- Students
- Schedule Adjustments / Make Your Schedule
- Scheduling Help
This Page
Getting Started
Preparing to schedule courses can be overwhelming. This page describes the process, provides links to help guides, and will give you tips for how to plan your schedule for next semester.
At Ohio State, students are assigned Enrollment Appointments to schedule their courses. Enrollment Appointments aren't advising appointments, they are when students are able to add or drop courses. Advisors encourage you to schedule your courses as soon after your Enrollment Appointment begins as possible to ensure that you are able to choose from the largest number of available courses. This doesn't mean that you should skip your recitation or try to enroll while you're in lecture; just try to enroll as soon as you're able to after your Enrollment Appointment has begun.
You can find your Enrollment Appointment in the "Enrollment Information" box on the right side of your My Buckeye Link account.
Preparing for Your Enrollment Appointment
There are several things you should do as your Enrollment Appointment approaches. Completing these early will save you a lot of stress later.
- Clear your holds early
When you log into your My Buckeye Link account, take the time to review any holds you have and find out what you have to do to remove them. This should be done as far in advance as possible. Find help on checking your holds at https://admin.resources.osu.edu/student-information-system-sis/sis-my-buckeye-link-reference-guide/how-to-view-holds.
The Buckeye Link office can also help you figure out how to resolve any holds as well: https://contactbuckeyelink.osu.edu/
- Complete your Financial Responsibility Statement before your scheduling appointment begins
Every semester you will be asked to complete your Financial Responsibility Statement. This is the only hold that students are able to remove themselves, and your advisor can't remove it for you! So before you email your advisor to ask them to add a course for you, check to make sure you've completed this step already. You can download a help document at https://busfin.osu.edu/sites/default/files/financial-responsibility-statement.pdf.
- Review your previous information
Check previous communications from your advisor to find recommendations for what you should schedule next semester. This may be your advising notes in OnCourse, your academic plan from Survey or GENED 1201, your previous emails from your advisor, and your advising website to find recommendations.
Then, take a look at the recommended courses to see if they have prerequisites or you will need permission to enroll. Try to arrange for permission ahead of time if needed.
- Schedule an appointment to talk to your advisor
If you still have questions, schedule an appointment to speak to your adivosr or find out when drop-ins or express advising will happen. Many advisors book weeks in advance during scheduling times, so plan ahead and schedule an academic planning appointment with your advisor early. Current students can use OnCourse to schedule, and any student can find the contact information for most advising offices at https://advising.osu.edu/schedule-appointment.
- Run your degree audit
Your degree audit will apply all of the coursework that Ohio State has on record to your degree requirements. It will show you which degree requirements still haven't been completed as well as courses that meet those requirements (those are the ones you should plan to schedule). The Office of the University Registrar has created a handout to help you run and understand your degree audit: https://registrar.osu.edu/degree_audit/dars_web_students.pdf. Things to talk to your advisor about include:
- Missing Credits - Any transfer, AP, IB, or other credits you expect to see that don't appear on your audit
- Courses that aren't applied the way you expected them to be
- Courses in the "ELECTIVE COURSEWORK NOT USED TOWARD A SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT" area at the bottom
- Check your major's curriculum
Even though your degree audit will help you identify courses you can take to meet your degree requirements, many majors still offer paper or downloadable curriculum guides. They can provide additional details about what coursework is needed, such as recommended sequences for taking courses or which courses are only available in specific semesters. Usually, these are located on your major's website. If you can't find your major's curriculum sheets, try calling their office. You can find the contact information for most advising offices at https://advising.osu.edu/schedule-appointment.
Using the Schedule of Classes
This video shows how to search for the classes you want using the variety of search options offered. If you need additional assistance using the Schedule of Classes, please click the links below.
Search for a class help guide (static page) What's the class about? (static page) Schedule of classes (search form)
Finding Classes in Schedule Planner
This video will help you use the Schedule Planner tool to find the classes you want and demonstrates how you can learn more information about those classes to help you identify the best schedule for you. If you need additional assistance using the Schedule Planner, please click the links below.
Planning Your Schedule with Schedule Planner (static page) Using Schedule Planner to Enroll in Courses (video) Buckeye Link's Schedule Planner Task (click play)
Searching Classes.OSU.EDU
This video will help you use classes.osu.edu to find the classes you want. If you need additional assistance planning your schedule for next semester, please click the links below.
Scheduling Help Resources
For help with finding online (Distance Learning) courses specifically, view these videos:
- Finding Distance Learning classes in the Schedule of Classes
- Finding Distance Learning classes in the Schedule Planner
- Finding Distance Learning classes in the Classes search
