As a graduating senior here at Fairfield University, I can truly say that I am glad to leave the stresses of registration in the past. In all of my four years here, the registration process has never been in my favor. Whether it had been that all the classes I needed were already full or the registration website would crash during my designated time, there was always something that made registration season stressful. Honestly, who wouldn’t be stressed when it comes to scheduling your future classes that you need in order to graduate?

At least as my past four years progressed, the registration process became a little easier to follow and more classes were available to those still needing to fulfill credits as their junior and senior years commenced. However, now the registration process has yet again been disrupted for incoming and rising students.

The registration process at Fairfield has a reputation for continuous change and causes of major confusion in students over and over again. Despite this fact, maybe my senior expertise can help all of you out and make this process go a little smoother.

So what has changed?

Luckily, the registration website’s format for the registration process is completely unchanged. However, the newest change to the system is the order and time at which a student registers.

Registration times are no longer scheduled based on student year but rather by how many credits each student has completed or are in the process of completing this semester. Also, instead of having specific time slots for students to register by based on the first letter on students’ last names, which in my opinion helped prevent the website from crashing, all students on their appointed day will be able to begin registration at 7 a.m. Students with 90+ credits will have an earlier registration date than students with 60-89 credits and so on. Student athletes also get their own registration dates according to credit completion and before all non-athlete students who have the same credit completion.

Theoretically, I feel that this is a good way to ensure students who are in need of specific credits  that they will obtain the courses needed.

In reality though, and from past experience, this is a hot mess waiting to happen.

With the large amount of students all registering at the same time, fighting for the classes they desire, the registration site is bound to crash at some point. The stress students already undergo when it comes to registration will be high, and having the website crash or a glitch occur will only enhance students’ stress and a possible frenzy may break out.

Also, there may be a rising senior who only has 89 credits or less, which means that they will be categorized with those who have 60-89 credits, most likely rising juniors. Those students will have a harder time registering for necessary courses due to their lack of credit completion because they will have to register at a later date than the rest of their rising senior class.

Let’s just say I am relieved that registration is in my past.

I want to say something to students who are stressed about registration: take a deep breath. If you really need a class, you will eventually get into it. It’s not worth stressing over something that will eventually work out for you in the future.

Good luck to my fellow Stags and keep on going! You’re almost there!

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