How to Register Guide

Self-Service is a platform through which you can plan your coursework, register for classes, view your registration holds, manage your Financial Aid, Student Account, and view your grades.

All courses from the L&C undergraduate catalog are loaded into Self-Service. A course description will tell you what that class is about, when it might be offered, pre-requisites, etc.

A section is a course that has been scheduled for a specific semester - it has dates, times, and locations assigned. This is the only accurate way to know when a course is actually being taught. Many courses will have multiple sections being taught each semester.

You may plan courses for any year or semester in Self-Service, but it’s possible that the course will be offered in a different term than what you’ve planned. 

To see course sections offered in the upcoming semester:

1. Log into Self-Service
2. From the home page, click on “Course Catalog”.
3. Using the “Advanced Search” and “Section Listing” selection, select the term you want to search for course sections.
   
   You can then search for specific subjects, filter by days of the week, time of day, or use the “Course Type” drop-down menu to filter by course sections that satisfy general education requirements or interdisciplinary major/minor requirements.
4. Click “Search” and your results will populate the next page.
   
   To see all course sections that are open, check the “Open Sections Only” box.
5. Click the blue “Add” button to add a section to your plan. You can add as many sections as you would like to your schedule for the following semester - it will be helpful to have your first choice sections and 3-5 back-up options. Please note that adding a section to your plan does not automatically register you for the course.
6. To view what’s already been added in your list, click on the “Academics” (graduation hat) tab on the left sidebar and then click “Register for Classes”.
   
   On your schedule, click the advance arrow -> to bring up the following term (CAS Fall 2026). This will show you a list of the sections you’ve added to your schedule in a weekly format.
   
   You can adjust this on your schedule now by removing one of the sections, or leave all options on your schedule as alternatives in case your first-choice sections are full when you register.
7. To be enrolled as a full-time student you must register for a minimum of 12 credits. We recommend that you register for 14 - 17 credits in your first semester. You can register for a maximum of 19 credits.

In order for registration to work, course sections must be in your schedule/plan, it must be your designated registration time, and you must not have any holds. Please note that in future semesters, you will also need your Faculty Advisor’s permission to register.

We recommend Method 1 for registration for classes without co-requisites because it allows you to easily see time conflicts, add yourself to waitlists, and see available seats.

1. At your registration time, log in to Self-Service.
2. Click on “Academics” in the far left menu bar (graduation hat icon).
3. Click on “Register for Courses”.
4. Under the “Schedule” tab, click the advance arrow -> to bring up the following term (select the term you are registering for, e.g., CAS-Fall 20xx). You can see the course sections you’ve planned for that term.
   
   In the list view of your planned sections to the left, check to make sure that the course has available seats.
   
   The calendar view to the right allows you to see if you have planned any courses that have time conflicts - it is not uncommon for students to have planned courses that conflict with each other, since we encourage you to add 3 - 5 back-ups to your plan.
5. Verify that you meet the prerequisite and/or restriction requirements for the section by clicking on the course title.
6. Click “Register” under a single section to register for one course at a time. Sections you’ve successfully registered for will appear in green. Additionally, you will receive an email message confirming registration.
   
   You can also confirm your registration by clicking on “Timeline”. Each section that you are registered for in an upcoming semester will have a check mark next to it.

**NOTE: Clicking the Register Now button above the calendar will register you for all sections you’ve put in your schedule in alphabetical order.

Further information is available on the Office of the Registrar’s website.

This method lets you register from your Self-Service Home Page. In order for registration to work, course sections must be in your schedule/plan, it must be your designated registration time, you cannot have any holds, and you must have registration permission from your faculty advisor.

1. At your registration time, log in to Self-Service.
2. From the Home page, click the “Register” button (if this button doesn’t display, you are not ready to register because one of the above criteria has not been met).
3. A pop-up box will display the sections you have added to your schedule. Select the sections you want to register for.
   
   During round 1 of registration, you may select one section that does not have a co-requisite, or one section and its co-requisite lab, discussion, and/or conference. If you are registering for a class that has a co-requisite lab, discussion, and/or conference, all associated sections must be registered for at the same time (more information below).
4. Click “Register”.
5. You will receive a pop-up message confirming your registration. You will also receive an email confirmation.
   
   If your registration was not successful, it may be because the section is full, there is a time conflict, or you have not met the course prerequisites and/or restriction requirements (a pop-up message will show the errors). Follow Method 1 registration steps above to see these issues and register.

Further information is available on the Office of the Registrar’s website. 

Many courses have co-requisites, which means that there is more than one component of the class. You must register for all aspects of the course simultaneously. In fact, Self-Service will not allow you to register for one part or the other of the course on its own. For example, if you are interested in taking General Chemistry, you can register for both CHEM 110-01, a lecture section, and CHEM 110L-03, a lab section (or any lecture and lab pairing that fits with your schedule). Another example is German 101: Beginning German I, which has a required discussion section, German 101D: Beginning German I Discussion.

You cannot use Method 1 above to register for a course with a co-requisite because you cannot register for more than one aspect of a course at a time that way. Instead, follow these steps:

1. At your registration time, login to Self-Service.
2. Click on “Academics” in the far left menu bar (graduation hat icon).
3. Click on “Register for Courses”.
4. Under the “Schedule” tab, click the advance arrow -> to bring up the following term (CAS Fall 2026). Verify that you’ve added all aspects of course section (including labs/conferences/discussions) to your schedule, you have met the pre-requisites, and that all parts of the section have available seats.
   
   You can also click “View other Sections” to see alternate options for that course and add them directly to your schedule.
5. Make a note of the specific sections you want to register for (for example, CHEM 110-01 and CHEM 110L-03).
6. Click “Home” (the house icon) on the far left menu, and then “Register”.
7. Select the specific section combinations you made note of.
8. Click “Register”.
   
   You will receive a pop-up message confirming your registration. You will also receive an email confirmation.

Further information is available on the Office of the Registrar’s webpage.

In order to register for some courses, you must first have completed a prerequisite for the course or met the course restrictions. If you do not meet the required criteria to register for a section, but the instructor wants to allow you to register for it, the instructor must provide the correct type of permission.

Instructors can provide you permission to override the following prerequisites or restrictions if they choose:

• Prerequisite waiver: allows you to register for a section if you do not meet one or more of the prerequisites. For example, SOAN 309: Labors of Love requires you to first complete SOAN 100 or SOAN 110, as well as two 200-level sociology/anthropology courses.
  
  The majority of 100-level STEM classes require you to have a score of 53 or above, to have taken/be enrolled in QR 101, or to have equivalent AP/IB scores, before you can register for them.
• Override restriction: allows you to register for a section if you don’t meet the restriction. Restrictions are things like requiring Sophomore standing or having a declared SOAN major.
• Override Instructor Consent. Some sections required you to obtain consent from the instructor before registering at all (this is often true with Thesis sections).
• Add-Authorization: This is only needed during the Add/Drop period, but it is needed for every section that you wish to add during the Add/Drop period.

If you have communicated with the instructor of a course and they have agreed to give you permission to join a course, you can verify that they have done so by:

1. Login to Self-Service.
2. Click on Academics in the far left menu bar (graduation hat icon).
3. Click on Register for Courses.
4. Click Permissions.

In order to register for a course for which you do not meet the registration criteria, you must have the correct permission from the instructor, and there must be an open spot in the section.