How to Survive Florida Tech Class Registration

The night of class registration is one of the most stressful nights of any semester and students often have different ways of handling it. Below I’ve outlined my survival guide to making sure you have the best chance of registering for your classes the way you want to, and if you’re like me, with as few 8 a.m. classes as possible.

1) Make sure you visit your academic advisor at least two weeks before the evening of registration. They’ll help you decide which classes you need to register for and then it’s up to you to determine which section you want.

2) Go to the semester schedule of classes for the semester you’ll be registering for (Search for “Florida Tech Spring/Fall Schedule of Classes”) and find all the classes your advisor says you need.

3) Copy all sections of those classes to an excel sheet (just copy the whole row in the schedule so that you capture the CRN # and other registration information). By copying them all to one place it saves you from having to go searching through the larger schedule and it’s also editable so as you eliminate sections you can narrow down your future schedule.

4) Go to ratemyprofessor.com and check out the reviews on the professors that teach your potential classes. Another invaluable source for determining which professor to take is asking around. Start with your older friends— they will probably have the best insight.

5) Determine if you want to choose a class for its professor or because of its time. More often than not you’re going to have to make tradeoffs. It all depends on personal preferences. Do you want the great professor or do you want the class that starts at 10 a.m. vs. 8 a.m.?

6) Log into PAWS and make sure you don’t have any holds on your account. These can vary from medical holds from the health center to financial holds from the financial aid office. If you have any holds on your account, you won’t be able to register for classes.

7) Sometimes you might need to revisit your academic advisor with your final potential schedule and get them to “FLIP YOUR FLAG” as they say. If they don’t flip your flag, it’s another hold that’s placed on your account, keeping you from registering for classes.

8) On the night of registration have your CRN numbers ready and be logged into PAWS by 11:50 p.m. so you can register quickly at midnight.

9) Try and get into the group of people that get to register early. This includes: seniors, athletes, ROTC, veterans, flight students, Student Government, admissions tour guides and anyone that writes for The Crimson newspaper.

10) If you don’t get into your classes before the system crashes, chances are you will have to walk around campus the next day to get closed class forms signed because the classes filled up before you could join them.

Best of luck with future registrations!