Office of the Registrar                                                                                          	New Student Registration
John Chrystal Center                                                                                         	 Information - FALL 2009-10





  
Welcome to Grinnell!  We want your first semester to be a positive experience. These tips will help get you off to a great start.




1. Please do not lose lose the attached Arrival Confirmation form because you cannot register without this form! 


2. Clear any holds listed on the Arrival Confirmation form.  Holds may be placed by the Cashier's Office, Health Center, 
Financial Aid or Registrar and must be cleared before you will be allowed to register for classes.   
If your form indicates "none" on all lines, you do not need to do anything. If you have a hold, please visit that office immediately. 
If you lose your form, please visit the Registrar's office immediately, so a duplicate can be made. Clear your holds early!  The lines to the 
cashier and financial offices can be long. You can visit these two offices on Saturday from 10am to 4pm or on Monday or Tuesday.


3. Review the New Student Registration Card (sample attached). When you meet with your adviser you will work together to complete 
the actual card that you will submit as your final registration.




THE REGISTRATION PROCESS: 




With your adviser, you will fill out the New Student Registration Card. On the FIRST line of EACH round, you should put the courses 
you MOST want to take in order of priority.   (Do not use the fourth round unless you are not assigned a tutorial.) 
Then on the next lines of each round you should put courses that you would be willing to take as alternatives to your first choice
in that round.  (Try to ensure that your alternatives in round #1 do not create schedule conflicts with your first choice in round #2 or #3.)




One of your selections for each "round" will be one of your three courses (in addition to the tutorial). Therefore, the courses you list in each 
round should be ones that you would be willing to have as alternatives or back-ups to your first choice in that round. This enables you to 
select alternative courses that contribute similar breadth to your liberal arts program (for example, a natural science or a foreign language) or
allow you to pursue a similar schedule of courses.




Before you meet with your adviser, consider your goals, priorities, and criteria for each "round". You have the best chance of getting your 
first choice listed in round one.  Your adviser will help you weigh your interest in the subject, your overall educational goals, and availability 
of positions in the course.




After you turn in the card, the Registrar's office will enter all selections from the cards using the following process: 




On August 25th and according to a random selection, every student will be placed in a single course before any student 
is registered for a second course. In the interest of fairness, the placement order will be reversed for the second round and reshuffled for 
subsequent rounds. Registration will continue until every student has been registered for 3 or 4 courses.  This will be accomplished by 
submitting a registration card of a priority list of courses for 3 to 4 courses.   This will be accomplisedy by submitting a registration card
of a priority list of courses for 3 to 4 rounds of registrations.  Registration begins with round 1 and course number 1. Once a student is 
placed in a course for round 1, other choices in that round will be ignored.**  Course preferences for the next round will be selected from 
courses identified in the round 2 section of the card followed by those listed in the round 3 section of the card.  For students without a 
tutorial, an additional course will be entered from round 4 so that every student who wishes may have four courses.  There are no 
guarantees, but last year 90% of students received their first-choice course in the first round and 85% received their first-choice in the
second round.  In the thrird round 86% of students received one of their first three class choices.


**Please note that if nothing is available in a round, we will put in your first available choice for the next round.  Remember courses can 
be changed during the drop/add period.


REGISTRATION DAYS - Monday and Tuesday: After you have met with your tutorial adviser, and your adviser has signed your 
card, bring the Registration Card and your New Student  Confirmation of Arrival form to the Registrar's Office in the John Chrystal Center. 
The card must be turned in  no later than 4:00 pm, Tuesday, August 25. Any student who fails to submit a card by 4pm will have to add 
classes when the drop/add process begins on Wednesday afternoon, August 26, 3:00 pm in HarrisCenter.


YOUR SCHEDULE:  As soon as registration is completed on Wednesday August 26th at 2:00 pm, your schedule will be released 
and you may view your schedule via your Pioneer Web account. Your schedule will reflect only the courses that were open to you at the 
time we entered your data. If there are any errors, you should visit the Registrar's Office immediately. Please remember that as of 2pm on 
Wednesday, all classes are under the direct control of instructors and the instructor's or department representative's signature will be 
required to add any course.  


POST REGISTRATION FORUM:  Wednesday 8/26, 3:00 pm - The tutorial instructors will be available in the Harris Center 
between 3 and 4 pm so that registered students can make any necessary adjustments in their schedule. Drop/Add slips will be available in 
Harris, in the Registrar's Office and on-line. The last day to add or drop a class will be Friday, September 18.