Last Minute Community College Registration

As the summer draws to a close, you suddenly get the urge to go back to school. Or maybe, your first college choice is not longer feasible. Regardless of the reason, many people wait until the semester is less than a month away before they commit to going back to school. This is very prevalent in community colleges. The time between the end of July and the end of August is a zoo at best. Each day that passes becomes more congested and crazy and more and more students need served. This is stressful for the staff and the students waiting to be helped. There are a few things you can do to help alleviate the stress.

The no brain advice is do not wait until last minute. By now many of the classes are full, the lines are long, the staff is drained and tempers are short. However, you can't turn back time, so here is how to make it more manageable.

The first is if you are a returning student, can you register online. If you do not need to meet with an advisor, or if you can be advised by phone, you can avoid the lines and the chaos by registering yourself through your school's online registration system. Some of you may be reading this and thinking this is useless advice because the only way to register is only. I applaud your school to sticking to their guns there. However, many other community colleges still have lines full of returning students who need their registrations processed.

If you are a new student, make sure you have all of your paperwork in order. Once that is taken care of, be sure that you are clear on the rest of the admissions steps. You may want to put aside two days for all the steps. If the school has an orientation or a College Planning Session available, that might also save you time. You might not get to see and advisor right after you test going this route, but the chances are you would have to wait two to three hours for walk in advising anyway. With these group sessions you are generally in and out in a much shorter time. Plus you will get more pertinent information and more person attention at these sessions.

The last bit of advice is to take the minimalist approach. By that I mean try to bring a few people as possible with you. While you are in line or waiting in crowded lobbies, the less additional people you have the better. Yes it is nice to have moral support. Some people do not drive or have their own car, so some one has to drive them. Sometimes you just can't find a sitter. Bringing people along with you is sometimes a necessary evil. However, keeping the numbers down can be very helpful. This can take some of the stress off you, and less congestion takes a little stress off everyone else too. Yes this is a huge step for you, but you do not need to bring the whole family with you. This can make it even more stressful for you. If it is at all possible (sometimes money wise it isn't and other times there just isn't anyone to watch them) find someone to watch the kids. Actually, if you are testing most college have policies against bring children into classrooms and testing labs. Plus they also have policies on leaving you children unattended in lobbies and hallways. Be aware of these polices before taking your children with you. Contrary to popular belief, do not have to have your parents here. This isn't high school, and this is now your choice.