First Semester Registration Checklist

Incoming first-year students will be able to register for their Fall courses beginning on Wedneday, June 15th at 9:00AM. Students will be receiving emails from their CACS Academic and Career Advisor (ACA) throughout the summer to prompt them to complete each item and provide more information, which will also be hosted on this website. The following deadlines are included for your reference, to help you manage and complete the tasks in a timely manner. The completion of the tasks also helps your advisor in case of any issues/troubles you may encounter during the registration process. If you have any questions about the items below, please contact your advisor.

1 - Make sure you can log into Cardinal Mail and Cardinal Students

You will be able to set up and access your Cardinal Mail account after June 1st - All official Catholic University emails (including registration and advising emails) will be sent to your Cardinal Mail account! It is VERY important that you complete this step as soon as you can. The Cardinal Mail is a Google account.

Log in to Cardinal Mail and Cardinal Students to make sure your username and password work correctly.

  • Cardinal Mail is the student email system at Catholic University. All messages for CatholicU students are delivered to your Cardinal Mail account, and your CatholicU e-mail address is your [username]@cua.edu. To activate your Cardinal Mail account, you will need to change your password. Please visit the Technology Services website to do this.

  • Cardinal Students is the University's student information system. Please use your username and password (same one you created for Cardinal Mail) to log in. Cardinal Students is where you can add/drop courses, view your class schedules, check your grades, view financial information, view your advisors' names, etc. Cardinal Students is where you will register for your classes. Find Cardinal Student tutorials on the Enrollment Services website.

2 - Accept the Statement of Financial Responsibility

Please complete this step between June 6th and June 9th to register for classes on time.

After June 3rd, read and accept the Statement of Financial Responsibility by logging into Cardinal Students and selecting the Student Account tile followed by the menu option for Financial Responsibility.

You can view the full text of the Statement of Financial Responsibility on the Enrollment Services website. NOTE: You will NOT be able to enroll for classes until you ACCEPT the form IN Cardinal Students!

3 - Submit AP/IB and college credit courses - Complete when possible

Completed AP or IB exams? Please make sure to complete the following:

  1. Information about AP and IB can be found here.

  2. Request to have your scores sent directly from College Board to Catholic University. The school code is 5104.

  3. AP and IB credits are posted by the individual school at Catholic University.

Completed college courses while in high school (e.g. dual enrollment courses)?

  • Please review the evaluation process here.

  • NOTE: The evaluation process DOES NOT happen automatically, so it is IMPORTANT that you submit all of the required documents to our Transfer Credit Coordinator (CUA-transfercredit@cua.edu).

Transfer credits may take some time to show up on your Cardinal Student account. If you have questions or concerns about what courses to sign up for based on your AP/IB credits or possible transfer college credits, please contact your CACS Academic and Career Advisor.

4 - Take Placement Tests (as needed)

Foreign Language Placement Test

Not all students need to take a foreign language placement test. You can determine IF you need to take a placement test and which to take here. After you complete your placement test, you will receive an email from the Modern Languages Department stating your official placement. Please keep in mind that the language placement exam does take time to grade, so it is important that you complete it as soon as possible. You will not be able to register for a language course until your language placement is determined.

We encourage students to take their language placement exam as early as possible, when their language skills are the freshest. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the language requirement for your program, please contact your CACS advisor.

Math Placement Test

Not all students are required to take the math placement test. Determine IF you need to take a placement test here. You can find more information on the registration process and how to complete the exam here.

It may take up to 3 business days for your score to be posted on your Cardinal Students account. You will not be able to register for your pre-calculus or calculus course until the score is posted.

If you are unsure whether you need to take the math placement test, contact your CACS advisor.

Theory Evaluation Test (Music students only)

The Theory Evaluation Test will be made available to all music students via Blackboard. Test scores will determine placement into certain Music courses. Students should complete the test as soon as possible to expedite the grading and placement process. Please contact the Department of Music with any questions.

5 - Meet with your CACS Advisor (ACA) in order to remove the FRS hold on your account

Once the registration deadline comes and you have met with your advisor you will be able to register for courses. It is EXTREMELY important that you meet with your advisor soon in order to be able to register on the date registration begins.

6 - Select your first semester courses and build your shopping cart

Before you start your registration process, you will need to know what classes you want to take. Please review our First Semester Course Advice page for information on selecting courses. You should familiarize yourself with the Liberal Arts Curriculum requirements as well as you major requirements.

Once you identify which courses to take, log into your Cardinal Students account and go to the "enrollment shopping cart" on the "student center" page. Here you can search for your desired courses and add them to your cart. Please refer to Enrollment Services' Cardinal Students Navigation Guide in case you need help you with the following:

  • How do I search for and add courses to my shopping cart?

  • How do I add a class with a discussion section? Some courses require a discussion section as a co-requisite.

  • How do I add a class with a lab section? Some courses require a lab section.

NOTE: You CANNOT officially register for your courses until first-year registration opens (see the next item on the checklist).

TIP: Consider using Coursicle as a tool to help you see a weekly snapshot of how your classes fit together. It could help you avoid courses/sections that overlap with each other.

7 - Enroll in your first semester courses - Wednesday 06/15 @ 9:00AM

You can officially register for your first semester courses beginning at 9:00 AM on Wednesday, June 15th. At this time, you can complete the registration process by enrolling in the courses that you placed in your shopping cart.

Registration will remain open until the end of July. At this time a hold will be placed on your Cardinal Students account. At this point, changes to your schedule will require contacting your CACS advisor.

If you run into issues enrolling or have questions, please contact your CACS advisor.

Honors Students

If you are an Honors student click here for some more information, after you read the checklist.