Early Registration

Early Registration for Fall 2023:

Monday, March 20, 8:00 AM – Friday, March 24, 4:30 PM Central Time

All course requests are processed together immediately after the close of early registration. Early registration is not conducted on a first-come/first-served basis. 

Submit Early Registration Requests

Help Page for Early Registration

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS 

Holds

The system will notify you of any holds you have incurred. You must clear all non-financial holds and financial holds over $1,000 in order to register for courses. Your Registration Information Sheet is the best place to continue to check and clear new holds. Financial holds may be cleared on the web using the What I Owe page. Emergency loan holds will not be temporarily lifted so that you may early register.  You must remain “hold-free” through the first day of the add/drop period in order for your requests to be processed.

Priority of Course Reward

There are four priority groups, with Group A receiving top priority:

  • Group A: Those who are in the LL.M. program (Spring only), and those who will complete at least 70 hours by graduation date of the same semester;
  • Group B: Those who will complete 45–69 hours;
  • Group C: Those who will complete 31–44 hours; and,
  • Group D: Those who are International Exchanges (Spring only), and those who will complete 0–30 hours.

Generally speaking, Group A will be given top priority followed by groups B, C, and D in that order. However, priority status will be reversed for the courses listed below.

Reversed Priority Courses

This reversal gives priority to second-year students and those who want to specialize in areas that may have prerequisites.

  • Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Business Associations
  • Capital Punishment
  • Constitutional Law II
  • Criminal Procedure: Bail to Jail
  • Criminal Procedure: Investigation
  • Criminal Procedure: Prosecution
  • Federal Income Tax
  • Payment Systems
  • Professional Responsibility (*Spring 2023 will not be reversed)
  • Secured Credit
  • Texas Civil Procedure Survey

Second-Year Priority

All JD students are required to complete Professional Responsibility, Constitutional Law II, and six (6) credit hours of Experiential learning in order to graduate. Second-year students have priority in Prof. Responsibility and Con Law II, and we strongly advise you to take them in your second year to help ensure that you can enroll in the courses.

You may substitute one of the following courses for Constitutional Law II:

  • Capital Punishment
  • Criminal Procedure: Prosecution
  • Criminal Procedure: Investigation
  • Criminal Procedure: Bail to Jail

Maximum Hours

Enter the maximum number of hours you wish to schedule. Students may register for up to 16 hours during early registration. After early registration, you must be registered for a minimum of 10 hours, unless you have approval from the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs. Forms to request approval to take fewer than 10 or more than 16 hours are available online.  Approval is not automatic; there must be a compelling reason.

The current American Bar Association standard prohibits law students from registering for more than 17 hours per semester. If you receive approval to register for 17 hours, you may add the extra hour(s) during the add/drop period.

Clinics

Clinics are not part of the online early registration system. Students apply directly to the clinical program for admission, and should apply as early as possible since most clinics fill up. Each student who is admitted to a clinic must add it to his or her schedule during the next available add/drop period. If this is not done, the student will be dropped from any course that conflicts with the clinic. Information about applying to a clinic can be found at https://law.utexas.edu/clinics/application-information/.

Internships

Internships are not part of the online early registration system. Each student admitted to an internship must add the internship during the next available add/drop period. If this is not done, the student will be dropped from any course that conflicts with a classroom component of an internship. Information about applying to an internship can be found at https://law.utexas.edu/internships/application-information/.

Seminars

If you have taken or are currently enrolled in a seminar, you may rank up to two seminars; however, your ranked seminars will be awarded after seminars for students who have not taken one.

Course Requests

Please reference the Help Page for information about the requests and awarding process. Make your course requests in order of preference, numbers 1–10, with 1 as the highest. List alternate courses in this section. The computer will assign no more than the maximum number of hours you designate. You may request more than one section of a course; the computer will not award the course twice.

Courses with similar numbers: You may request more than one course with similar course numbers (i.e., LAW x84W), but you can only be awarded one of these classes during early registration. The exceptions to this rule are: 87V, 89V, 96V, and 96W.

Courses/Seminars with Applications:  You may not request courses that require an application. If you are apply and are accepted, you will be notified of a seat saved for you to add during the add/drop registration period.

Time conflicts:  You may request courses that have time conflicts. If both courses are available, the system will award the one you have given the higher priority. You will not be awarded both. Texas Law does not allow students to take courses that have any amount of time conflict, even with approval from a professor.

Friday – Saturday Short Courses: While you may request multiple sections of Fri-Sat short courses that meet over the weekend, you can only be awarded at most one of these classes during early registration. Conflicts may also arise with short courses that are not one weekend only/have more than one meeting date/have a last class day that is before the academic term end. Please prioritize your requests accordingly. If you are registered for one short course and are interested in taking another, contact registration@law.utexas.edu after Add/Drop opens about requesting a Time Conflict Override. This can only be processed if the desired class is still open and there is not an actual meeting conflict.

Directed Research & Study or Advanced Clinic:  You may not request these courses in early registration. An application is required and must be approved; students who are approved will be given access to add during the next add/drop periods.

Non-law courses:  You may not request non-law courses in early registration. To earn Law school credit for the non-law course, you must obtain prior approval. If approved, non-law classes will be added by the applicable department during a subsequent add/drop period.

How Does Awarding Work?

Please see the Help Page for more information on awarding.

You may make changes to your course requests at any time during the week of early registration.

To find out which courses you have been awarded:  Three to five business days after the close of early registration, your awarded classes will be available to view via the Early Registration page. It will display your ranked classes along with the reason the class was awarded (or not).

To make changes to your schedule after early registration:  Beginning the first day of the add/drop period, go to Registration – Add/Drop, or use the link by the same name via the Links for Current Students page, to access the University’s online registration system. This system is open and available to students at different times during the registration period.

NOTE:  All students are eligible to participate in early registration during the Spring semester (for Fall courses); however, only second-year and third-year J.D. students are eligible in the Fall semester (for Spring courses), when first-year courses are pre-assigned to incoming students. Students who do not submit course requests during early registration may register during subsequent add/drop periods, but priority status is lost.

Tuition Bills

Visit Texas One Stop for information on all other tuition and bill payment options. To view your tuition bill, visit the What I Owe page on UT Direct. If you do not pay or confirm your registration by the deadline, your registration will be cancelled, and you will have to Late Register and pay additional fees.

Tuition Bills will be emailed the week following the close of the add/drop period. Please be sure your email address is up to date per university policy.

If financial aid or scholarships pay for your tuition bill, you must still confirm your registration by visiting My Tuition Bill. This will ensure that your classes are not cancelled.