Scheduling

Scheduling refers to information about class registration.

Registration Phases

Class registration at Georgia Tech occurs over multiple phases. In each phase, eligible students will receive a time ticket, a certain time frame during which students can add and drop classes. Check the Registrar's academic calendar for the exact dates of each registration phase.

Phase 1

Continuing students begin course registration for the next semester in the semester prior. Registration for spring classes occurs in the fall, usually around October and November, and registration for fall and summer classes occurs in the spring, usually around March. Time tickets in phase 1 are assigned based on completed credit hours, with students who have more credit hours receiving earlier time tickets.

Phase 2

Phase 2 is a last chance registration phase for all students, beginning about a week before classes start and ending after the first week of classes. The first week of classes, known as "syllabus week," overlaps with phase 2 registration and gives students an opportunity to drop out of courses without a "W" appearing on their transcripts. Typically, professors do not give much work during this week, making this a great time to decide whether to remain in a course based on the syllabus, professor style, etc. As a result, waitlists tend to move a lot during this phase.

Time tickets in phase 2 are assigned based on completed credit hours, with students who have more credit hours receiving earlier time tickets.

FASET

New students and transfer students begin course registration during their orientation (FASET). Students will register with their FASET group, and FASET leaders, advisors, and the Registrar will be available to help students during class registration. The order in which FASET groups register for classes has not been observed to depend on incoming credits.

Phase "AP"

Incoming students who have not received their AP scores by the time of their FASET session will be given another opportunity to add and drop classes in late July. This allows students to register for courses that have prerequisites satisfied by AP credit. Students may not register for classes without the proper prerequisites, unless given a prerequisite override.

Course Numbers

Course numbers indicate certain information about courses, such as the year that they are typically taken in. Note that the conventions below are general and should not be used as a strict rule. For example, a couple 3000-level classes, such as MATH 3012, are sometimes taken by freshmen despite the convention listed below.

The letters preceding the four digit number indicate which department offers the course. For example, CS 1301 is a course offered by the college of computing.

The first digit indicates which year the class is typically taken in. Course numbers in the form 1XXX are generally freshman classes, 2XXX are generally classes that build on freshman classes, 3XXX classes go into specific major material, and 4XXX classes are generally high level technical classes. Transfer courses on the transfer equivalency table listed as 1XXX, 2XXX, etc. may be used as free electives.

Subsequent digits indicate other information about a course, such as if it is a course reserved for special topics. A more comprehensive guide to course numbering is provided by the Registrar.

Additional Information

Linked Course

A linked course is a course that has both a lecture section and an additional section, such as a lab, studio, or recitation. Both sections must be registered for simultaneously. This guide made by the ME department provides more information about linked courses and is applicable to all majors.

Shared Test Period

Some classes have a shared test period, such as PHYS 2211 and 2212. This shows up in a schedule as a single time block during the week and is usually very late in the day. However, most students will only have 2-5 tests per class, so it will not be used most weeks,

Free Electives

Free electives can be satisfied by any course, with the exception of equivalent courses. For example, if a student has taken MATH 1554, then they cannot satisfy free elective credit with MATH 1564, and an aerospace engineering student cannot satisfy free elective credit with ME 2202, since they already have to take their version of dynamics, AE 2220.

Some free elective credit is restricted to 2000-level courses and higher, so courses with a number in the form 1XXX cannot satisfy this credit. All requirements can be viewed in Degree Works.

First-Year Guide

Each department sends out information about advising via email before FASET, so complete all instructions there first. All incoming students should receive a suggested schedule from their advisor by the end of this process. If not, students can fill out their schedules using the instructions below. These are also applicable for students who already have a suggested schedule, as advisors are just one source of information.

Before determining which classes to take, students should check which credits they already have. This can be done by looking at the classes and requirements checked off in Degree Works. If test scores or transfer credit has not been received by Georgia Tech yet, the classes and requirements they fulfill will not show as completed in Degree Works. Students can check equivalency tables for which credits may be earned for AP exams, IB exams, A-levels, and transfer credit.

