Registration

Registration occurs via the Harvey Mudd College Portal. Students are responsible for enrolling in classes.

New First-Year Students

First-year students will be registered for all Core courses by the Registrar’s Office. The Core takes up the vast majority of time in the first semester, but if space permits in your course schedule, you will have the opportunity to add elective courses during New Student Orientation and during the first two weeks of the semester. The Registrar’s office will be available to assist you.

New Transfer Students

New transfer students will register for courses in late August. The registrar’s office will contact you with more information mid-August.

Continuing Students

Pre-registration typically occurs in November for Spring courses, and April for Fall courses. Pre-registration dates are available on the Academic Calendar. An email from the registrar’s office will be sent out with more information prior to pre-registration. The registrar’s office will automatically clear you to register prior to your registration date, but you will need approval from all of your advisor(s) before you can register for courses. Students who do not receive all applicable advisor(s) approvals, but who register for classes anyway, will be dropped from all of their courses if any one of their advisors notifies the registrar’s office that the student registered without their approval.

Independent Studies

Some courses, such as independent studies, may require you to turn a form into the Registrar’s office instead of adding the course on the portal. Be sure to read the notes on the portal carefully to see the requirements for adding a course. If the course is an independent study or says “form required,” do not submit a PERM. Instead, fill out the Independent Study/Directed Reading/Research Form (PDF) and submit it to registrar@hmc.edu or in person to the Registrar’s office. The instructor’s section should be completed on the form, but you may attach a PDF of an email with the information and approval if necessary. Senior thesis courses are an exception, and can be added on the portal without a form, though an approved PERM is required.

Registration Tips

  • Requisites/Requirements: Check for prerequisites, corequisites, concurrent requisites, and other requirements.
    • Non-Harvey Mudd College classes may have a limited number of seats for Harvey Mudd students, even if the section still has open seats.
  • Time Conflict: Check for time conflicts between your selected classes.
    • Slight overlaps may be resolved with a Course Conflict Approval Form (PDF) available online or at the Registrar’s office.
    • All instructors for affected classes must sign the conflict approval form, even if the conflict is resolved by only one instructor.
    • You must submit the signed form through email to registrar@hmc.edu or in person to the Registrar’s office before you can add the second conflicting course via portal.
  • Overload: Get your overload approval (if needed) from Academic Affairs (located in Platt Campus Center) before your pre-registration appointment time.
  • Closed/Reopened Classes: Once courses have filled, they will typically require instructor permission to add, even if sections reopen and space becomes available. Monitor current enrollment status of desired classes on the portal for closed/reopened classes and request PERMs if necessary.
  • Requesting Permission to Add a Course (PERMs):
    • PERMs are not just for closed sections. There are multiple reasons the portal may be requiring a PERM. Most often, it’s looking at the requirements for registration (e.g., if a department has limited enrollment to their majors, or if a college has set aside a given number of seats for their students). You can see the restrictions on a section by searching for the class on the portal, drilling down to the section, and looking for “Eligible to Register?” above the meeting times.  If it says “No,” there are likely requirements that you don’t meet. You’ll see a link above the “Eligible to register?” statement; click it for details. Request a PERM if appropriate.
    • An approved PERM doesn’t register you for a class.  It makes you ELIGIBLE to add the class, and you still need to add the course yourself via the portal.  (After all, you could be requesting PERMs for multiple sections of the same class, or for classes that meet at the same time, or for classes that put you into overload, or…)  
    • Read the specifics of PERM approval emails. They’re not all the same. Professors can approve PERMs to allow you to register only if the class has open seats, or they can allow you to add the course even if it’s full — it’s their choice, and you need to read the fine print of the PERM approval email (or view it on the portal). Professors can put an expiration date on your PERM approval, so you have to add within a given timeline (minimum one calendar day).
    • Cancel PERMs you don’t need. If you submitted a PERM request, and you no longer want/need that section, please cancel the request. You can do so by logging into the portal, clicking on the Course Registration tab, and scrolling down. Your PERM requests live there, and there’s a “Click here to cancel” link at the bottom of any unanswered PERM. This really helps faculty manage demand.

Registration appointments are assigned according to the following protocol:

  • For each registration period, seniority determines your registration day.
    • Seniors register on day 1, juniors on day 2, etc. Seniority is based on each student’s expected graduation year.
  • When students first enroll at HMC, we divide the entering class into quartiles called “priority groups.”
    • Priority groups are system-generated based on student ID numbers.
    • Your priority group determines the portion of the day during which you register and this priority group sticks with you for your entire career at HMC.
    • Priority groups rotate sequentially every registration cycle.
  • Specific registration appointments within a priority group are randomly generated for every registration cycle.
  • This registration appointment procedure should provide each student with two early registration times, 2 late registration times, and 4 in-between registration times.