Course Selection

University of Virginia's College of Arts & Sciences undergraduate students select courses for the upcoming semester during the pre-enrollment period (typically November for spring classes and April for fall classes). The following steps are a guide to best practices when building a course schedule.

To enroll in Spanish, French, German, or Italian courses in the spring, take the UVA placement diagnostic at least 10 days in advance of your enrollment appointment.

Note the following rules and policies:

  • You may not late register and/or enroll in classes after the College's add deadline for the semester.

  • Class Search opens for Spring 2024 on October 20.

  • Advising for Spring 2024 course selection begins on October 23 and runs through November 3. All students are limited to 15 credits until November 27, at which point the credit cap is increased to 17 credits; NO EXCEPTIONS.

  • If you want to take 18 or more credits, you must submit the Credit Hour Overload form which becomes available two weeks before classes begin. The class you want to add must be open in SIS.

  • Spring course enrollment begins on November 6.

Check deadlines

Check the Academic Calendar for College deadlines related to advising and class drop, add and withdrawal. The College takes deadlines seriously so check the calendar and your enrollments regularly (strongly recommended). You are bound to the deadlines of the course's school of enrollment.

Useful Links: Registrar's Calendar, Department Majors, Advising Newsletter, Office of Major Events

Identify required courses you need

  1. Log into UVA's SIS (Student Information System). See how to use SIS. Do NOT rely on Lou's List for your information; it is an unofficial list and can have incorrect data.
  2. Check your Academic Requirement (AR) report (if you need help understanding your AR form, you can find instructions here). AR lists all the courses which you have completed or in which you are currently enrolled. The AR report shows:
    • Degree, major and minor requirements completed
    • Requirements remaining
    • A list of the courses that fulfill remaining requirements
  3. Make a plan to satisfy degree requirements for the College of Arts & Sciences.

TIP: Choose your courses with a plan to finish your general education requirements first, and before the start of your third year, especially the First Writing and World Language requirements.

Other considerations to help you identify courses you need:

Errors in your Academic Requirement (AR) report that relate to College area and competency requriements should be brought to the attention of the College Registrar in 138 Monroe Hall. Errors in your major or minor requriements should be reported to the department.

Select 5 courses from the Schedule of Classes (SOC)

Most College of A&S students take 15-16 credit hours, which is usually five courses.

  1. Check the Schedule of Classes in SIS to see what is being offered in the upcoming semester.
  2. Select several alternates for each of your top choices. Some classes fill up quickly, so there may be occasions when you will have to enroll in an alternate course. Place all courses you may want to take into Shopping Cart. The College suggests that you do NOT use the planner.
  3. Include discussion sections and labs as you select your classes. Select zero-credit labs, drills and discussions where required. You must follow the same procedure to select these as you do any other class.
  4. Students must be enrolled (for a grade, CR/NC, or audit) to participate in a class.

The College also provides the following documents to help you make your couse decision: 

See your advisor (academic advising)

  1. Schedule an appointment with your faculty advisor to review your course selections and your academic progress. Contact your advisor directly if he/she has not created an electronic calendar. You can find the name of your advisor(s) on your Student Center in SIS.
  2. To see if your advisor is using the online calendar go to https://advise.sites.virginia.edu/.
  3. The advising meeting may take place in person, via phone, Zoom or FaceTime. Ask your advisor how they plan to meet with you.
  4. Remind your advisor to release your advising hold after your meeting. You can view your enrollment date and time in the SIS Student Center.
  5. Read more details in the advising overview about
    1. Faculty Advisors
    2. Association Deans
    3. Additional advising resources

Enroll, add, drop, or swap courses by deadlines on A&S academic calendar

  1. Enroll in courses using SIS beginning on the date and time listed in your Student Center.
  2. Make any schedule changes (add, drop, withdraw)
  3. Make any changes to your grading options (credit/no credit (CR/NC), audit) by the add deadline.
  4. After you have enrolled in courses, verify the accuracy of enrollments before the drop deadline.

Checking the Academic Requirements (AR) Report

College students have eight full-time semesters (fall, spring) to complete their degree and it is the responsibility of each College student to track their progress toward the degree using the Academic Requirements Report. Students should be sure that they are on track to graduate on time in terms of College requirements, major and minor requirements, credits earned, GPA, etc. It is strongly recommended that students check their AR Report on a regular basis and before and after any enrollment changes (add, drop, withdraw, etc.) are made.

Questions about or problems with College requirements should be directed to the Office of the College Registrar (138 Monroe Hall); questions on major or minor requirements should be directed to the department.

Tips For Using SIS

a. To view all classes in a department, use DEPARTMENT and one other search field. Undergraduate, MAIN campus or credits (0 and 6) are good additional search criteria.
b. To find classes for the upcoming semester, use SEARCH FOR CLASSES in your Student Center (do not use the Course Catalog).
c. In advance of your appointment time, you can start placing courses you might want to take in your SIS SHOPPING CART.

Using SWAP and EDIT: To fully understand the swap and edit functions, watch the SIS help demos.

When to Swap; When to Edit

  • To drop one class and add another simultaneously, use the SWAP function.
  • To switch a discussion/lab section for a class in which you already are enrolled, and the new discussion/lab is open, use the EDIT function.
  • To switch a discussion/lab section for a class in which you already are enrolled, and the new discussion/lab has a wait list, you can use the swap function, but you will lose your place in the lecture. If the lecture is full, you will have to go on the wait list.
  • To switch a discussion/lab section for a class in which you are waitl isted, drop or swap the original wait list request. You will lose your place in the lecture wait list.

Check for enrollment errors and student status

It is your responsibility to:

  • Check your schedule for errors
  • Make any necessary changes, such as dropping courses you are not attending, or adding courses you are attending by the stated deadlines
  • Verify the accuracy of your enrollments in SIS each time you make a change

Your Status as a Student

You are considered an enrolled undergraduate UVA Arts & Sciences student at the University of Virginia if you have

  1. enrolled in at least 1 credit;
  2. paid your tuition bill;
  3. have no holds.

Cancelled and Rescheduled Classes

It sometimes happens that the College has to cancel or reschedule a class after enrollment has occurred. College students who need assistance when a class is cancelled or moved (for any reason) should contact their academic advisor, the Director of the Undergraduate Program and/or their Association Dean.

The low enrollment course policy can be found here.

Denied Enrollment and How to Clear Holds

If you have a hold you will be unable to enroll in classes. If this hold is in place on the first Friday of the semester, you will be disenrolled and dropped from all your classes. As applicable, your University of Virginia ID card will be deactivated, and UVA Housing, UVA Dining, Cavalier Advantage and all other student privileges will be unavailable.