Starting Nov. 4, advance registration opened to allow eligible students who are currently enrolled at Washburn, including graduate students, to build their schedules for the spring 2014 semester.

Advanced registration will be followed by an open registration for the rest of the students who don’t qualify for advance register, or for those who have been readmitted to the university. Open registration will also allow high school juniors and seniors to enroll as long as they have their WIN and MyWashburn account information.

Enrolling for a new semester can be a confusing task, but there are many students and faculty who are willing to help and share their advice.

“Think about what classes you will need to take in order to graduate,” said Pamela Erickson, Student Academic Advisor. “One of the most important considerations students need to pay attention to is how long they would prefer to stay in school.”

Students need to take at least 15 credit hours per semester in order to graduate in four years or they should consider enrolling in summer classes. Students also want to consider their other responsibilities in order to manage their time.

For undecided students that are exploring different majors, Erickson advises to take some introductory general education classes based on the hobbies and talents they already have.

Erickson gave some helpful suggestions on how to get a spot in the classes that students aim to take.

“It would be a bad idea to wait to enroll until January,” said Erickson. “Get online and enroll the first day you can.”

Whether they are undecided or have already declared their major, students need to avoid procrastination and schedule their advising appointments as early as possible.

“Be prepared as much as you can,” said student academic advisor, Kaydee Emperley. “Students should have an idea of what classes they want to take, run a degree audit as soon as possible in order to have an idea of the classes are required.”

Each student class will have two days before early enrollment closes to register for their classes. Seniors were the first class to enroll, which started on Nov. 4 and 5. The rest of the classes will follow shortly after with juniors enrolling Nov. 6 and 7, sophomores enrolling Nov. 8 and 11 and freshmen on Nov. 12 and 13.

“When you go to enroll, have your course reference numbers written down,” said Emperley.

“When I was a freshman, the problem with choosing classes was the wide range of them,” said Ryan Brown, senior English major. “It’s good to look at the curriculum for a specific major, which will lower the number of potential choices, talk to the professors and gather information from your department.”

The best advice that Brown has received for scheduling classes was to look towards the future.

“You want to balance out classes. You don’t want to have too hard [of a] semester, and then too easy [of ] one,” said Brown.

Debra Bainster, a senior communications major, said that in past years her friends would give recommendations on certain professors, but because she waited too long to enroll, those classes would fill up before she could secure her spot.

“Never procrastinate on it, other wise you won’t get to classes you want,” said Bainster

Most students and faculty offer the same suggestions opposing procrastination and lack of preparedness. They encourage students to take the enrollment process seriously. Clearly, the best way to build the perfect class schedule is for Ichabods to take the responsibility in ensuring it for themselves.