Classes

How to register, find your buildings, and survive the first week!

Classes at Michigan can feel overwhelming at first, there are so many options, acronyms, and websites that no one really explains to you. Whether you're trying to figure out what "Wolverine Access" even is, how to use Rate My Professors without spiraling, or just want to know how to get from Mason Hall to the CCCB without sprinting, this section is for you.

Here, you’ll find advice on how to register for classes, helpful tools like Atlas and Wolverine Access, and tips on mapping out your schedule (including how much time you actually need between classes). I’ve also included some personal advice on how I chose my classes, what I wish I knew when I was picking them, and how to handle the inevitable "waitlist panic."

Don’t worry, you’ve got this.

Organization

At the beginning of your freshman year, I HIGHLY recommend creating some sort of spreadsheet or planner or checklist of all of the types of credits you need to fulfill. For example, your major may require you to take a specific amount of humanities credits, a specific amount of natural science credits, and specific amount of upper level writing credits, etc. These requirements can be found on your major website, or you can learn more about them by setting up a meeting with an academic advisor. In terms of organizing everything, I recommend creating a spreadsheet. On the spreadsheet, include some sort of checklist of every single type of credit you need to take. As you register over the years, you can start crossing them off the list. This is a great way to see what you still have to take, and what you have completed. On the spreadsheet, I would also include which classes you took each semester. I am attaching an example of what mine looked like (note: I am a Sport Managment major and our program looks very different from most)

Tips For Building Your Schedule

Consult your spreadsheet to see what classes/types of classes you need to take
Do not take all of your really hard classes in one semester. Try to balance it out. Have 1-2 of your more challenging classes per semester (if you can help it)
Browse through the LSA course guide (make sure it says the correct term at the top, ex: Fall 2025). Use the filters to select specific types of classes you need to take. Also, if the course has a syllabus from previous semesters on it, read it! It will tell you everything you need to know about the class. Link to the LSA course guide here
Start building your schedule on Atlas. Atlas lets you create different schedules for yourself. You can also search up classes on Atlas to see what the workload for the class is (ex: one of the classes I took senior year had an 11% workload and another had a 6% workload lol) Link to Atlas here
Rate My Professor!!!!! It is exactly what it sounds like! You can look up professors from different classes, and see what their previous students had to say about them. It shows the grade the student got, whether or not they would take the class again, attendance policy, difficulty level, quality level, and much more. It also allows students to leave comments/reviews about different professors. Link to Rate My Professor here

Locating Your Classes

When you first get your schedule, it is going to make absolutely no sense to you. It is going to say your class, and then some weird abbreviation, and then a number. The weird abbreviation is the building that your class is in, and the number is the classroom number. Here is the link to all of the Michigan building abbreviations to help you figure out where your classes are!

Something else important to note is that there are 10 mins of "passing time" between each class. Fore example, if your schedule says you have class 8:30-10 and then 10-11:30 and then 11:30 to 1, what that really means is you have class 8:30-9:50, 10-11:20, and 11:30-12:50. This is true for every single class at Michigan.

Before your first day of classes, I highly recommend "walking your schedule" either alone or with your roommate or your friends. What this means is going to find all of the buildings and classrooms and practice getting from place to place before classes start. I know this sounds stupid, but I promise every freshman does it (and those who don't have no idea what they're doing on the first day of class). Don't be afraid to walk around campus with maps up on your phone at first! I know it seems embarrassing, but everyone is doing it - I promise!

Page updated

Report abuse