Registration FAQs
Registration for the following semester for continuing students begins the ninth week of class. Check the Academic Calendar for the specific dates as well as details on summer and winter enrollment, withdrawal deadlines, and other important dates.
Quick Registration Checklist:
- Check the Academic Calendar and make note of all important term dates.
- Check if you have any holds on your account and resolve them ASAP, prior to the start of registration.
- Check your specific enrollment appointment (aka "pick time") in StudentAdmin - this is determined by how many credits you have completed, and assigned by the Registrar's Office.
- Check your remaining requirements by completing a self-audit.
- You may or may not need to complete required advising through the School of Business before you can register for courses. Generally, students with required advising will have an "Advising Hold" in StudentAdmin. Regularly check your UConn email, follow provided instructions, and schedule an advising appointment if required.
- Prepare for your pick time, and use provided resources (the Catalog, our Registration FAQs, Drop-In Advising Hours, even Google) if you have questions.
Below you will find answers to some of the most common questions students have when they are registering for classes. Please note, further tutorials about how to use the various class search, course planning, and enrollment tools in StudentAdmin can be found on the StudentAdmin Help page.
What classes do I register for?
Conduct a self-audit to determine which classes you should register for. Instructions are available here.
What is a self-audit? A self-audit is both a progress check on the academic and course requirements you have completed thus far, and the creation of an enrollment plan for your upcoming semester(s). Self-audits are based on your transcript, your plan of study, and your Academic Requirements Report in Student Admin.
Why do I need to complete a self-audit? It is important for you to take ownership of your academic and course requirements. It is ultimately your responsibility as a student to understand and complete all of your requirements in order to reach graduation. It is also more efficient for you to have a thorough understanding of your requirements and academic plan so that you can ask educated questions of your Advisor, and so that your advising appointments can be more productive.
Visit this webpage for guidance on choosing electives and gen eds.
How do I search for and enroll in classes?
Log into StudentAdmin to enroll or adjust your schedule, beginning at your pick time and through the add/drop period of that term. See the video below for step-by-step instructions.
How can I add/drop/swap courses if I need to change my schedule after I've already registered?
During the open enrollment period (check these dates in the “Enrollment Dates” box in your Student Center) you can add/drop/swap courses at your discretion without any marks on your transcript. Between week 2 and week 9 of the term (look at the Academic Calendar on the Registrar’s website for specific dates), any approved dropped courses will have a “W” (withdrawal) recorded on your transcript.
How to add a course in Student Admin
How to drop a course in Student Admin
How to swap a course in Student Admin
Why do I get an error message after trying to enroll in a course?
An error message that appears after trying to register for a course can indicate a variety of enrollment issues. Look specifically at what the error message says to know what next steps to take. The two most frequently encountered errors deal with not having the prerequisites (see What is a prerequisite/corequisite? below) or the course having a reserve capacity (see What is a reserve capacity? below).
Another issue is that some courses are set up to require instructor consent. This means that you must request a permission number to be allowed to enroll through StudentAdmin (see How do I request a permission number? below). You can see if a course requires instructor consent in StudentAdmin, looking at the class details.
What is a reserve capacity? Can I still get a seat in the course?
Some departments will choose to reserve seats for certain groups of students (majors only, honors only, seniors only, etc.). Ultimately if you cannot self-enroll, you don’t meet the reserve capacity requirement so you should try to find another section or class for which to register.
Many times a course may look “open” but those seats are all reserved. Using the Dynamic Class Search in StudentAdmin is helpful because you can see how many “unreserved” seats remain (or if seats have been reserved for you), so you can build a schedule with classes in which you can register. The link to the Dynamic Class Search is on your Student Center, and also found under the Self-Service drop-down menu.
After all groups have been able to register, departments may release the reserve capacities and allow anyone who meets the pre-requisites to enroll into open seats. So, keep looking in the registration system as the start of the semester approaches and you may find that more seats are available. If it is a course that you need for a minor, you may want to try to submit a permission number request (see How do I request a permission number? below).
Sometimes courses are reserved for students in a specific major: if you wish to change you major within business, you can view Business major change procedures on our forms page.
How to use the Dynamic Class Search
After all groups have been able to register, departments may release the reserve capacities and allow anyone who meets the pre-requisites to enroll into open seats. So, keep looking in the registration system as the start of the semester approaches and you may find that more seats are available. If it is a course that you need for a minor, you may want to try to submit a permission number request (see How do I request a permission number? below).
