It’s that time of year again! The registration process has begun, and many of us have already registered (or at least attempted) for our classes for the spring of 2016. However, his article isn’t for those people. It’s for our newest bear cubs who may be struggling to register or need have questions about registration that will occur later this week. There is a tutorial on MyMercer, but it can be a bit confusing. So here’s a step by step tutorial (with screenshots!) that will hopefully help as many of you as possible.
1. If you don’t know already, you register at mymercer.com. Log in using your student ID and the password that was assigned to you if you have yet to change it.
2. After logging in, click “Online Registration” in the top left corner.
You should come to a screen something like this:
3. Scroll to bottom of the page, and you will see this box.
Where mine says, “Modify Online Registration” yours will say “Begin Online Registration.” Click on that.
4. A new window will open up and you’ll see this on the left side of the screen. You can pretty much ignore the stuff in the middle of the screen.
The fastest way to add classes is using the “Quick Add” feature, but the way you put in the information is very specific. For example, if you want to take Psychology 101, section 1, you would put in CLA PSY 101 in the first box and 001 in the second box, as shown. You can find the course codes in the master schedule online at http://registrar.mercer.edu/macon/class-schedules.cfm. One of the biggest mistakes that people make is during this step because it has to be put in just like that, spaces and all.
The course should then show up underneath the heading “Selected Courses,” but you’re not done registering yet. At this point you have two options:
A. You can put in all of your course codes before proceeding and register all of your classes at the same time.
B. If you are particularly worried about getting into a class, you can register for it first, then come back later for your other classes.
No matter which option you choose, the next step is the same.
5. After this, you have the option to view your selected courses, but this step isn’t exactly necessary. At this point you still are not officially in the class yet, so the important part is the third step: registering. When you click to the register stage, you’ll see a screen with all of your information (name, address, student ID, etc.) at the top and your selected classes at the bottom. (I can’t show screenshots of this because I’ve already registered and the system won’t allow me to mock register for more courses :/). Look over your courses, make sure you didn’t make any mistakes, and click “Register/Drop.” Don’t be scared of the word “Drop.” You have the option to drop courses, and the same button is used to do both. None of your courses will be dropped unless you selected for them to be dropped.
6. If you chose to register for one or two classes first to make sure you got into them, you’ll now have to go back and register for the rest of your classes. The process is exactly the same.
7. Congratulations! You’ve officially registered for your second semester of college!
Here are a few additional tips:
1. Because so many people will be registering for classes at the same time, the system runs very slowly. Don’t freak out if you get an error message or if your computer seems to freeze. Just be patient and it’ll work itself out. Everyone else is having the same troubles as you.
2. Prepare a schedule beforehand. Make a list of the classes you want with the course codes so you can move quickly through quick add without having to scroll through the master schedule searching for them. Also, make a backup schedule in case you don’t get into some classes.
3. If you want to know if there are seats left in the classes you want, you can check that on MyMercer. On the side of any screen in MyMercer, you’ll see “Campus Info.” Click that and choose “Course Schedule.”
On this page, type in the course code for the class in which you want to enroll in the box that says “Course,” as shown:
Click “Search” and a list of matching results will appear at the bottom the screen. Click “Click for Details” beside the section you want to take.
It will bring you to a screen like this, and you can see, for example, that there are 2 seats left in this particular section of Psychology 101!
4. Be sure to check the catalog for prerequisites and course descriptions. It also outlines the classes that you have to take for your major or minor. If you haven’t received a physical copy of the catalog it can be found here: http://registrar.mercer.edu/macon/catalogs.cfm
5. If you get waitlisted for a course, some professors will let you into the course anyway if you show up on the first day of class. It will depend on how far down you are on the waitlist and if you are a major or minor, but it is possible!
I hope this tutorial has been helpful! Good luck with registration! One last tidbit, if you don’t get all the classes you need, it’s not the end of the world. You have plenty of time to complete your coursework here. You’ll be okay, I promise!