SOLAR Enrollment Information

SOLAR is Stony Brook University's primary administrative system used by students to register for classes, print schedules, view and pay bills, view transcripts, update personal information, report student employment hours, and much more.

• How and when do I enroll?

  Students enroll for classes on the SOLAR System and are eligible to enroll as of the date and time of their Enrollment Appointment. New Freshman & New Undergraduate Transfer students enroll for classes during their assigned Orientation Session.  

  For Fall and Spring semester enrollment, each student is assigned an Enrollment Appointment. Your Enrollment Appointment is the exact date and time that you may begin your enrollment. (For example, April 14th, 11:00AM).

  Students are assigned enrollment appointments based on their academic level, cumulative units earned and units in progress.

  For guidance on how to proceed with registering for classes on SOLAR, you can refer to this tutorial video guide. 

  Undergraduate Student Levels	Graduate Student Levels
  U1 (Freshman) 0-23 credits earned U2 (Sophomore) 24-56 credits earned U3 (Junior) 57-84 credits earned U4 (Senior) 85+ credits earned	G0 Non-matriculated student G1 1st year Master's or Advanced Cert. student with less than 24 earned credits G2 Master's student with 24 or more earned credits G3 1st year PhD student G4 PhD student with 24 or more earned credits G5 PhD student advanced to candidacy

• How do I view my Enrollment Appointment?

  Login to your SOLAR System Account, Select "Student Records & Registration", Select the "Enrollment Dates" link under the Enrollment Menu.
  

• What if I am a former student and have not attended in awhile?

  Undergraduates

  Students enrolled in the College of Arts & Sciences, College of Business, College of Engineering & Applied Sciences, School of Journalism, and the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences  who have not been enrolled at Stony Brook for two consecutive Fall and Spring semesters and have not earned any Stony Brook credits must rematriculate in order to enroll. Please visit the Taking Time Off page on our website for more information.

  School of Professional Development students who are not eligible to enroll must contact SPD.
  
  Heath Sciences Center (HSC) Students who are not eligible to enroll must contact their HSC Program
  
  Graduate School students who are not eligible to enroll must contact the Graduate School.  

• How do I get permission to enroll?

  Students may request special permission to enroll in a course if they have met the requisites through transfer work or through other study experience, if the class is closed, or if the class requires permission.   Permission is issued electronically only. Students must contact the instructor or department and request this permission.   Granting permission is at the discretion of the instructor/department.  If the permission is granted, an electronic permission is entered into the system and the student will receive a SOLAR message stating that their permission to enroll has been granted. Students must then enroll themselves for the course on the SOLAR System before the expiration date of the issued permission.

• How do I enroll by Petition after the deadline?

  Contact your advisor for petition information:

  Division of Undergraduate Education 

  College of Engineering and Applied Sciences
  

  College of Business

• How can I check Holds, To Do Items & Messages?

  Holds & To Do Items appearing in the Action Center of your SOLAR Welcome Page may prevent enrollment. Students are responsible for reading these items carefully and taking necessary action to resolve any issues.
  
  SOLAR Messages appearing in the Message Center of your SOLAR Welcome page may pertain to important enrollment information. Students are responsible for reading their SOLAR Messages on a regular basis and taking necessary action to resolve any issues.

• Tutorials

  Video and Tutorials
  

• What are Pre-requisites & Co-requisites?

  Students should meet the prerequisites to a course before taking the course.  Faculty members have the option to de-register, prior to the beginning of the semester, any student not meeting the prerequisites to a course.  Students who believe they have satisfied the prerequisites to a course through transfer work or through other study or experience should seek permission of the academic department or instructor before registering. Certain courses may be taken only with the permission of the instructor or of the department; this is listed as a prerequisite to the course.

  Corequired courses must be taken together during the same semester.
  
  SOLAR Enrollment Tip: Corequired courses must be placed in the students Shopping Cart on the SOLAR System and submitted for enrollment at the same time in order to enroll successfully. 

• What are course reserves?

  Some courses may reserve seats for a certain group of students (e.g. seniors, students of a specific major, Learning Community students, etc.) If students try to enroll in a section in which all remaining seats are reserved, they will only able to enroll if they meet the reserve criteria. If students do not meet the reserve criteria (e.g. senior), they will not be able to enroll.

• What is a course waitlist?

  Some courses utilize an automated waitlist.    If a course uses an automated waitlist, students may place themselves on the waitlist via the SOLAR system.   It is the student’s responsibility to monitor their position on the waitlist.   If a student no longer wishes to be enrolled from a waitlist, they must drop themselves from the waitlist.   A SOLAR Message will be sent to students when they are enrolled from the waitlist.   If a student is enrolled from the waitlist, the student is responsible for the grade earned and tuition resulting from the enrollment.  

  Students will NOT be enrolled from the waitlist if:

  • Student is enrolled for a course that creates a time conflict with the waitlisted course
  • Student will be placed over the maximum unit load as a result of enrollment in the course
  • Student is attempting to switch sections of the same course.

  
  If enrollment is unsuccessful due to any of the above scenarios, students will receive a SOLAR Message informing them of the specific issue.   Student will not be dropped from the waitlist.   Student must correct the problem in order to eligible for the next opening.
  

• Enrollment Definitions

  Action	Description
  Add	Enroll in a course
  Drop	Drop a course
  Drop with a "W"	Drop a course. "W" Grade is recorded
  Swap	Switch course(s) for other course(s) which equal the same # of credits. Video Tutorial Example: Swap MUS 119 (3.0) credits for ARS 201 (3.0 credits)
  Section Change	Switch sections within the same course Example: Switch from PHY 122 R02 to PHY 122 R03
  Credit Change	Change credits on an existing course that allows variable credits Example: Change from 3.0 credits to 6.0 credits for MUS 523
  Move Up/Drop Down	Switch within the same subject to a different level of difficulty Example: Move from MAT 131 to MAT 125 NOTE: This transaction requires a signed approval form.

   
• Instruction Mode Definitions

  F  = Face-to-Face: Course activity is organized around scheduled in-person class meetings.

  S = Synchronous:  The course is delivered through web-based technologies, at least some of which is during scheduled course or exam times. A synchronous course may have some asynchronous components.

  A = Asynchronous: All course activities are conducted online with no requirements for scheduled sessions or in-person activities, including examinations. The only scheduled interactions are office hours with instructors.

  H = Hybrid: In-person class meetings are mixed with synchronous and/or asynchronous online activity.

  O = Other:The course has distinctive parameters that do not fit with any of the other definitions.