I am out of the office today, so this is a pre-post
Our students went through self-service course registration November 4-7 for Spring 2026. During that time, there were reserved seats in certain classes (e.g., for majors or minors, etc.) and it looks like those reserved seats were released yesterday.
The schedule your Deacs have right now could still potentially change through waitlists and add/drop, etc. But I wanted to remind families that in addition to the traditional Fall and Spring semesters, Summer Session can be a terrific option for your students to take classes.
Students might choose to come to Summer Session for a variety of reasons:
they may not have taken 15 hours each semester and want to catch up (or the opposite, they want to get ahead on hours)
it may be they have a difficult course that is a prerequisite for their major and they want to be able to focus on that class alone
for students who anticipate an especially busy fall (e.g., student athletes whose sports are in season, students who anticipate a highly active social life through pledging, or those who have a significant role as an intern/leader/volunteer) getting ahead on hours in the summer can help balance academics and their other commitments
some students may still be adjusting to the level of work in college (or in their major) and want to slow the pace of their scholarship, etc.
if a student got a C- or lower in a class, they can retake that class at Wake again in hope of getting a better grade the second time (see Repetition of Courses in the Academic Bulletin for details)
There is no right or wrong here, just what is right for each individual student.
A couple of the perennially popular Summer Session options come through our School of Business:
Summer Management Program (SMP) – this is what we often refer to as business boot camp for non-business majors. It is an intensive 5 week course that nets you 8 hours pass-fail. This is a great option for students who are not Business majors to get in a lot of foundational business knowledge. Many of my former advisees have taken the SMP. Note that this is a competitive program, so students will want to give the application the attention it deserves.
SportsBIZ – this is an online, synchronous program that runs for 19 days in July. It offers 6 hours pass-fail and is meant for students who are interested in exploring the intersection of business and sports.
In addition to those courses, there will be other courses offered across a wide variety of departments. I am told the Summer School website will be updated with 2026 offerings just before Thanksgiving break and will also be updated in Workday around that same time.
Summer Session can be a tremendous option for many students, and might be something to discuss with your student over Thanksgiving or Winter Break.
