Wednesday, Nov. 13, the College of William and Mary released students’ schedules for the spring semester through the new online registration software PATH. The add/drop period commenced the following Monday, Nov. 18, opening to students at staggered times based on social class.
PATH was first implemented for the fall 2024 semester, replacing the previous Banner 9 system. It now returns for the 2025 spring semester, providing mixed results for students.
Psychology and linguistics major Aidan Burnham ’27 got all but one course in his primary cart. He said the transition from Banner to PATH went smoothly on the whole, and described his general strategy for getting the classes he wanted.
“The first time I did PATH cart building last spring, I strategized it so that the first alternate for my first choice was my second primary choice,” he said. “So if my first choice did not get chosen, it would move to the alternate. If my alternate was still open in that first round, I would get it, and then it would skip over the second primary option.”
Ella White ’27 has had less luck with the new registration system and said she preferred using Banner for course scheduling.
“Last semester, I got six credits. This semester, I got eight. So I always have to work with add/drop. It’s just frustrating,” White said.
Sociology major and psychology minor William Henderson ’26 agrees with White, sharing that he only managed to get two out of the dozen or so classes he put in his primary cart and expressed frustration with the system.
International relations major in the St. Andrews Joint Degree Programme Ali Espino ’25 had a slightly different experience with course registration due to the nature of her program.
“Personally, I’ve gotten everything that I’ve needed, but I know many students, JDP and otherwise, who have not gotten things they needed, even second-semester seniors who have not gotten their requirements to graduate and can’t get an override for it,” Espino said.
Espino said her biggest advice for navigating PATH is to create a plan for different possible course scheduling outcomes.
“I honestly spent so much time looking through the course catalog to see what was available, like if I didn’t like this, what alternative was there? Load up your primary cart, load up your alternatives, and just have a plan,” Espino said.
One of the challenges Henderson has encountered is trying to get into classes that are unnecessarily major-restricted.
“I would encourage the registrar to go out to departments and see what classes actually need to be major-restricted and which ones don’t,” he said. “As someone that was formerly a psych major and went into the minor, there were things that were major-restricted, but they were core requirements for any minor or major, and you won’t be able to get into those classes on the minor, but you still need the minor requirements.”
White said she wished there was more support from the Office of the University Registrar for navigating the PATH system.
“There’s definitely a good amount of information, but it’s also kind of confusing, and I feel like the system always has errors, no matter what advice they’re giving us,” White said.
Nonetheless, Burnham appreciated how PATH processes students’ carts all together, as opposed to the free-for-all system that Banner embodied.
“The biggest pro is probably not having to wake up at 6 a.m. for a 6:40 a.m. registration period, because that was the most anxiety-inducing thing ever about the previous registration system,” Burnham said. “You’re just kind of sitting there waiting for the second to hit and then you hit the registration and you have to copy-paste, copy-paste, copy-paste. Go, go, go and your heart is beating out of your chest.”
Burnham also values add/drop’s social class ranking system.
“It’s beneficial because I recall last spring, a lot of seniors were like, ‘I didn’t get the classes I wanted,’ so having that sort of seniority allows the seniors to go in and pick out the classes that they need to graduate,” he said. “While it sucks being a freshman, and you’re like, ‘Oh, dang, I wanted that class so much,’ someone else needs it more than you.”
With regard to add/drop, White is uncertain. She said her main goal is to get into her primary cart classes that she did not get the first time, but that still have available seats.
“PATH didn’t put me in some classes that are still open, so I’m going to leave them in my cart, but I don’t really know what to do there,” she said. “I don’t understand why we wouldn’t be placed in open classes.”
Henderson said he has been able to get off class waitlists in the past, and is hoping the same will be true this time around.
“I really enjoyed the waiting list because I thought it was a bit easier to get into a class and know that I got an email, I have a day to respond if I want to take the class or not, so I thought it was really good for add/drop,” he said.
Henderson underscored that the key to finding success with PATH is to be proactive and advocate for yourself.
“I know the registrar a little bit more closely because I’ve come to them more frequently, but I think for the people who are upset about PATH, have conversations with the registrars when they are available and when they’re taking questions and comments,” Henderson said. “I remember I couldn’t get into a class, and I was really upset, but I talked to one person and they helped me fix it.”
