Why later course registration is better

Explaining why the shift to earlier registration dates this year was the wrong direction

Staff Writer

The due date for course sign ups this year was February 10th, which is a few weeks earlier than in the past—last year, it was February 28th, and the year before, it was February 27th. This shift back a few weeks changed the usual timeline, with counselor presentations moved back to January and open house shifted from late February to the 6th.

Registration has always been early in the semester. We are barely a few weeks into the new semester before having to make decisions for the coming school year. And though students have already experienced their courseloads for one semester, this is often not enough information for a quality decision. As Shreya Panathula (11) said, “We don’t really know yet how the semester is going to go. Are we going to improve? Are we going to master the subjects? Generally, the grades we get determine what kind of courses we want to take next year.”

A lot can change in a semester, even if that seems like a short amount of time. Experiencing a few months more of a class can influence how students see their academic inclinations. “As we get closer to the end of the year, that’s when we start seeing if we really like the subject,” said Panathula. “That way, we can also get the courses we end up loving and find are at our level.”

Another consideration: AP exam preparation takes place later in the semester, months after course registration has historically been. Students in challenging but manageable AP courses—particularly sophomores, many of whom are taking their first AP classes—will start feeling pressure later in the semester. Debating whether to take APs isn’t just about whether one can manage the class itself; it also involves understanding what it means to prepare for and take the exams. Many rising juniors sign up for more than one AP, so it is better that they do so with the full knowledge of what an AP class entails, and that requires course registration to be shifted a few months later.

That course registration occurs months before the end of the current school year is likely intended to give school staff longer to prepare schedules for the following year. But earlier course registration would also lighten counselors’ load in a different way. If students have more time to think over what they want to request, it is less likely that they will regret their decisions after the school year begins and drop classes, lessening the schedule changes counselors must deal with.

To move course registration closer to the end of the school year, when students are already beginning to consider what the next year has in store, makes more logical sense. Despite all this, registration deadlines seem to be getting earlier. Only time will tell whether the shift from this school year will continue.