Sometimes courses are reserved for students in a specific major: if you wish to change you major within business, you can view Business major change procedures on our forms page.
How to use the Dynamic Class Search
What is a prerequisite/corequisite?
Prerequisites are requirements (courses, credit standing, a declared major, etc.) that have to be completed or obtained prior to taking the desired course. If you are currently enrolled in a pre-requisite course and are enrolling in the next term, StudentAdmin will assume you will complete that course and permit you to enroll in future courses that use your current enrolled courses as pre-reqs. Note that if you are taking a pre-req course over the summer at a different institution, you cannot enroll in a course with it as a pre-req until you complete that course and it is posted on your UConn transcript. See our Transferring Credit page for more options and details.
If a course is listed as a corequisite, it can be taken at the same time as the desired course. You must first enroll in the co-req course, before enrolling in the course requiring the co-req.
How can I find out if I meet the prerequisites for a course?
The prerequisites for a course are located in the Undergraduate Catalog (catalog.uconn.edu) and also listed in the Class Detail section in StudentAdmin that you see after searching for a course. Prerequisites must be posted to your UConn transcript for the system to recognize that you meet them (AP and transfer courses may take time to post—run your unofficial transcript to confirm the prerequisites are on your UConn transcript). If the prerequisites are not on your transcript, the system will not allow you to enroll. If you are enrolled in a prerequisite at UConn over the summer (it is on your UConn transcript), the system will recognize that and assume you will finish the course, and allow you to enroll in a course requiring that prerequisite for the Fall (even if you have not yet finished the course yet over the summer).
How do I request a permission number? How do I use it to enroll?
Non Business courses: Email the instructor
Business courses: Submit an online permission number request
A permission number allows a student to override the restrictions placed by the registration system—most commonly overriding a class that is full. Each department and school at the university manages this process differently. A good general rule of thumb for non-Business courses is to email the instructor (you can look up contact information at phonebook.uconn.edu/) to ask for a permission number. You could also contact the department by searching for the department name and contact information on the UConn website (example: google "UConn undergraduate History department" to look for contact information). This is a good strategy for a course that does not have an instructor listed. In the School of Business, however, every permission number is requested through an online permission number request form, available at undergrad.business.uconn.edu/forms. Your request will go to the appropriate department (Finance Department, Accounting Department, etc.) and you will be contacted by the department directly if a permission number can be granted to you. Requests for permission numbers are not guarantees of enrollment, since they are given out at the discretion of the department based on a number of different factors. If granted a permission number, enter it in the designated area in the top right hand corner of the course enrollment page in StudentAdmin.
How can I tell if a course fulfills a content area requirement?
The Undergraduate Catalog can be used to find out if a course fulfills a content area. The catalog is available online at catalog.uconn.edu. Navigate to the "Contents" and then "General Education Requirements."
On this webpage, you can download a full list of all courses that satisfy Content Area Requirements.
In addition, you can search for courses by Content Area in the University Catalog by clicking "Courses" and then "Course Search."
You will also notice that each course description (in the course directory) will list any content area that the course fulfills (i.e. “CA 2”) at the end of the course description.
On this webpage, you can download a full list of all courses that satisfy Content Area Requirements.
In addition, you can search for courses by Content Area in the University Catalog by clicking "Courses" and then "Course Search."
You will also notice that each course description (in the course directory) will list any content area that the course fulfills (i.e. “CA 2”) at the end of the course description.
How do I use Schedule Builder?
View screenshots here, or watch the video below for instructions.
What happens when I am waitlisted?
Some departments use a waitlist to give students a chance to obtain a seat in a course that is currently full. You must select the appropriate box while enrolling through StudentAdmin to indicate you would like to be put on a waitlist for a course. From there, you may get a permission number to enroll, see more details about the process on the Registrar's waitlist page.
How can I find a list of "W" or "E" courses being offered each semester?
While there is no published list of all "W" or "E" courses being offered each semester you can search for them in StudentAdmin.
Click on the Manage Classes button.
From the menu on the left-hand side of the page, click on Class Search and Enroll.
Click on the Additional ways to search link below the Search for Classes field.
Search for "E" and/or "W" classes using the parameters pictured below.
Once you have made your selections, click the search button. A list of search results will display.
