Scheduling Classes

Scheduling classes can be a confusing and challenging process but with a few tips the process can be made a lot easier.

1. Do not wait until an hour before you are to schedule your classes to figure out what you need to take. The college of engineering offers a general guideline found at http://www.engr.psu.edu/AcademicPlans/.

2. Regardless of whether or not you plan on following the above academic plan to a t, I advise going to meet with an academic advisor. This way you can verify you are on the right track. They are also extremely helpful working with you and your schedule if you decide to take on a minor, study abroad, etc. You can schedule appointments once you are on campus by using this link http://www.engr.psu.edu/advisingcenter/.

3. On eLion, under the tab schedule is a tab labeled registration calendar which is where you can determine the date you can schedule.

4. Have all your class numbers written down so you can input them quickly into the system when the time comes.

5. IMPORTANT! You want to be online at 11:55 p.m. the night before you are meant to schedule. For example, if you are to schedule October 12, be online on October 11 at 11:55 p.m.

6. Log into eLion the night of and go into registration. Log in as far as you can before you are notified it is not time for you to schedule yet. Then, hit refresh at exactly midnight and quickly input your numbers to get your classes. The class you want the most or has the least amount of seats left is the one you want to schedule first.

7. Once your class is scheduled a green bar will appear at the top of the screen indicating your confirmation in enrolling in the class.

8. However if you do not get the class you want/at the time you want/ or with the professor you want, there is still hope. Penn State has an awesome thing called registration watch list. Again, it is underneath the schedule tab in eLion. All you have to do is input the class number you desire and Penn State can notify you by texts/emails when a seat is open. Then, you can immediately log onto eLion and add the class.  (NOTE: Many people can be watching the same class so it’s a little bit of a race to see who can get the seat first)

With these few tips hopefully your scheduling can be an easy, stress free process. Good luck!

Sarah Markel is a sophomore in Chemical Engineering, and she is a Rover for WEPO '14!