Course & Registration >> Registration >> First Semester

First Semester Advance Registration

Prior to Advance Registration, incoming freshmen must have a discussion with their pre-major advisor about their academic interests and goals, and to plan a roster for their first semester. Read more >>

After finalizing the Registration Worksheet in the Freshman Timetable and being removed from registration hold by their advisor, students may advance register for courses using Penn InTouch. Penn InTouch requires a student to log on using their PennKey and password. Students who have difficulty using Penn InTouch should contact the College Office, answers@sas.upenn.edu.

Entering Course Requests

• • From the Penn InTouch main page, click on Registration and then select the appropriate semester.
• • Refer to the Registration Worksheet in the Freshman Timetable for course codes and priorities.
• • From the drop-down menu, select the four-letter subject code for the first course on the worksheet. Each department or program is assigned a unique four-letter code that identifies its affiliated courses.
• • In the space provided, type the course and section numbers as given in the Freshman Timetable.
• • Click on Request.
• • Repeat this process until all course requests have been entered.
• • For multi-activity courses, first request the part of the course (or activity) labeled 1.0 c.u. (or 0.5 for a lab). This is considered the credit-bearing component; the numbers are printed on the far right of the course listing in the Timetable.
• • After entering the first portion of a multi-activity course, the student will be prompted to register for the remaining portions. All portions of a course (lecture, recitation and lab) must be entered. If all portions are not entered, the system will not consider the course for Advance Registration and the student will not be enrolled. Examples of multi-activity courses include BIOL 101 (lecture and lab), HIST 021 (lecture and recitation), and PSCI 001 (lecture and recitation)

Note: A recommended courseload for first-semester freshmen is 4.5 c.u.

Listing "Alternates"

While not required, this option is useful when requesting small seminars. Listing alternates to the primary request will increase the student’s chances of being enrolled in one of the seminar courses.

Important note: As mentioned above, multi-activity courses include two or more activities: a lecture, a recitation and/or a lab. Only one of these sections will be credit-bearing.  Any alternate request must be the same activity type (lecture, recitation or lab) and carry the same credit-bearing status as the primary request. For example, if a credit-bearing lecture is the primary request, only another credit-bearing lecture may be listed as the alternate. Likewise, if a noncredit-bearing recitation (or lab) is the primary request, only another noncredit-bearing recitation (or lab) may be listed as the alternate. Students with questions about this process should talk with their peer or pre-major advisor.

The "Any Section" Option

When selected, the "Any Section" option instructs the system to find an alternate section of a course that fits into the student's schedule if the originally requested section is full. During freshman summer Advance Registration, this feature is automatically enabled for all courses except writing and freshman seminars.

Time Conflicts

Ten minutes of each class period are allocated for travel between classes. When consulting the Timetable, students should be aware that courses may be scheduled back-to-back (e.g., a 9:00 a.m. and a 10:00 a.m. class on Monday, Wednesday and Friday).

The system will not allow a student to enroll in two courses that are in time conflict. If there is a time conflict, the system will enroll the student in the first course requested. If that course is available, the student will be enrolled in it, and the second, conflicting course will be automatically dropped. If the first course is unavailable and the second course is available, the student will be enrolled in the second course.

Revising Requests

Course requests can be changed on Penn InTouch up until the end of the Advance Registration period.

Adding a Request

An alternate request may be added at any time during the Advance Registration period in the following way:

• • Select the Add function from the Registration menu
• • Enter the course numbers for the desired classes
• • Select request.

Changing the Order of Course Requests

The order of requested courses can be changed by selecting List from the Registration Menu, changing the preferred order of requested classes by renumbering them, and then selecting Update.

Checking the Roster

Again, it is the student’s responsibility to be correctly registered for all elements of a course. Freshmen are advised to check their rosters on Penn InTouch at the beginning of the Course Selection Period.