Registration stinks. It always has, and it always will.

Facing that fact is the first step to having a successful registration. The best way to get the classes you want is to pull an ultimate-hipster and get a registration time that’s way ahead of everybody else’s.

That doesn’t happen for everyone; so I have some tips so you don’t sweat through your shirt in the middle of class when you have to pull out your laptop and start furiously typing codes.

Make sure your laptop is fully charged.

Have the Nest bookmarked on your computer, obviously.

Also bookmark www.ratemyprofessors.com but don’t read too far into what it says.  The only people that actually give ratings are people that really hate them or really love them. Get a better read by asking an older friend you trust.

Really talk things through with your adviser to see which classes are absolutely vital for your upcoming semester.

Use www.schedulizer.com to make a bunch of potential schedule line-ups.

Make sure your classes leave adequate time for lunch.

Make sure your classes aren’t on opposite sides of campus with 10 minutes between to get from one place to the other.

Write down all of your possible pins and the times of those classes so you can just type the numbers and not worry about looking up new ones.

Take three deep breaths right before your time slot.

Most people freak out when they can’t get into core classes, but when this happens, keep your cool. This gives you an excuse to take those classes you always wanted to take but didn’t have an excuse to take.

Remember that overrides exist.

Lastly, hipsters don’t settle for less than prime, so don’t. Be thorough in choosing your classes because there’s nothing worse than finding out later that you should have taken a class and it’s already full.

Good luck!