‘It feels like a race’: How Miami students prepare for class registration

Janel Bartee is more than prepared for this year’s spring semester. The sophomore architecture and fashion design double major has been keeping up with demanding major requirements since orientation, completely remaking her first-year schedule after having been dissatisfied with the one she received. She continues this trend in the coming semester by taking 19 credit hours.

Considering the impact their choices at registration will have on their next few months at Miami University, the process can be just as challenging as it is rewarding.

Maya Woertz, a junior communication design major, said the most grueling part of registration seems to be the simple act of signing up for courses, especially since most students aren’t guaranteed a spot in any class.

“It’s a bit of a headache trying to get into your classes as fast as you can,” she said. “It feels like a race, almost.”

For Woertz and many others, the unease doesn’t end on registration day. If a class fills up, students can submit a registration override request in hopes of securing a spot but may have to wait multiple days before knowing if it's accepted or not. In many cases, this isn’t isolated to just one course.

“This past time I registered, I had to submit like five or six override requests,” Woertz said. “Everything was filled up, it was obnoxious.”

Even though students are, in some ways, working against the clock, there are several resources designed to help ease the process. Keisha Norris, an advisor in the College of Engineering and Computing, spoke to the usefulness of a student’s Degree Audit Report (DAR), describing it as the main tool that advisors use to help students graduate.

“I use the DAR almost religiously, because that’s my job,” Norris said.

While Norris recognizes that the dynamic between a student and their advisor can vary across Miami’s nearly 19,000 students and more than 40 advisors, she emphasizes the importance of communication.

“My big thing with students and with all people, even in my own life, is [to] say what you don’t know,” Norris said. “You got to tell me, I can’t help you unless you tell me.”

Spencer McCrae, a junior computer science major, found his own way of preparing for registration while still utilizing the resources made available to him. He sets an appointment with his advisor every semester and uses his DAR to help identify the courses he wants to take, but he believes there is room for improvement when it comes to navigating Bannerweb.

“I think the DAR is fine as is, [but] I wish the tools surrounding it were better,” he said.

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McCrae said he’s found other ways for him to prepare for registration, such as spreadsheets made by his advisor that go into further detail about the courses that he needs. McCrae referred to them as a “godsend.”

He also uses a site called Coursicle, a free software that helps students visually organize their schedules.

Bartee, Woertz and McCrae have all prepared under different circumstances. Their majors, advisors and even their years of experience have had different effects on how they plan for their next semester at Miami, yet their willingness to be prepared remains the same.

bowsers2@miamioh.edu