Undergraduate Advising - UMass Amherst

Paul and Gabby's Tip of the Week: Registering for Classes

It's the most wonderful time of the year. Nope, it's not the Holiday season, it's time to register for Spring classes!

Here are a few important things to do before registering for your classes:

1.)Get rid of any holds on SPIRE:
When you log onto SPIRE, there will be a box that says "Holds" on the homepage on the right side of the page. Under it, it will tell you if you have a hold on your account. Holds are put on your account if you haven't done something the University needs you to do. Sometimes this is meeting with an advisor for a particular major, filling out a financial aid form, or handing in your immunization records. Get rid of any holds you have ASAP,  or you may not be able to register for Spring classes. 

2.) Figure out when your enrollment appointment is:
Right under the "Holds" box, there is a box that says "Enrollment Dates" where it tells you when your appointment to register for classes is. This is an appointment with SPIRE, not with an advisor.  Make sure you don't just look at the date, but also click "details" to find out your exact enrollment time.  Helpful hint: If your appointment is November 21st at 9:30 AM, you want to be on your computer, with classes in your shopping cart, ready to register for classes right at that time. Classes fill up fast. Sometimes courses that are open one minute are all of a sudden closed a minute later. It's disappointing to not get the classes that fit into your perfect schedule, so be prepared at your enrollment time.

3.) Meet with an advisor:
Below your enrollment appointment, SPIRE will tell you who your assigned advisor is or what department to go to for advising. Even if you think you created the perfect schedule, an advisor will make sure you are on track to fulfilling gen. ed. requirements, major requirements, foreign language, etc.  They know about all sorts of opportunities that you might not have found through a quick search for classes. If you are double majoring or have a minor in something, I would even recommend meeting someone from each major or minor you have. The more advice and specific advising you can get, the better!

For more registration help,visit us at The Academic Advising Link, Sun-Thurs 4-8PM.

Next week, we will be talking about course selections, shopping carts, and back up classes, so stay tuned!