Get ready and get excited!
Photo Courtesy of SUNY Geneseo
Registration times this year are scheduled between Nov. 3-16, depending on your total number of completed credits. It can be a bit scary and overwhelming to open your student portal and find your time ticket—and it can be frustrating to notice it’s at 7 a.m., far earlier than you hoped or anticipated. In the days leading up to registration, you have probably received advice from multiple parties about how best to approach the process. You might have heard success and horror stories alike, with some recounting how easy it was to secure all of their necessary classes, and others lamenting the frustration of every planned class disappearing by the second.
The Lamron decided we should share our tips and tricks to ensure your story is one of success. So, without further ado, here are our best pieces of advice to get you through:
Make a plan.
Don’t ignore one of the most important and helpful features available through the “Registration” page on your student portal—“Plan Ahead.” When you click on the “Plan Ahead” page and select the correct term (Spring 2027), you can craft multiple schedules before your actual registration date. Multiple e-board members emphasized the importance of taking this step; one remarked, “make sure you have several plans before registering…like 2-3 minimum” because “when classes are inevitably full or don’t work for some reason, trying to find a new class in the heat of the moment is super stressful and scary.” It is less stressful and scary when you know you have multiple backup plans!
2. Plan strategically.
Another e-board member highlighted the importance of planning strategically, commenting, “you have to look through course information (i.e. if there are pre or co requisites, or if a class is only limited to certain majors) so that you aren’t being booted during registration. Check your facts while making those plans!” Similarly, one Lamron member pointed toward DegreeWorks as an invaluable resource while making plans. Make sure all of your planned classes are checking off one of your required boxes!
Other members noted that you want to be careful and strategic with the timing of your classes. If you know you are someone who gets tired in the evening, don’t take classes then—and the same goes for early classes! Know yourself and your limits and plan around them.
3. Prepare to get up early.
Many nightmare registration stories begin with the student sleeping through the start of their registration time. The Lamron knows how important it is to get started right away, so we recommend setting your alarm for at least 15 minutes before your time ticket opens. This will give you enough time to wake up and open your laptop to the registration page. We also recommend trying to get a solid amount of sleep the night before; we know this might be challenging for many students who have packed schedules, but we can’t emphasize enough how much decent sleep will change your registration experience. It will be easier to wake up and less stressful navigating the process when you’re not struggling with sleep deprivation.
4. Don’t worry too much about Rate My Professors.
If you aren’t familiar with it, this website lists almost every professor at Geneseo (and other universities across the country) with student ratings and reviews. You can check what percentage of students would take the professor again. You can see ratings for the quality of the class, how difficult it was, and even the grade the anonymous student received in it. It’s easy to navigate and easy to stress yourself out looking at it, especially if you just got stuck in a class with a professor who lands on the lower end of the “would take again” spectrum.
The Lamron doesn’t recommend lending those ratings too much weight. One Lamron member emphasized that “a professor may have a poor score but in reality may be great.” You don’t know who is writing the reviews, and it might have been someone who “never showed up to class or did any work,” resulting in their poor grade. Their reviews might simply be an avenue to express frustration with their own performance.
5. Listen to your peers and friends for class and professor recommendations.
Instead of focusing on what Rate My Professors says, ask your friends about their experiences. One Lamron member noted that often your friends have met professors and “know how they teach.” You should also keep in mind that you and your friend might have different learning preferences; still, generally speaking, friends are preferable to Rate My Professors to get intel on what a class in your plan would actually be like.
We at The Lamron also have a few class and professor recommendations of our own to share. One member highlighted Dr. Reece Torres, professor of sociology, who is teaching a class under the prefix “AMST” (American Studies) called “Race, Prisons, and Policing.” They noted that his lectures are highly engaging and you “will learn a lot,” additionally commenting that he is “chill and compassionate,” which makes his classes more enjoyable. The same member recommended taking “Sociology of Sexual Health” (SOCL-261) with Dr. Amy Braksmajer. This class is “super interesting” and contains information that will stay with you even after the class has concluded. It has a “lighter workload than other classes” but “you need to engage with class discussions in order for the class to be interesting and to get a good grade.”
Another member commented that “everyone should take a Women and Gender Studies or Sociology class while here.” They note that it is an important way to “expose yourself to so many other points of view”—always a valuable experience in any class.
6. It will be okay.
Prepare. Make your plans. Get advice and research your options. But, at the end of the day, even if registration doesn’t go exactly how you planned or wanted, you will be okay.