Things you need to know, that you will not find on W&M’s website…

If you are like any other William & Mary student, you will stress out over which classes you will get.  Coming in as a freshman, from what I’ve seen (I transferred in), can be a bit disheartening. You’re scrambling to fulfill your GERs (General Education Requirements), and, obviously, you want to get a head start on your major classes!

Finally, the day comes for you to sign up for your class: it’s 8 am, your orientation aides are there to cheer you on. Banner opens (the website you will very soon be on everyday), you go to log on, and the site crashes. By the time you finally get on the website, the four classes you were hoping to get into are already snatched up by craved freshmen. Oh no! You’re speechless, panicking, freaking out, the world is over. There is no possible way you can graduate now.

Like I said, I was a transfer student last spring, and as a transfer, I had the privilege of signing up for classes after all of the freshmen! By that time, all the class selections were seemingly picked over, and all hope was lost forever. And, unfortunately, I signed up for classes that I did not even want.

There are two things that I learned from this overwhelming experience:

1)     The Latin American History class that I ended up taking (which, honestly, was a last choice of mine) ended up being the most eye opening and interesting class that I have taken thus far at the College. So keep your eyes and ears open! There are so many different, strange, wonderful classes that you would never imagine taking, that you may end up taking. Do it. Go in with a positive attitude; you will be surprised how much you will learn and how great of a time you will have learning it.  Don’t get disheartened when you don’t get the class that you think you wanted or needed.

2)     When all else fails, (and it will fail at times), email your professors and ask them to get into their class.  Follow that up by going to their classes the first couple of days. I have done this every semester, and (while some students do not get in due to limited seating) I have always been able to get into the classes I needed. This shows dedication to them, and also that you really want/need to be in their class. Show persistence. Constantly be in communication with your professors.

Hope this will be useful to you all,

– Jonathan Hulme