Tips for Class Selection (at SCAD)
Disclaimer: This post is based on my experience in at SCAD where we take 3 classes a week and run on a quarter system (10 weeks per quarter: 3 quarters = 1 academic year).
Incoming Freshman (Welcome!)
I just wanted to let you know that for your first quarter, you will not choose your own schedule. The sign-up process is a bit difficult and the advisors assign you all classes to minimize mistakes and also they tend to group you in a single class with your roommates and neighbors. You’ll be taking a class called First Year Experience (FYE) and it meets just once a week and you essential learn the in and outs of how SCAD works. You may hear that it’s a waste of time from older students but really it is such a good resource because your teacher is one of the advisors and they will teach you how to sign up for classes and how to access the different pages on mySCAD.
THINK EARLY
Plan out what you want to take weeks before registration! Look through your required classes, SCAD Pro Advisor, and even take a visit to your academic advisor. Registrations will happen in order of Grad Students and Athletes, Seniors, Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshmen. And within those, you’ll be organized among your peers by academic hours completed. [To find SCAD Pro Advisor: Log into mySCAD > Student Workspace Tab > Student Toolkit Channel > It’ll be listed under the title ‘Courses and Academic Resources’ > SCAD Pro Advisor]
Don’t be afraid of early classes. Through my own experience, I actually enjoy having 8 am classes. Not because I like waking up that early, but because I’m able to start my day and get more done which is convenient for my outside of class requirements, job, and I can still have free time for friends. It’s not for everyone, and it’s not always easy but try it out once. I work better in earlier classes but some of my friends work better in evening classes. Just know that most classes, save for some architecture, interior design, and film classes, are 2.5 hours, meet twice a week, and start at 8 am, 11 am, 2 pm, 5 pm, and some foundation courses are also at 8 pm.
CHECK THE PREREQUISITES. You can’t go wrong by visiting your academic advisor to make sure you take classes in an order that will benefit you best. Especially if you want to graduate early or you changed your major. Just sign up for an appointment early because it does fill up close to the course registration dates. Also know that if you want to attend one of the abroad campuses in Hong Kong or Lacoste, France, you will need to plan 3 quarters minimum ahead because of the signup processes. It’s an amazing program (I’m writing this from France :D ) but not every course can be offered each quarter so it’s best to plan ahead so you don’t accidentally take something on your home campus in Atlanta, Savannah, or Hong Kong.
Give yourself enough time to get to class. There are only 30 minutes between classes so if you don’t own a car or the building you’re going to has limited parking spaces it may prove stressful but it is doable. Ex) This last quarter I had an 11 am and then a 2 pm class that was about 7 minutes away by car but the building my first class is in rarely has an empty spot so I would have to walk back home, get lunch, and drive to class within those 30 minutes. I’d make it to class early so it’s doable but know your comfortable stress levels when it comes to transportation.
Registration Day!!
If you have the SCAD app, use it to register. You are able to pre-save the course you want, and once your registration time starts all you have to do is select the classes and hit submit. You can save a lot of classes so if you need to, you can save multiple options just in case something fills up. As a freshman, I don’t remember it being an option so I would write out all the codes on paper and the general class info.
Start checking for your registration time around week 3-5 on mySCAD. Set an alarm and make sure you don’t miss your time to give you the best chance to get the classes you need. Sometimes registration is described as the Hunger Games because there are so few spots in some courses. *the fasted I ever registered was less than a minute and one of the courses I got was full after a few minutes.
Embody Santa’s habit. Check your registered class list twice after you’re finished.The worst thing is to realize you signed up for an online class when you wanted one on campus or you signed up for a course offered on a different campus than the one you’re on.
Something Go Wrong?
“Registrations will happen in order of Grad Students and Athletes, Seniors, Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshmen. And within those, you’ll be organized among your peers by academic hours completed.” That being said, try to have multiple sections of a class you’re happy to take, or completely different types of schedules just in case the class(es) you want fills up before you get to sign up.
Waitlist! It’s not fun to realize that the class you wanted is full so consider the waitlist. There are only 5 spots available and because it’s a waitlist, no guarantees can be made that you’ll get in but it is an option available. It’s come to my saving before, just make sure to be checking your email as that is how the system will notify you that a spot has opened for you.
Know who to contact. Be willing to contact your academic advisor if something goes wrong or if you can’t find any available classes to take. They can help you, so know that no question is stupid. They are a resource you pay for, so make the best of it.
