Class Registration & Common Issues

Before registering, always refer to your Degree Audit and stay in touch with your Academic Success Coach (ASC) to properly plan your schedule and course progression to stay on target for graduation.

Many questions about registration can be answered at https://registrar.ucf.edu/resources/, which contains many resources such as a Registration Overview.

Registration

Before You Start

  • Check the Academic Calendar for all the important dates for Registration, Add/Drop, and Late Registration.
  • Check for To Do items and Registration Holds in your MyUCF Student Center.
  • Find your Enrollment Appointment Date (Located under your “To Do”s in the Student Center).
    • This is not a date for an in-person appointment; it is the day and time you can begin registering for classes for a certain term. You may then continue to register until the Add/Drop/Swap deadline.
    • If you register for your first course that term during Late Registration and/or Add/Drop, you will be charged $100 Late Registration Fee.
  • View your Degree Audit and Meet with an Advisor to understand how to read it.

Enrolling in Classes

Now it’s time to enroll by “Checking out” your shopping cart!

  1. Add classes from the Search to your Shopping Cart.
  2. When you’re satisfied, select the button at the bottom of the Shopping cart labeled “Proceed To Step 2 Of 3.“
  3. Answer the prompts and then Click Finish Enrolling.
  4. You will receive a status message for each class enrollment that indicated either successful registration (green check mark) or an error (red X).
  5. View and verify your Class Schedule. Select My Class Schedule tab to display the List View option or the Weekly Calendar View option.
  6. There are a few common errors you may encounter while registering.
Error When Registering, But You Would Still Like To Pursue Enrollment (Override) Into A Course:

Error Examples and how to follow up:

  • Requisite Not Met For A Class: If you believe you have met the prerequisite, submit proof of the requisite (ex. transcript or previous course schedule) online at request an override.
  • Class is Full: Pursue the override with the department that offers the course.  (The department is listed in the details of the course search, or find the course in the undergraduate catalog).
  • Class Limit Exceeded: You are only permitted to register yourself for 17 credit hours (Spring & Fall terms) and 14 credit hours (Summer term).  If you feel you need to go over the credit limit, you must contact your major advisor for permission.
  • Instructor’s Consent Required: You must contact the instructor or the department that offers the course to pursue the override.

ERRORS

You may receive a variety of errors when attempted to register for a course.  Some can be overcome on your own, others cannot be overcome, and a few can be overcome with help from UCF faculty or staff with an override.   Click on the error to display tips for resolving it.

You might get this error for a number of reasons! Please look at the last line of the error; you might be signing up for a closed section, a downtown section, an honors section, or another reserved section. If none of these are true, keep reading.

If you’ve completed the prerequisite course at another institution or via test credit, you may request a temporary override to register while your transcripts are still being processed. Complete the appropriate Override form (College of Science Courses or ENC 1102). Proceed with registering your other courses and keep an eye on your email for a reply. Overrides do not waive the prereq requirement; they allow registration while your pending transcripts enter the UCF system.

Only Certain Majors may take classes on the downtown campus. If you receive this error, your Major is not among them; Choose a different section. All downtown courses have section numbers ending in the 70’s. They also commonly are in locations “DPAC”, “UWXV”, or “CMB”. In class details, they say “Downtown”.
If a course ends in the letter “H”, or is otherwise labeled as an Honors section, you must be an Honors College student to enroll. Honors enrollment occurs when you first apply for admission. If you are interested in applying as an Honors student in the future, save or bookmark https://honors.ucf.edu/ to contact the program after your orientation.
Click on the section link from your shopping list. Make sure “Waitlist if full” is selected. Try enrolling again.
You have exceeded the maximum allowable number of credit hours for one semester. For Fall & Spring, 12 hours is full-time, and the maximum is 17 hours. For Summer, 6 hours is full-time, and the maximum is 14 hours. If you absolutely must request to take more than the maximum, contact your Academic Success Coach.
You have chosen two classes whose times overlap. Consider 1) does either course have other sections? 2) If not, is either course is an important prerequisite for later courses in your major? If you absolutely must request to take both classes, you will need consent from both instructors. Contact your Academic Success Coach for more information.

Waitlists

Waitlists are a normal part of life! When enrolling in a popular class, there may be more interested studentes than seats in the class. In that case, a waitlist forms. Some common questions about waitlists:

  • How do I get off the waitlist? Be patient! If other students drop the course, or if additional seats are added, students will be added from the waitlist on a first-come, first-served basis.
  • Will I get a seat in the course? There’s no way to know, and there’s no guarantee. Stay hopeful, but always have a backup option. Consider setting up a “Waitlist Swap” (see below).
  • What if I really want to get in the course, or it’s required for my major? Lots of other students feel the same way! Waiting “in line” is the fairest way to handle this supply and demand issue.
  • I’m a senior and I absolutely need a class to graduate this or next semester. While there are no guarantees, if you are in a tough spot and graduation is coming up soon, please speak with your Academic Success Coach (ASC) so they can help you rearrange your schedule or find other possible options for completing your degree.
  • What if a new section opens up? That happens sometimes! Every so often, check back on the class search. Even if you are already on a wait list, you may find that a new section has opened with more seats, and you can enroll in that instead.
  • I’ve been #1 (or 2, or 3, etc) on the waitlist forever. What’s going on? It could be just coincidence and that no more seats are opening up. However, it could be that you have a conflict in your schedule that you haven’t noticed. If you are already enrolled in another section of that course, you will be rejected from enrolling in it again (unless you’ve set up a “waitlist swap”, see below). If you are enrolled in a course with an overlapping time, even if one of the courses are virtual, you will also be rejected from enrolling. If you suspect there is a conflict but you’re not sure, ask your ASC to check for you.

Drops, Swaps & Waitlist Swaps

After enrolling, you may continue adding, dropping, and “swapping” courses all the way until the first week of classes (specifically, the add/drop deadline as posted on the Academic Calendar). You can find the options to drop or swap a class from the “Enroll” Tab.

Dropping a Class

Dropping a class before the add/drop deadline will simply remove it from your schedule, and free up a seat for another student if there is a waitlist. If you wish to enroll in the course again, you may, unless it is closed or waitlisted (then you will be added to the waitlist).

Swapping a Class

If you want to swap one section of a class for another, but you don’t want to risk losing the spot in the first class if you don’t register for the second one in time, Swapping is the perfect solution! Add the new class to your shopping list, then from Enroll, choose Swap, then the term in question. In the first drop-down, choose the course you are currently enrolled in (and wish to drop). Below, where it says “Shopping cart”, select from the drop down menu the course in your shopping cart that you prefer to be in. Then click Submit, and follow the prompts.

Using the swap feature, you will ONLY be dropped from the first class if you are enrolled in the second class successfully. If there is any problem with the second class, such as a registration error, or if you are added to the waitlist only, then you will remain enrolled in the first class.

“Waitlist Swap”

If you “waitlist swap” a class (meaning, you’re enrolled in one class, then you “swap” it for a class with a waitlist), then if you obtain a seat from the waitlist, then (and only then) will your original enrollment be dropped! This is called a waitlist swap.

For an in-depth document on how to use the swap function and how it works with waitlists, see: Waitlists and Swap FAQs

I already waitlisted myself. Can I set up a waitlist swap now? Unfortunately, no. You can only set up a waitlist swap when you are first enrolling, so in order to do this, you’d need to first lose your existing spot on the waitlist.