Tips for registering for classes

With pre-registration beginning this week and open registration for spring semester classes at Parkland starting on Monday, it’s time to focus on next year already.

Those of you beginning your second semester of your first year at Parkland must see a counselor to register your classes. All students beginning their second year at Parkland who have at least 30 credit hours do not need to consult a counselor.

John Sheahan, Director of Parkland College’s Counseling and Advising Center, is in charge of registration. For those of you wondering why the minimum number of hours necessary to forgo counseling is 30, Sheahan had this to say, “We require you to get advised, which is really what the school thinks is for students’ best interests.”

“After that amount, we still recommend advising but you’re free to register on your own. That’s trying to keep the student from making mistakes.”

The 30 hours point at Parkland is roughly half-way through most degree programs.

All students that haven’t accumulated 30 hours need not worry. There will be plenty of time to make sure each student gets the courses they want. However, there are things each individual should remember before moving on to complete this process.

The most important thing about registering is the timeliness in which it is accomplished.

“Getting registered early is important, particularly since students can get the classes they want,” Sheahan said.

In other words, don’t wait until the last minute! It just heightens the risk of failing to geta class you may need to graduate.

Before coming in to register, think about a plan for your academic career ahead of time. This is true even if you are unsure of you major.

“Think about your goals, long term and short term,” Sheahan explained. “We work with a lot of undecided students. It’s good to say ‘I don’t know what I want to do’ instead of having to dig that out of people.”

The next thing to focus on for registration is the type of schedule that will work best for you. Ideally, it will fit around your lifestyle and other parts of your life.

“If you’re not a morning person, don’t take something at eight o’clock in the morning,” Sheahan said. “It’s a recipe for failure.”

If you are a morning person, go in early to your classes, and if you tend to be a late sleeper, you may not want to go in until about noon. Design a schedule so that you will guarantee being on time to your opening class every day.

One essential key for students’ success in college is determining how much of a course load they can handle. This is determined by the time available for a student in a given day free of work and social commitments.

“How much of a course load can you take, while getting and maintaining excellent grades?” Sheahan asked. “At the same time keeping work, other responsibilities and your personal life in good working order.”

Once you take all of these factors into consideration and make a decision on your course load, the focus must switch to your individual support systems. Is your financial aid, money, housing, transportation and child care, if needed, ready to deal with your absence?

“All of those things you have to have set up to enable you to concentrate your efforts on school,” Sheahan explained.

The the final step is to prepare the payment before the deadline. The deadline is December 17 for those who register on time.

Get with your parents or relatives if they are helping by supplying the money and give them notice of this deadline right away. The worst thing that could happen is you going through all these steps and then not paying on time.

“Sometimes we have cases where they’re depending on their parents to pay and their parents forget,” Sheahan pointed out. “You still get your classes cancelled.”

Those needing to see a counselor should keep in mind that no matter what time you go between now and the end of semester, there will most likely be a line. Pick a day when you have time and can afford to wait in a line.

Remember, for those students who already have 30 hours, registration is open to you now. Go to https://my.parkland.edu and get started! Those of you still in the beginning stages of your Parkland career should see a counselor as soon as possible so you’re ready when November 5 open registration hits.

Remember to consider all the steps I mentioned and do so in a timely manner in order to get the exciting fun-filled classes you want!