There is this magical day called Registration Day at the beginning of each semester that you go meet with your "Registration Advisor" (who may or may not be in your research area) and basically have s/he signing off on the list of classes you want to take.
More specifically it goes like:
- You get an email from our amazing Heather about pre-registering for classes before semester starts (need double check – incoming students may not need to pre-register?)
- You should be assigned a Registration Officer/Advisor and a time slot to meet on Registration Day. Previous years there is typically a departmental breakfast on the morning of the Registration Day where all the graduate students sit together and chat until it's your time to meet with the Registration Advisor, so no worries as older graduate students will point you at the right direction.
- Your Registration Officer should approve your classes electronically after the meeting.
- You should get an email reminding you to finish the registration process, which basically involve clicking through a couple of buttons to update your personal information.
Registration Officers in our department advice in very different styles. Some may always approve your list of classes, while others may challenge your class choices every semester. When in doubt, ask older graduate students or Clare or your thesis advisor.
Typically your registration officer needs to approve your classes by the end of the first week of school. If your registration officer forgot to do so, let Clare know and she can approve your classes.