Registration FAQ
The Office of the Registrar does not issue Registration, Drop/Add (RDA) PINs. Your college coordinator will provide you with a PIN after you meet with your academic advisor. For more info about this process, please see the How to register for classes page.
Questions related to the advising process, or obtaining a Registration, Drop/Add (RDA) PIN should be addressed to aadv@rice.edu.
Who is my Academic Advisor?
Please see the Office of Academic Advising's Major Advisors
page. If you have not yet chosen your major, please see the Divisional Advisors page. If you have further questions, please contact the Office of Academic Advising at aadv@rice.edu.
My Registration, Drop/Add (RDA) PIN doesn’t work.
Are you using the correct PIN? Your RDA PIN is not the same as your Login PIN.
Are you attempting to register after the first two weeks of registration? RDA PIN's are time-sensitive. If you received this PIN prior to the cut-off date, and it is now past that date, your PIN will no longer be effective. You will need to meet with your academic advisor, obtain a PIN release form, and have your
college coordinator give you a new PIN.
Registration, Drop/Add (RDA) PIN expiration dates may be found on the Academic Calendar.
Contact your college coordinator.
If you receive an error message telling you that you are not permitted to register at this time, please select the bottom link called Problems Registering? This will take you to the Registration Status page. This page should indicate the reason you cannot register.
The Registration Status page says everything is OK, but I still can’t register.
Send an e-mail to registrar@rice.edu, and the Office of the Registrar will help you.
What is Priority Registration?
Registration is based upon the following hours accumulation. This includes both “earned” AND “in progress” hours. Please consult the Academic Calendar for specific registration dates.
| Day 1: |
All undergrads with 90+ accumulated hours and all grad students |
| Day 2: |
All undergrads with 60+ accumulated hours and all grad students |
| Day 3: |
All undergrads with 30+ accumulated hours and all grad students |
| Day 4: |
Registration is open to all degree-seeking students |
On the Register, Add/Drop page, as soon as you select “Submit Changes” and ESTHER accepts those submissions, you are registered for that class.
Look at the Status column on the right side of the screen. If your course-add was accepted, it will say **Web Registered** next to that course.
If there was an error, the course will be displayed below your registered courses. For more information on course errors, go to
this page.
You can also view or print a copy of your schedule by choosing either of the following links from the bottom of the Registration, Add/Drop page: View Student Schedule or View Student Detail Schedule.
No. As long as you don’t have any special circumstances (such as requesting to audit a class or requesting to take a class Pass/Fail) you do not need to go to the Registrar’s Office.
CRN stands for Course Reference Number. This number helps identify the different course sections offered within a particular term.
If you plan your schedule in advance using the (paper or electronic) Schedule of Course Offerings, and if you record the CRNs for those courses you wish to take, it should take you less than 5 minutes to complete the registration process. (Barring any problems with closed courses, etc.)
ESTHER is trying to inform you of all the possibilities. Those classes that have times “to be announced,” theoretically could fit into the specified time frame.
What is the "Failure to Register On-Time" fee?
Currently enrolled students are required to register during the first week of Priority Registration. After the first week, students can register for further classes or change their schedules. However, currently enrolled students who fail to register before the first-week deadline will have a "Failure to Register" fee assessed to their account by the Cashier's Office.
Please consult the Academic Calendar for specific registration deadline dates. Please see the Cashier's Office for the fee schedule.
What is a time conflict, and why is it preventing me from being able to register?
ESTHER does not allow simultaneous enrollment in classes with overlapping meeting times (such as a Monday/Wednesday/Friday 1:00-1:50 class and a Monday 1:00-4:00 class) or double-booking (registering for two classes which meet at the same time). The student must drop the conflicting class before being able to register for the other.
If a student has a legitimate reason to enroll in overlapping or double-booked classes, then the student must complete the paper Special Registration Form (Undergraduate 
or Graduate ) and obtain the signatures of the instructors of both classes.
Instructor permission is required to register for one or more of my courses. What should I do?
The student must complete the paper Special Registration Form (Undergraduate or Graduate ) and obtain the signatures of the instructors of those classes.
Last Revised : April 29, 2008