Preregistration at any stage can be a very daunting process. Students often spend the entire preregistration period agonizing over which classes to take, which order to take them and how to formulate their schedule, followed by a period of self-doubt.

Although Georgetown does a good job making preregistration less stressful for students as compared to some colleges where registration opens at a certain time and classes fill up in a matter of seconds, more steps could be taken to make the process easier.

Some departments, like many of those in the School of Foreign Service, help students plan for their major by publishing a list of classes that have been offered in recent years. Other departments, like philosophy, distribute a list of courses that will tentatively be offered in the upcoming semesters. Although the details of these course lists are subject to change, these resources help students better plan their four years at the Hilltop.

Especially when it comes to planning extracurricular commitments, knowing potential course offerings in advance will allow students to anticipate academic needs in case they are interested in going abroad or working an internship, or simply need to craft their expected four-year plan.

Even if the lists provided in advance do not perfectly reflect what courses will be offered a year in the future, publishing even short or tentative lists will help students design academic trajectories depending on which courses are offered during specific semesters.

Most departments already have some sort of schedule of course offerings in place long before preregistration begins. As long as it’s clear that the schedule is tentative, there shouldn’t be any harm in sharing the list with students, too.