The Barnard Degree

Choosing Your Courses

The official Barnard Catalogue holds course listings, degree requirements, major and minor requirements, program descriptions and the list of courses satisfying the general education requirements

Choosing your classes - Steps to Ensure smooth registration:

  1. Review your online degree audit in Student Planning to identify classes you still need to take, to satisfy your degree requirements. See which courses satisfy your Foundations general education requirements.

  2. Search for classes: students can search the course catalog in Student Planning accessed via myBarnard (see how to access Student Planning) or the Columbia Directory of Classes (which lists all Columbia and Barnard classes).  Barnard students can register for any Columbia class that says it is “open to Barnard” in its course listing.

  3. Add classes to your Plan in Student Planning.  Planning opens 3 weeks prior to the first registration period.

  4. Consult your adviser: All students need their adviser’s permission at two stages of the process: once before their initial registration for the semester, and again to approve their final class schedule on/before the registration deadline (the second Friday of classes each semester).  Before declaring their major, students are assigned a “pre-major” adviser. When declaring a major, a student is connected with an adviser within their major department.

  5. Register for classes: Student are assigned specific registration appointment times (this short video shows where to find them). These can be viewed in myBarnard.  When you are  successfully registered for a class, it will change from yellow to green on your class schedule in Student Planning.

  6. Be sure to register for enough — but not too many — credits: Beginning with the Fall 2019 semester, students can take a maximum of 19 credits each semester. Students may add four additional credits (up to 23 total) during early registration and the “shopping period,” but an adviser must grant approval for a student to remain above 19 credits permanently. As a reminder, all students must be registered for a full-time courseload, with a minimum of 12 credits per semester.

  7. Finalize your schedule by the registration deadline: Students can add and drop classes online through the second Friday of the semester.  

For more information, visit the Register for Classes page.