times RMP is useful in noting the personality or workload of a prof, but the grade distribution should give you a better idea of how hard that class will be, and who the best prof is in terms of grades.

5. When you get to the point where you feel like you have the best schedule you can get, ALWAYS have a plan B. I don’t think my plan A has ever worked out, honestly. I’ve never had the most hours/credits so I didn’t get the earliest registration times. It always worked out okay, but usually, I was prepared and expected for it to not go my way.
6. If you are a freshman, hopefully, you’ve heard this a million times… But seriously TAKE IT EASY on the number of classes you take! You should not take more than 4 classes in your first semester REGARDLESS of whatever anyone tells you. I was a stellar student in high school, with all the extracurriculars and executive positions and I let my pride get the best of me. I literally retook Calculus I after passing the AP exam, and I still got a C in it when I tried to take it with 16 hours AND I Q-dropped history. Long story short, college classes ain’t no joke, so take it seriously.
7. Talk to upperclassmen in your major. Luckily, it is so easy to find each other with Twitter and Instagram! And also, Aggies are literally the nicest people I’ve ever met. If you search an upper-classmen hashtag (such as #tamu22) and just send a DM to any of the people you find, ask them if they know anyone with your major! I would be willing to bet that whoever you message would be able to point you in the right direction! Don’t be shy! Make a friend!
8. Something that would really be worth checking before you finalize your schedule is the distance between your classes. If you have a class on Northside and 20 minutes after it lets out you have a class on West Campus… Good luck Charlie. Check how far away your classes are from each other! Fortunately, our busses are sometimes awesome, sometimes (most the time) the Aggie Spirit is always late in their schedule. BUT it’s definitely worth being prepared and finding ways to get to class if there’s no way around it! The busses are good, so are the bike rentals or your own bike!
9. Whenever it comes time to sit down and actually do the dang thing, make sure you have good wifi! Registration can be SUCH a pain with slow wifi. Add the most important classes or the best sections first. They go quickly!! Be prepared to scoot into the registration portal as fast as you can and add your classes! Be prepared and create your registration worksheet beforehand. TAMU has a really cool option where you can add all the classes in your sheet at once. Some may already be full, but at least you got the ones that were available right away!
10. Don’t panic if the sections you need are all full! Often times, the sections you want open up if you are diligent about checking them all the time. Just add and submit whatever classes you can, then email your advisor! They may force you into the classes you need, or you can wait until Add/Drop week. Add/Drop week is the first week of classes, it’s also known as Syllabus Week. Basically, when all the professors are going over what they expect from you, this is the time to decide if you want to keep that class, and also keep an eye out for classes that other people are dropping!
11. Lastly, try to take one fun or creative class a semester to balance the workload and stress. I am an engineering major, and it’s not always possible for me to take fun classes every semester. I’ve been able to make do with what I have available and it hasn’t been bad! Look into your ICD electives (ask your advisor about these) and pick some classes that are actually interesting to you! Look into KINES classes, some of them have awesome field trips you go on with your class. Yes, college has field trips!

Phew, this post got really long really fast. Although, I hope it’s helpful to you! This is a really good place to start if you’re worried or anxious about registration! If you’ve been through the registration process a time or two, I hope this reminded you of things to keep handy! Comment below some of your tips for registration or find me on social media!

Screenshots taken from howdy.tamu.edu.