A Guide to Spring Registration

Registration for the 2021 spring semester will begin on Nov. 16 and end Nov. 20. All students will register for all of their courses, capped at 19 credits, during one assigned registration period.

Enrollment times are stratified by credit hours earned, meaning those with senior standing will register Nov. 16, juniors Nov. 17, sophomores Nov. 18 and first-years Nov. 19. Registration windows open at 7 p.m. EST on each assigned date and close at 10 a.m. EST the day after.

Emory University course atlas.

The Add/Drop/Swap period will begin on Nov. 30, temporarily close Dec. 18 and then reopen again on Jan. 6, 2021, through Feb. 1, 2021. Cross-registration for both Emory and Oxford students to enroll in a course on the other campus will open Dec. 7.

The University shortened the spring registration process to four days from the typical four-week registration process. The old process was similarly organized by earned credit hours, allowing students to register for eight credits at a time.

Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education Jason Ciejka said the office made the decision to condense the process to “squeeze in” registration before final exams while allowing sufficient time for course planning after the Oct. 15 announcement about the spring semester’s format.

The office aimed to avoid making students repeat the registration process, as it did in the summer when University plans changed in response to COVID-19.

“We didn’t want to be in a position where students would have to do registration twice because of any changes that the University announced,” Ciejka said. “Department schedules depend on the knowledge from the University about what would be happening in the spring.”

Ciejka said students with time zone challenges can consult with an advisor to coordinate classes ahead of time. Students who encounter registration issues or need help with course scheduling should contact the office at oue.advising@emory.edu.

The office will monitor the email address during registration, excluding the late night and early morning, so students can submit specific issues during their registration period either via email or through the OPUS help system. Ciejka added that academic departments are also prepared to help students during the last hours, 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., of students’ registration windows.

In response to student concerns about overwhelming workloads with remote learning this fall, the office advises that students adjust their spring enrollments accordingly.

“We do recommend that students really think carefully about their spring schedule,” Ciejka said. “That they consider what the load was like this semester and what they can reasonably handle in the spring knowing that it’s going to look very similar to what it looks now.”

The office lists that “a normal course load is 15-16 credit hours per semester” on its website. Ciejka said the office would maintain its policy to allow all students a maximum of 19 credits and 22 credits for students with a 3.0 GPA or higher if they fill out an overload request form.

Ciejka noted that since courses are virtual, both Atlanta and Oxford students can take advantage of features the other campus has to offer by cross-registering. He pointed to Oxford’s smaller class sizes and the possibility for full courses at Emory to have open sections at Oxford. For Oxford students, Ciejka said Emory offers a wider array of courses, especially important for students with specific major or language interests.

“There are advantages both for Oxford students and Emory Colleges students in thinking about cross-registration and I just encourage everyone to check out both options,” Ciejka said.

Ciejka said the four-day process would present challenges for the office, especially with updating tiered enrollment daily, but that “everybody is ready for that.”