Frequently Asked Questions about Registration
1. What are the Registration dates per term?
Please visit the institute's official Academic Calendar for exact dates and times for a given term.
2. What are time tickets?
Students are assigned a specific time slot during which they may register. This time slot is referred to as a "time ticket" and students may access the "Add/Drop Classes" option only during the designated time period. Students may view their assigned time ticket on OSCAR: https://registrar.gatech.edu/registration/time-tickets
3. What is the difference between Phase I and Phase II registration?
Current students will register during Phase I and will have another opportunity to make changes to their schedules during Phase II. New students will register during FASET or Phase II. Please see the Academic Calendar for term-specific dates.
4. What is the maximum number of courses I can register for each term?
The maximum number of credit hours for which an undergraduate student may register during fall or spring term, based on their Academic Standing, is as follows: https://registrar.gatech.edu/registration/maximum-hours
Note: During Phase I, undergraduate students in Good Academic Standing can register for a max of 18 hours. During Phase II, undergraduate students in Good Academic Standing can register for a max of 21 hours.
5. Can the Registrar's Office or my Advisor tell me which courses are open currently?
Students can access up-to-date enrollment/waitlist totals by performing a class search in OSCAR. You can perform a course look-up in OSCAR once you have logged in using your GT credentials — the full courses have a “C” in the first column, and the open courses have a checkbox that can be selected in order to enroll.
6. I'm receiving an error message when trying to add a course. What does this mean?
For a complete list of registration error messages and descriptions, visit: https://registrar.gatech.edu/registration/error-messages
7. I am receiving a pre-requisite & Test Score error message. What are my next steps?
A. If you are not familiar with the pre-requisites and/or Test Score requirements, you will want to look up that information to determine what you are missing. You may do this through OSCAR registration by clicking the CRN for the course. Pre-requisites and Test Score information is listed in the course's Detailed Class Information.
B. If you are pending transfer credit from another institution and already sent your official transcripts to the Registrar's Office, contact: dc@registrar.gatech.edu
C. You have the option to request a pre-requisite override permit with the teaching department: https://registrar.gatech.edu/registration/permits-and-overloads
8. What is the difference between dropping and withdrawing from a course?
When a student drops a course, this action can only be done during active periods of registration (either in Phase I and/or Phase II). If a student drops a course, the course will not be reflected on their transcript. It will appear as if the student never registered for the course, according to their transcript. If a student withdraws from a course (this is done after Phase II registration has ended and before the semester's withdrawal deadline), this action will result in a “W” on the student's transcript. If a student withdraws from a course (or courses) and receives a “W” on their transcript, this counts as a record of enrollment for that specific term.
9. What happens if I am not registered by the time the registration period ends?
Unfortunately, students cannot be added to a course(s) once Phase II registration has ended.
10. If there are seats available once Phase II registration has ended, can I be added to the course?
As stated previously, students cannot be added to a course(s) once Phase II registration has ended, even if there are seats available.
11. If I withdraw from a course and change my mind, can I be re-added to the course?
Unfortunately, students cannot be re-added to a course once they have withdrawn. Please keep this in mind as you are deciding whether or not you wish to withdraw from the course (before the withdrawal deadline).
12. If I withdraw from a course/the semester, do I need to submit a Petition to the Faculty form to enroll in the next semester?
As per Georgia Tech Readmission policy, “Any student, except a part-time graduate student, who withdraws during a term and wishes to return the following term (summer term included) must complete a petition to the faculty form only.”
13. What if a course I want to register for is CLOSED?
Once the registration cap has been reached for a course, the course is full. Some departments use the waitlist function for one or more course sections. Waitlist information: https://registrar.gatech.edu/registration/waitlists
14. What are the chances of enrolling in a class if I am waitlisted or if the class is closed?
We strive to give students an opportunity to register for a variety of courses. Unfortunately, the Registrar's Office cannot predict if/when a course may have more seats added or if a waitlist will be expanded. Also, we cannot guarantee students will be able to enroll in specific courses. Our best advice is to continue monitoring the courses you are interested in taking and/or the waitlists.
15. How long should I expect to wait before I receive a waitlist notification?
There is no specific amount of time as to when students will receive a waitlist notification, as we unfortunately cannot guarantee that everyone on every waitlist will get into the course. Please note that the Registrar's Office is unable to determine/predict which courses will have more seats added. Therefore, please be sure to monitor your email account carefully and frequently, including your spam folder, in case you receive a waitlist notification.
16. Why is my waitlisted course showing as “0” credits in OSCAR?
Since a waitlisted course does not count as enrolled hours, your waitlisted course will display as “0” units until you are registered officially (though please remember that being on a waitlist does not guarantee that you will be permitted to enroll in that course for the term).
17. If I am registered for the maximum number of hours permitted, and I receive a waitlist notification, will I be able to drop one of my other courses in order to add the waitlisted course, or will the system skip me and notify the next person on the waitlist?
The system will not skip you because you are enrolled in the maximum number of hours permitted. You will have the same 12-hour window to respond to the wait list notification and make any necessary changes to your schedule in order to enroll in the waitlisted course if desired.
18. I missed my waitlist notification. What do I do now?
Unfortunately, the only thing you can do is add yourself back to the waitlist and hope for the best or select another course. Please note: waitlist notifications can be sent at any time (even overnight and/or on weekends) and that students have 12 hours to respond to the notification.