After checking completed credits, students should look at their majors' requirements. A selection of resources for major requirements and prerequisite courses is listed on this page. Based on these requirements and prerequisites, create a schedule. While 12 credit hours is the minimum to be considered a full-time student, any schedule with more than 16 hours is not recommended for first-year students unless coming in with no credits. 15 credits (about 5 classes) is recommended, but take 12-13 credits (about 4 classes) for a lighter load first semester. In addition, follow the guidelines below:

• Never retake courses, unless there is an extremely specific reason for doing so. While students may not feel comfortable with all the material for courses that they have credit for, material can always be reviewed, which is a much better option than retaking entire courses. Retaking a course does not guarantee that the material is fully learned, risks the possibility of a low grade, and takes time away from other courses required to graduate.
• Do not take a chemistry, calculus, and computer science class together, as taking all three at once is too much work. A similar rule applies for math: do not take more than 4 credits worth of math classes at once.
• Labs tend to be very time-consuming, so avoid taking more than one class with a lab section in a semester, with an exception for science majors.
• Take at least one non-STEM class if possible prevent a difficult semester, but make sure to save some humanities, social sciences, and free electives for later, more difficult semesters.
• Students should try to take classes that are big prerequisites for their major. For example, computer science majors should take CS 1301 and CS 1331 as early as possible, and mechanical engineering majors should take PHYS 2211 and COE 2001 as early as possible.
• Be sure to have backup classes, as getting every class with the best professors and timings is not always possible.

Finally, students should check their schedule with current students if possible. The Georgia Tech Discord server, listed in the resources section of this page, is a great place to do this. Another important point to remember is that Georgia Tech requires no prior knowledge for any major beyond what is learned in high school, so there is no need to review or learn any material before classes start.

Resources

• Academic advisors can assist students with their schedules; however, advisors are not always familiar with which professors are more difficult and may not give plans that follow prerequisites.
• CIOS Survey Data provides aggregate numerical data from CIOS surveys, surveys that students fill out towards the end of a course each semester to evaluate its quality. See the guide below for usage.
• Course Critique provides historical data about a professor's GPA in a specific course. In general, professors with a higher GPA than the course's historical average will be easier professors.
• Degree Works is used to evaluate prerequisites and classes required for a student's major. It is used by academic advisors but can be accessed by students as well. While Degree Works is always accurate, other resources may be more user-friendly for checking requirements.
• GT Discord is an online community of Georgia Tech students and alumni who can help with schedule planning. Be sure to follow the rules posted in the welcome channel.
• GT Scheduler, created by Jinseo Park and Bits of Good, is a user-friendly site that allows students to optimize and display information about their schedules. See the guide below for usage.
• OMSCentral provides ratings and reviews for OMS (Online Master of Science) courses. All OMS courses have a 6XXX, 7XXX, or 8XXX course number.
• Oscar Registration Extension is a Google Chrome extension that allows users to quickly fill in CRNs on the day of registration. Some users have reported issues with it, however, so be cautious.
• Rate My Professors is a popular professor rating website. Information on Rate My Professors often tracks with CIOS data, but both should be consulted when creating a schedule.
• Requirement lists are helpful for reviewing the requirements for a major or minor; however, they may not always be updated.
• Suggested 4-year plans typically display prerequisite chains for a major; however, some may be outdated.

CIOS Survey Data Guide

To view CIOS survey data, log in when prompted and click "See Results" at the bottom of the page.

The survey data provides unique information about how much time the median student spends per week on a course, which can help gauge the workload of a class. While this information can be extremely useful, avoid using these numbers as hard facts.

Other survey data indicates the quality of a course, rated on a scale of 1-5, the quality of a professor's teaching, and the percentage of classes attended. The prevalence and incentives surrounding CIOS survey completion may make CIOS survey data a more reliable resource than Rate My Professors.

Incoming freshmen and teaching assistants (TAs) may not be able to view the survey data.

GT Scheduler Guide

To use GT Scheduler, follow the steps below:

First, select the desired term in the top left corner of the screen. The term should default to the next term.

Next, add classes by entering course numbers in the top left dialogue box. Added courses will be displayed in a list on the left side of the screen, and time blocks will automatically be filled in the calendar located on the right side of the screen. In between the course list and calendar, a list of all possible permutations of a schedule that contains the entered courses will be displayed. This list of schedules can be sorted by compactness, earliest ending time, or latest beginning time.

The letters and numbers to the right of a course number indicate the section and subsection selected. Each section has its own professor and lecture periods. Some sections may share a professor, but they will have different lecture periods. Subsections differ in TAs and time periods.

To view a course's prerequisites, select the second icon at the top right of a course on the added courses menu. The drop down menu that appears after selecting the icon will have an information icon that links to OSCAR. OSCAR is the most accurate source for prerequisite information, so it is best to always double check a course's prerequisites on OSCAR. In addition, check OSCAR for additional information about a course or section, such as campus, major, concentration, and LLC restrictions.