With five registration periods under my belt, I feel like I know the ins and outs of these stressful weeks pretty well. The routine I have been using for years has become incredibly easy to pick out what courses I want to pick—but maybe that’s just because I’m a rising Senior with only a few requirements remaining. You underclassmen are lucky!

Degree Evaluation

The first step is to always log into your Degree Evaluation. You can find this on my.fairfield.edu and it will tell you all of the courses you’ve taken, your current classes and the credits that are still required for graduation. Within each section, there will only be specific courses that will register for its completion—so be sure that they are the correct CRNs. 

When you click on the courses, the site will give you a list of every single class that is offered but only a handful will actually be available for the upcoming semester. These courses will say “Fall 2023” and provide the seat number maximum and the time selections.

Plan Ahead

After noting what classes are needed and available, head over to the Course Registration tab on my.fairfield.edu. One of the sections will offer students to “Plan Ahead” and you can make multiple plans with different course selections. This is incredibly helpful when registration day comes because you can pick your first plan which will automatically register you for all of your top picks. If one or more classes are full, you can choose your backup plans instead of frantically searching for another course as seats fill up.

One big note is that if you are an underclassman or do not have priority, make sure to check if the original classes you picked are already taken up by seniors and athletes. You can find this by clicking on a class and looking at the “enrollment/waitlist” section. There were many times when I was an underclassman and prepared my schedule early but I had to frantically change it the night before because they were all full. 

Rate My Professor

As always, people will have personal opinions on whether or not they enjoyed a specific professor, but as a rule of thumb, I always like to skim through reviews. Once you see which course section you have your eye on, you can see who is teaching the class under the “instructor” tab. A quick search on the website will bring you to the course and professor rating and additional comments about a student’s experience. I would suggest not taking the comments fully to heart but more so as a guide—as far as I’m concerned, most of my professors have been amazing. 

Mix The Core With Your Degree

This doesn’t apply to all majors, but as an English Creative Writing student, there aren’t that many options offered each semester for my degree. As a freshman, I foolishly thought that if I had gotten my core classes over within my first two years of school, I could spend the last two years only taking classes that I truly enjoyed and would cater to my future career. Do not do that—otherwise, you will be like me and struggling to fulfill your degree because there aren’t enough courses available for the current semester. So, make sure to take a good look at every single class that is available for the upcoming semester because it might only be taught every three years and you’ll end up missing a class that could truly benefit or interest you!

Fall registration always takes place bright and early at 7 a.m. for every section. For seniors, registration takes place on April 11, rising juniors are scheduled to register on April 14, sophomores on April 18 and first-years on April 21. 

Are you seeking any advice? Email Brooke at brooke.lathe@student.fairfield.edu or direct message our Instagram @fairfieldmirror to be featured!

About The Author

-- Senior I Executive Editor I English Creative Writing & Digital Journalism --

Brooke is a senior English Creative Writing and Digital Journalism major, with minors in Film, Television & Media and Editing & Publishing. She plans to pursue a career in screenwriting after graduation.

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