Information for New Undergraduate Students

To help you prepare for your first year, we have produced a new student checklist of all the things you need to know.

Each degree program at Carleton University has a unique set of courses for you to take in your first year. Be sure to consult youguide before registration begins.

To have success at the university level, it is important that you understand and follow the regulations that apply to your program. The CU Know-How is a brief guide that highlights all you need to know.

Always be mindful of the academic and financial dates and deadlines for each academic term.

Registration has its own terminology. We have provided some definitions to help you understand some of the terms you may come across when registering.

Your timeticket indicates when the registration system first opens for you. Knowing your timeticket will help you plan your registration.

All registration for courses is done through Carleton Central. There are 4 steps to registration which must be completed in order to ensure your successful registration.

While we strive to provide students with access to courses, factors such as room size can limit the number of spaces available in a course. For courses that are currently full, you may be able to join a waitlist.

When attempting to add a course, you may encounter a registration error. This happens when you do not meet the registration criteria set out by the department.

Course sections may be offered in-person, online or as a combination of in-person and online activities. The delivery type for each course will appear in the “Section Information” listing in Carleton Central.

Some programs have many (or all) of their first-year courses pre-selected for new first year students. This is called Block Registration, and we have a page dedicated to providing you with more information.

Academic departments may restrict certain courses to a particular year level or degree program. If this happens, you may received a registration error or other message in Carleton Central.

The academic audit can help you see where your classes are being used in your degree requirements. Be sure to refer to this throughout your academic career.

We have a list of FAQs dedicated to the first year registration experience.

If you still have any questions after looking through the information on this website, we have several services available to help you out.