Parents, families, and student supporters,
You play an integral role in your undergraduate student's college experience, and we welcome the opportunity to collaborate with you to ensure their success. Your student will have the best opportunity to register in the classes they need and want when they register at their first available registration time. We invite you to help us make sure your student is prepared for Spring 2025 registration by asking the following questions:
- What day do you register?
- When is your appointment with your academic advisor? Academic advisors each have a case load of approximately 300 students. They started pre-registration appointments the week after Labor Day. Don't wait until the last minute to make an appointment, as times fill up fast!
- Have you reviewed DegreeWorks so you know which courses you need to take and if there are other courses that fulfill those requirements?
- Have you completed your undergraduate advising worksheet?
- Do you have several alternate sections and courses identified in case you do not receive a seat in your preferred section? Remember that some students are going to have to take classes at 8:00 AM.
- Do you know what to do if you receive a registration error?
- Do you understand how wait lists work? Do you know how to check your position on the wait list or determine if it is likely that you will receive a seat? Have you signed up to receive text notifications if a wait list seat becomes available?
- Do you have holds for immunization records, freshman requirement completion (Alcohol.edu, Sexual Assault Prevention, Hazing Prevention), or parking tickets that will prevent you from registering at your registration time? To ensure holds are cleared in time for registration, students need to provide staff with at least one working day to process documentation or payments.
- Are you reading your bobcats email?
And, then, the day before their registration date, please ask:
- Did you set your alarm (and maybe a backup) so you are up, awake, logged into MyGCSU/PAWS, and ready to register at 7 AM sharp?
Students may receive errors during registration. They may need to practice problem solving or reach out to an academic advisor or campus office to obtain additional assistance. The Registrar's Office in Parks Hall 103 (478-445-6286) and the Academic Advising Center in Lanier Hall (478-445-2361) will be open each morning by 6:45 AM. Academic advisors will also be available in the library on Thursday morning beginning at 6:45 AM to provide support for freshmen registering on their own for the first time.
Remind your student that even if their schedule is not "perfect" on the day they register, registration is a process, not a one-time event. Once a student's registration time begins, it will remain open through the fifth day of Spring classes. There will be numerous opportunities to add, drop, or change their schedule in the months before the semester begins. There are also many people on campus to help them. If they have an issue or are stuck, the worst thing they can do is not ask for help.
And if you need more help to help your student, please also feel free to reach out to us. Even if we do not have your student's permission to share their information, we can provide information, outline practices and policies, and give you suggestions to pass on to your student.