Course Registration

Course registration for fall and spring is a two-phase process. Phase I is completed through course request (New Students do not complete course request for their first term of enrollment, they move directly into add/drop). Phase II is completed through add/drop. All course request and add/drop dates can be found on the Add/Drop and Course Request Dates website.  Summer and winter sessions do not have a course request phase.

Access Course Registration and Schedule: Visit Hokie Spa - Hokie Spa > Course Registration and Schedule Menu

View and Resolve Holds: Students cannot course request or register for courses with a hold on their account. Prior to each registration phase, review your holds and resolve them as needed. Common holds include: accounts receivable, immunization, and parking tickets; some exceptions apply such as honors system and BTP (budget tuition plan) holds. Students will need to contact the office responsible for the hold to have it resolved.

Phase I: Course Request (not for new students)

During course request, students will submit a list of courses they intend to take in the following semester. Registration is not active, students are only creating a request list. Course request is available in October and March each year and is used to request courses for the next term. Students will submit course request in October for spring courses and in March for fall courses. 

New Students do not complete course request for their first term of enrollment, they move directly into add/drop. Summer and winter registration do not have course request, they move directly into add/drop.

Course Request Results
After course requests are processed, students can view their course request results to see what courses they were enrolled in and which ones they did not receive. Course request results are available in November and April. 

Phase II: Add/Drop

During add/drop, registration is live and students can add and drop courses in real time. If students completed course request, they can make adjustments to their course request results during add/drop. If students did not complete course request, they can still create a full schedule during add/drop.

Hokie Scheduler
Hokie Scheduler is a class scheduling tool that can generate numerous potential student schedules based on the list of courses a student intends to register for in the particular semester. Students can also sort (or filter) course sections based on other outside commitments (e.g., athletics, work, etc.). After adding or dropping courses using this tool, confirm your changes and new schedule using the Classic Student Schedule.

Hokie Scheduler Overview (Video)
Hokie Scheduler Overview (PDF)
Hokie Scheduler: Adding Courses with Separate Lecture/Labs (Video): This tutorial provides the steps for registering for courses that have separate Lecture/Labs using the Hokie Scheduler planning and registration tool.
Hokie Scheduler: Adding Courses with Separate Lecture/Labs (PDF)
Hokie Scheduler: Viewing Course prerequisites and major restrictions (Video)
Hokie Scheduler: Viewing Course prerequisites and major restrictions (PDF)
Hokie Scheduler: Viewing a registration error (Video)
Hokie Scheduler: Viewing a registration error (PDF)

Registration (Add/Drop) and Schedule
Registration (Add/Drop) and Schedule is a class scheduling tool for students to search for classes and add/drop in real time. After adding or dropping courses using this tool, confirm your changes and new schedule using the Classic Student Schedule.
Registration (Add/Drop) and Schedule (Video Tutorial)
Registration (Add/Drop) and Schedule (Video Tutorial)
Registration (Add/Drop) and Schedule (Video Tutorial)

Scheduling Tools and Tips

Academic Plan
An academic plan (also known as a plan of study) allows students to outline all of the courses needed to fulfill the graduation requirements of the degree they wish to earn. Completing a plan of study is a lengthy process that requires multiple steps, and should be completed in consultation with your academic advisor anytime after the first week of classes. Once complete, your plan of study should be your academic guide throughout your time at Virginia Tech, including course registration, and can be changed as needed. Details for creating an academic plan can be located on the Academic Planning webpage. 

Checksheets (Degree Requirements)
Checksheets show the requirements for graduation for a particular degree and major and are based on a student's entering academic year (e.g., students entering in summer 2024, fall 2024, or spring 2025 will follow the 2024-2025 checksheets, these requirements should be available in July-August 2024).  College of Engineering checksheets show a generalized course plan that includes pre-requisites, co-requisites, term offerings, satisfactory progress towards degree, pathways to general education requirements, technical elective options, minimum grade requirements in specific courses, etc. Additional information and links to the requirements can be located on the Checksheets webpage.

Classic Student Schedule
View your class schedule and class details (modality, course title, grade option, credit hours, days, times, location, instructor, exam). After making any changes to your schedule using Hokie Scheduler or Registration (Add/Drop) and Schedule, review your Classic Student Schedule to confirm the changes. You can access the Classic Student Schedule on Hokie Spa - Hokie Spa > Course Registration and Schedule Menu.

Force-Add
Force-adding is an administrative process that allows the department offering the course to place students into courses they cannot add themselves. A common reason for a force add is unprocessed transfer credit for pre-requisite courses students have taken at other institutions. Force-adds will not be considered for instructor preference or time convenience. Review the force-add information carefully before initiating that process. All force-add protocols can be located on the Force-Add webpage.

Major and Course Restrictions
Some courses are major-restricted, meaning only students officially enrolled within a major or set of majors can enroll. Some sections of courses outside of Engineering, like Chemistry and Physics, may also be restricted to students within those majors. There can be multiple sections of a course (e.g. PHYS 2305: Foundations of Physics and CHEM 1045: General Chemistry Lab), where some sections are restricted to only students within a major or set of majors, while other sections are not restricted or are open to engineering students. If a section of a course you want to enroll in is restricted, check other sections of that course to see if they are also restricted. To verify if a course is restricted, go to: Timetable of Classes, search for a course in the semester of choice, click the Course Request Number (CRN), look under Course Restrictions. If all sections of a course are restricted, you will not be able to register for that particular course if you do not meet the restriction.

Timetable of Classes
The timetable of classes is a searchable database of course offerings for a current or upcoming term. You can search by term, pathways, subject, course number, course request number (CRN), and course modality. In the search results, you can select the CRN (far lefthand side) to view course pre-requisites, co-requisites, and restrictions. This is the easiest way to determine major restrictions for courses, which are common with engineering courses. This tool is only used to search for courses and view course details, you cannot add or drop courses using the timetable of classes.  
Timetable of Classes Video Tutorial

Transfer Credits
Verify that your transfer credits are showing on Hokie Spa - Hokie Spa > Grades Menu > Transfer and Other Additional Credit. If you are using a transfer course to fulfill a pre-requisite for a VT course you wish to enroll in, and your transfer credit for the pre-requisite course is not officially awarded on Hokie Spa, you cannot self-enroll in the VT course. If you have not already done so, send your official copy of your transcripts and score reports that includes all years and all final grades/scores.