A New Student’s Guide to First-Time Course Registration at Concordia

Whether you’re a first-year college student or a transfer to Concordia University, Nebraska, your first time registering for a new semester of classes is coming up. Depending on the amount of college credits you already possess, your registration date may come as early as November 11 or as late as November 20 for the spring 2025 semester. Chances are, you’ve heard advice, stories or warnings about this day. You’ll wake up before six a.m., watching the seconds tick by until your registration window opens. Then, you’ll type in course registration numbers as quickly as possible, hoping that classes won’t fill up before you hit enter. So...is that realistic for how course registration will turn out?  

Yes and no.  

Course registration, especially if it’s your first time experiencing it, can be stressful. Typically, you can find course listings on the Concordia portal about three weeks before the first registration day occurs. This will give you time to prepare and consider which courses you’d like to take, how many credits you need and where everything will fit in your schedule.  

Some factors to consider when choosing which, and how many, courses you should add to your schedule in each semester include athletics seasons, part-time jobs, extracurriculars and the difficulty of the courses you’re choosing. For example, it may be easy to take sixteen credits of general education but much harder to conquer the same number of credits when four of them are Advanced Human Anatomy and Physiology or you’re completing a capstone project.  

Another good practice when it comes to building your schedule is to meet with your academic or first-year advisor. They’ll give you useful advice, help you build a four-year plan or work out problems that arise when trying to fit classes into a cohesive schedule. Knowing how the upcoming semester’s classes are contributing to your overall goal of graduating with a bachelor’s degree is exceptionally useful; advisors are there to help with this step.  

When you’ve decided upon the schedule of courses you wish to take in the upcoming semester – having considered extracurriculars, your advisor’s advice and your four-year plan – it's time to talk registration. Make sure to check your class standing on DegreeWorks (found through Concordia’s portal) and find your registration date on the academic calendar. Then, take note of the courses’ registration numbers (CRNs). They’re the five-digit numbers that can be found next to course titles on the portal.  

On the morning that you’re scheduled to register for courses, you can start the process as early as 6 a.m. Often, students wake up at 6, take five minutes to register and go back to bed. Other times, they may wait until they normally wake up and register as soon as they wake up. If you’re concerned that courses you wish to take may fill up, it may be a good idea to register at 6 a.m. However, if your courses have many seats open but not many students who are expected to sign up, you may choose to wait until later in the day to register. Either method will work; choose whichever works best for you.  

Signing up for a new semester of courses may seem daunting if it’s your first time, but many campus resources are ready to offer assistance with any challenges you may encounter. Reach out to your first-year advisor, academic advisor or the Academic Resource Center to work through troubles in scheduling. Do not be afraid to ask for help! 

Concordia University, Nebraska promises students a Lutheran, Christian higher education that equips them not only with skills and a degree, but also a sense of vocation and purpose for the future. It emphasizes the importance of the Gospel and is a Christ-centered community of believers and academics. Learn more about applying to Concordia here.