Guidelines for first quarter students when developing their first quarter schedule.

As you approach orientation, you may be thinking about the courses ahead of you during your first quarter here at UC Davis. During orientation, you will have dedicated time to meet with academic advising professionals who will guide you through the registration process. You will be registering for courses through a program called Schedule Builder. During orientation, you will want to discuss your first quarter schedule with an academic advisor. In most cases, you will be provided with a recommended first quarter schedule, but feel free to adjust this schedule in partnership with your academic advisor. Academic advisors are here to help you and are ready to answer your questions!

Not Attending Orientation

• First-year students who did not attend Orientation will have pass appointment (course registration) times in mid to late August 
• Check out our webinar for New Students 
• Not attending orientation, contact us for more information.

Freshmen Students

We understand it can be a challenge to develop your first quarter schedule. To help guide you through the process, the first quarter course recommendation tool may provide helpful tips and tricks when creating your very first schedule. 

Transfer Students

For transfer students, it is important you reach out to your major advisor immediately to develop your first quarter academic plan. Depending on what you transferred in with, there may be some lower division coursework you still need to enroll in. When developing your first quarter academic plan, please check in with your major advisor about this.  Please also be intentional about your overall course load. The transition from a semester system to a quarter system takes time to adjust to and we want to make sure you are set up for success your first quarter here.

Below is a list of common registration terms you may run into: 

• Class search tool: helpful when planning future courses, not used for registration. 
• Course catalog: contains information regarding academic programs, courses, and all other requirements. 
• CRN: five digit course registration number, needed to enroll in a class.  
• ELWR: Entrly level writing requirement, required by the University of California for all undergraduate scholars. 
• General education requirements: the breadth of  knowledge acquired by all undergraduate scholars beyond the focus of a major. 
• Minimum Progress*: defined as 12 units per quarter or 36 units per academic year for qualitative standards 
• OASIS: online advising information system 
• Pass time: assigned to students in two appointments in order to register for the academic term 
• Placement exams: required for preparatory courses such as Chemistry and Math 
• Schedule builder: a tutorial on class planning and registration program, used for registering for classes  

Note: this is not a comprehensive list of terms for registration 

* effective Fall 2018