It’s no secret that Georgetown University students face conundrums and pains for course registration. Students understandably bemoan this process, given the ever-frantic scramble to register for classes and the furious refreshing required to stay updated on which courses have filled up. 

In Summer 2024, the university updated its registration system, replacing the previous platform, MyAccess, with GU Experience. While these improvements have significantly improved the registration process by making the interface more intuitive, there are still key changes that the Editorial Board believes could further simplify and ease students’ enrollment processes. 

These smaller, feasible steps — like always providing course syllabi and ensuring features work smoothly — not only focus on improving the technical aspects of registration but also on the class schedule itself. This Editorial Board’s proposed reforms aim to supplement course descriptions, modernize registration infrastructure and increase accessibility of classes.

First, most course listings on GU Experience offer little more than a title and short paragraph of generalized information. Often, there are no past syllabi or sample reading lists for the courses. Many students make their selections only to discover on the first day of class that the workload is incompatible with their other commitments or that the course isn’t what they imagined. Although the add-drop period allows students to adjust their classes based on their experience, adding syllabi information before the first day of class could mitigate some of the period’s chaos. 

Amelie Schulhof (CAS ’28), who struggled to find classes that fulfill degree requirements, said she worries about committing to courses without thorough information. 

“When there isn’t much information on GU Experience about a course, I feel like I’m taking a risk by registering for that course, and instead I look for a class where the requirements are clearly explained,” Schulhof wrote to The Hoya.

To fix this issue, Georgetown should require professors to publish past syllabi directly on the course registration portal. While some professors already post previous semesters’ syllabi on GU360 — a portal for Georgetown students, faculty and administrators — this is not standard practice across all courses, with many professors not posting their syllabi despite earlier prompting from the registrar. Such a policy would ease the burden on students and professors by giving students more information and minimizing the chaos of students switching in and out of classes during syllabus week. 

In addition to providing more information on courses, the waitlist process should be more transparent. Currently, students can only see how many spots are available on a course’s waitlist, and waitlists are occasionally restricted. This leaves students unsure of how the procedure works and where exactly they stand on that list. The university should show students precisely where they fall in the waitlist ranking, allowing them to better understand their likelihood of getting into a class and whether they should pursue other course options. 

The university should also prioritize making the registration interface more accessible and ensuring the platform operates smoothly. Students are currently able to use the “Plan Ahead” feature to add courses before registration opens, making it easier when their window opens. However, the platform can occasionally slow down or encounter glitches when adding plans, preventing students from enrolling in their preferred classes, as all students rush to register. Additionally, when students create the new plan, courses come up that are listed as “NOT OFFERED FOR TERM.” 

Shailee Sinha (CAS ’28) said the difficulty of navigating the site is how the courses seem to be incorrect.

“I find it really frustrating that when trying to plan ahead, it shows many courses that aren’t being offered next semester,” Sinha wrote to The Hoya. “If there was a filter that removed the courses not being offered, that would make registration much easier.”

As for the schedule of classes, Georgetown should focus on offering required courses for each major at times more convenient for students while opening more sections of these courses. For example, as a Sociology major, you are required to take SOCI 2903: “Statistics for Social Research.” However, there is only one section of this course and it only has 15 seats. In addition, the course is only offered in the fall and meets from 10:00 to 10:50 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 

Limited class offerings, both inflexible and scheduled at popular times, cut necessary class options and potential experiences for all students. One of the key parts of the Georgetown academic experience is taking advantage of the city, whether that be getting an internship or enjoying museums and other cultural institutions. These inconvenient class times make it much harder for students to both fulfill their major requirements and enjoy the holistic education Georgetown promises its students. Expanding section offerings for consistently overenrolled and required classes could remedy this problem.

The Editorial Board recognizes that some of these suggestions may seem minute or insignificant. However, easing the course registration experience and improving course offerings, by any measure, is worth the time and effort it may take if it in any way alleviates students’ and professors’ stress. More importantly, having a wider variety of classes available and accurately listed, along with the freedom and certainty to pick and actually register in the right classes, allows Hoyas to prepare and succeed for future semesters.