Top 5 Tips for Wrapping Up Your Fall Semester

It’s the end of the semester. I know you’re probably struggling with Finals Week, and the last thing you want is another list of things to do. But please read this list. It’s important! Lol.

Every January, when my students return for the spring semester, I always get panicked calls, texts, and emails from students who get dropped from their classes, don’t have access to their financial aid, or are unable to get registered. Sometimes I’m able to help them, but unfortunately, most of the time I have to tell them, “If you had come to me three weeks ago, we could’ve worked out a plan to get things resolved.” Because we’re so close to the end of spring registration, I’m limited in what I can do to help them at this point.

So with that being said, here are my top 5 tips for wrapping up your spring semester and the reasons why you should be doing them.

Meet with your academic advisor.

To be honest, I’m hoping you did this already since spring registration probably opened in November. However, I know some schools don’t require you to make an appointment in order to register. If you haven’t already, and your advisor can squeeze you in before the end of the semester, I highly recommend signing up to meet with them. Why? They can better inform you of which classes you should be taking in the spring and give you an estimate of when you will be graduating. This will prevent you from spending money on classes you don’t need and ensure you stay on track for graduation.

Schedule your spring classes.

I’m really hoping you did this one too, but I know some people can be procrastinators. (I personally was one of those students who waited until the very last day to register for class, and that’s how I can tell you firsthand that it’s a bad idea.) If you’re someone who is very particular about the days and times they want to go to class, you should aim to get registered as soon as possible. When I was a student, I would work mornings (5am-12pm) and had organization meetings and events in the late afternoon/night (usually 6pm-10pm), so it was important for me to have class in that very small window of 1pm-6pm. You may also be looking for classes with a specific professor, and if they are one of the more popular ones, their classes are going to fill up.

As registration begins to open for underclassmen and incoming students, classes will fill up quickly, and there’s a chance you won’t be able to get into the class you want during the day and time you want. (And there’s a chance you’ll be stuck with that dreaded 8am class.) Once you finalize your schedule, it can also make it easier for you to build the rest of your schedule and responsibilities around it, since I know many students work, take care of family members, hold organization leadership positions, and more. Earlier is better.

Make sure you paid off your fall balance.

I cannot stress this one enough. This is the #1 reason why I see students get dropped from their classes at the beginning of the spring semester. Some colleges will be proactive and not let you register for classes until you pay off your current balance, but others will let you register and then drop you from the class if you still have a balance at the beginning of the new semester. If you do, you will need to pay that off before you can attend classes in the spring. If you check right now while we’re in the fall semester, you can create a plan to pay it off. I’ve seen students get a seasonal job over the break or work with the parents/guardians to pay it off. It’s up to you how you take care of it, but the most important things is you give yourself enough time to have options.

Double-check your financial aid package.

In the spring semester of my junior year, I got dropped from all of my classes during the first week of the semester since my financial aid didn’t cover my entire spring bill. I didn’t know this was something I needed to check for at the time, so by the time I found out, it was too late. My parents and I had to scramble to take out some extra loans to cover the remaining cost. While I was able to register for classes that semester, I wasn’t able to get into all the classes I had originally selected.

To check this, go into the financial aid section of your portal and verify you have enough money to pay for your spring bill. Your amount of spring aid should exceed or match the amount on your spring bill. Checking this will also prevent you from running into the future problem of having a big remaining balance at the end of the semester.

Some scholarships and grants will require you to have a certain GPA to remain eligible, so not meeting the requirement may also result in a loss of some of your financial aid. In this case, you may be able to appeal to the financial aid office if you had a special circumstance that hindered your academic performance. If your aid looks lower than it should be, you may also want to check in with your financial aid office to verify whether the amount is accurate. The beginning of the semester is when they tend to get very busy, so it is better to get it taken care of now to beat the rush.

If you are planning on taking out federal student loans for the first time, you will need to turn in an MPN (Master Promissory Note) and complete entrance loan counseling, which can be done through your FAFSA account. They will not release your student loans to you until you have completed these tasks, which brings me to our final tip.

Check your account for any remaining holds.

If you’ve completed the first four tips, you have probably taken care of the majority of holds on your account. However, holds can vary from school to school, so there’s a chance you still have a task to complete or a document to turn in. You can check your remaining holds by going to your college portal and looking for “Holds” or “Checklist” or “To-Dos.” This is usually where they’ll list any items you still need to complete.

If you’ve done these five things, you are on your way to starting your semester off right. While this won’t solve every problem you run into, it will help minimize the risk of you being dropped from classes and ensure you continue to have the schedule you want. If you ever have any questions about making sure you’re in good standing, holds, registration, financial aid, etc., feel free to reach out to me on social media!