Whether you are a new or returning student, you will have the best advising experience when you arrive to your advising appointment prepared! Be sure to have questions and talking points in mind so that you can make the most of your time with your advisor. Make sure to check out the Pre-Advisement Checklist to look at the five recommended steps for preparing for your Academic Advising Appointment! 

• Review Pre-Advisement Checklist 
• Find out who your advisor is by logging into Self-Service Carolina, click on “Student Information” and look for “Primary Advisor.”  
• All freshmen have professional staff Academic Advisors who use EAB Navigate to schedule appointments, send you messages and make advising notes. 
• As you transition into your sophomore year, in most programs, you’ll be assigned a new advisor in your academic program. Always check Self-Service Carolina to find out who your advisor is. These advisors will either be a Faculty Advisor, Department Advisor, or professional Academic Advisor. 

Registering for classes is an online process you complete through Self Service Carolina (my.sc.edu). Review these Registration Checklists from the Registrar’s Office to help navigate through the process. 

• Review the Pre-Registration Checklist for a list of 5 steps to best prepare for registering for courses 
• Check out these helpful resources for tips on how to register for courses: 
  • Video: How to Register for Classes using Self Service Carolina  
  • Video:  How to Register for Classes using Schedule Planner 
  • How to Register for Classes using Schedule Planner [pdf] 

Major Program Cards
The semester before you plan to graduate, or once you’ve completed 90 hours, you should meet with your academic advisor who will complete a Major Program Card (MPC). This is a list of major courses that you have completed and those you still need to complete. Either you or your advisor will upload a copy of your MPC to the Office of Undergraduate Studies Forms System (go.sc.edu/CASforms) and will upload a copy into EAB Navigate. 

Senior Checks
The semester before you plan to graduate, or once you’ve completed 90 credit hours and are in your last year of academic study, you’ll need to request a Senior Check appointment with a Dean’s Advisor from the Office of Undergraduate Studies (Flinn Hall). To request a Senior Check, either you or your advisor will upload your Major Program Card to the College of Arts and Sciences Forms System.  This is meant to provide you a list of courses that you still need to complete. A Senior Check is a review of your transcript, your degree programs course requirements, and your Major Program Card. Advisors will check what courses you still have left to take in order to earn your degree diploma. If you make any changes to what courses your advisors indicate you need to take, you may not graduate in the semester you have planned.  

Needs to be lifted by an advisor during/after an academic advising appointment.

First-year undergraduate students on academic probation after their first semester must complete an academic coaching session. Student needs to schedule and attend an Academic Coaching session in the University Advising Center.

Failure to pay outstanding charges by deadlines (parking, tuition, fees, etc.) may result in a financial hold on the student’s record. A financial hold may prohibit students from future registration, receiving transcripts, or receiving a diploma. Students should contact the Bursar's Office with questions about their balance.

There are two types of conduct holds: Failure to attend a scheduled meeting with conduct administrator/hearing officer or failure to complete the sanctions assigned to the student. In order to have the hold lifted, student needs to attend conduct meeting and complete sanctions. Contact Student Conduct and Academic Integrity for information.

Students who have taken coursework at another institution before beginning or while enrolled at USC must submit an official transcript. If USC does not receive an official transcript, a transcript hold will be placed. To have the hold lifted, students need to have transcripts sent to the Office of the University Registrar.

Questions form: https://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/registrar/toolbox/contact.php 

Students must verify U.S. citizenship by completing and submitting the Citizenship Verification Form to the University Registrar’s office. To have the hold lifted, students need to complete Citizenship Verification Form and submit to the University Registrar.

Non-US citizens at the Columbia campus, contact International Student Services at iss@sc.edu or 803-777-7461 

Immunization requirements must be met and the form on file at Student Student Health and Well-Being before a student can register for classes, move into a residence hall, or attend classes. To have the hold lifted, students need to submit immunization record to Student Student Health and Well-Being. Contact Student Student Health and Well-Being for information.

Students need to complete AlcoholEdu and SAPU. Contact Substance Abuse Prevention and Education with questions.

Deadlines for Fall 2022

August 19: AlcoholEdu Part 1 and Sexual Assault Prevention for Undergraduates Part 1 complete 

October 19: AlcoholEdu Part 2 and Sexual Assault Prevention for Undergraduates Part 2 complete 

 Please note:

• If you complete Part One after the Part Two deadline, you must email sape@sc.edu to have your hold lifted for 45 days while you are in the intersession.
• The hold will remove itself within 24 hours. This may mean you will have to wait to register for classes.

Some sections are reserved for majors only, students in Opportunity scholars or Honors, or specific classifications such as sophomores or above.

The course may only be open to certain majors, minors, and concentrations (see list on when field of study restrictions are lifted). Contact the sponsoring academic department and request a field of study override.

Only for students in the Honors College (could ask for an override into the class but ONLY if there are additional seats and registration has been open for a while. See override forms and links for more information) 

The student has to obtain special approval from the department offering the course.

Class is full.

May not have the required pre-requisites (could ask for override though, please see override forms and links for more information).

May not have the correct co-requisite. If a course is a co-requisite, both CRNs must be entered on the Add Classes Worksheet when the submit button is pressed.

The course may be offered on a different campus.

The course may be offered at a different level (graduate, undergraduate, law, medical, pharmacy, etc).

Course sections beginning with an alpha character are intended for specific student populations. See below for more information.

If there is a class you need to take and it has reached enrollment caps, you may be able to request a registration override.  If you need an override to get into a course, you will need the permission of the instructor to do so. Contact the academic department that sponsors the class you need an override for and line up your overrides before your registration window opens.  Academic departments specify override priorities but will not allow more students than the room can hold by fire code limits.  

If you have taken an AP or IB class, or are waiting for a class to transfer from another institution and this class satisfies a prerequisite for a class at UofSC, you will need to complete a prerequisite waiver. Some departments have links to prerequisite waiver forms (see below), but for any other department, just contact the academic department that sponsors the class that you need a prerequisite override for.