The 2019 E.C. registration dates, university by university

Twenty of the thirty notices carry the same warning: a student who comes before the stated days or after them will not be accommodated. Kotebe, Woldia and Debre Tabor all put it in writing, and each of those sentences is in the photographed notice rather than in the channel's summary of it. Jigjiga, Jimma, Oda Bultum and Werabe say nothing either way, and neither do the notices from Addis Ababa, Debark, the Defence University, Haramaya and Hawassa. Jinka's notice gives no window at all. Four universities name a penalty registration day: Werabe on Meskerem 11, Wollo and Samara on Meskerem 13, each the same day teaching begins, and Debark on Meskerem 27 for its returning students and Meskerem 30 for its new entrants, each the day before teaching begins for that group. Addis Ababa gives its first years a late registration day on Meskerem 11, which is also its first day of teaching.

Gambella, Dire Dawa, Samara and Haramaya each separate the day you arrive from the days you register, so reading only the registration date lands you there late. Gambella's report day is Tuesday Meskerem 5 and its registration is Meskerem 7 and 8. Dire Dawa's report days are Meskerem 9 and 10 and its registration is Meskerem 11 and 12. Samara's entry day is Meskerem 10 and its registration is Meskerem 11 and 12. Haramaya gives its senior students Meskerem 21 to 24 to arrive, with dormitories and cafeterias opening on Meskerem 21 (1 October), registers them online on Meskerem 22 to 24, and holds the face-to-face registration on Meskerem 25. Aksum and Wollo use the word entry for their own two days, but name no separate registration after it.

Almost every notice ends the same way. Students the Ministry of Education places for 2019 E.C., and students who took the 2018 E.C. remedial programme at that same university and reached the pass mark, will be called in a later announcement, with no date attached. Werabe adds that the announcement will come through official media channels, Aksum says its own remedial students will be called at the same time as its new placements, Haramaya says the dates for its freshmen will be announced shortly, and Dambi Dollo says the same of its new students and its remedial passers. Wolkite had been the exception, giving that group Meskerem 7 and 8 and calling the new intake Generic. A second notice from its registrar, dated Meskerem 4, withdraws those days: the arrival of the Generic freshmen the Ministry placed at Wolkite, and of the 2018 E.C. remedial students who passed there, is postponed until further notice. Do not travel to Wolkite on Meskerem 7. Jinka has done the same: a notice from its registrar dated Meskerem 5 postpones the call it made on Pagume 5, 2018 E.C. to its new freshman and remedial placements and to the 2018 E.C. remedial students who passed there, until a later announcement. Debre Tabor, which registers its returning students on Meskerem 28 and 29, says its new placements and its remedial passers will be called in a later notice. The Ethiopian Defence University is the other exception to the rule: its academic calendar admits its freshmen on Meskerem 11 and 12 (21 and 22 September), with an orientation on Meskerem 13, and gives its graduating class Meskerem 8 and 9 to register, a group the channel's summary of the calendar left out. Where those remedial results were published is in The 2018 E.C. remedial results are out.

Addis Ababa University admits its own first-degree students, and its registrar has called the regular 2019 E.C. intake. Students coming from outside Addis Ababa report on Meskerem 6 and 7 (16 and 17 September) at the campus they were assigned to, and students who live in Addis Ababa report on Meskerem 7. An orientation for everyone is on Friday Meskerem 8, late registration is on Meskerem 11, and the first semester starts that same day. Students from outside the city find their dormitory at portal.aau.edu.et/NewStudents/DormitoryPlacement with the UGA2019 number they sat the entrance test under. On Meskerem 6 and 7 the university runs transport to its Addis Ababa and Bishoftu campuses from the Merkato, Lamberet, Akaki and Asko bus stations and from Bole's domestic terminal. How that admission was run is in Addis Ababa University has opened first-degree admission.

Five universities have said something about this group, and no two of them handle it the same way. Dilla registers them last, on Meskerem 18 and 19. Kabridahar takes its second-year students on the ordinary days once their placement is settled, and names the colleges of Engineering, Health and Medicine, and Veterinary Medicine. Gambella runs the whole thing on a timetable: the department choice is open Meskerem 6 to 8, the placement is carried out on Meskerem 11, and the result is announced on Meskerem 12 and 13. Haramaya holds programme selection and placement for students who completed first year in the other natural science and social science streams on Meskerem 25 to 29 (5 to 9 October), straight after its face-to-face registration. Bahir Dar brings them in earliest of all.

Bahir Dar's group reports on Meskerem 6 and 7, a day before its returning students, and the campus depends on the band above. The department itself is chosen online, in the student choice system the notice calls SIMS: it opens on Meskerem 5 and the choice closes on Meskerem 8 at 8:30 in the morning. The notice is blunt about the student who does not use it: anyone who has not chosen in the system will not be accommodated. It also asks each student to look at how many places a department is taking before picking it.

These are the things named in the notices themselves, and they are the ones that can turn a student away at the desk. Take them from the notice of your own university and not from the pattern.

• Gambella asks for a taxpayer identification number (TIN) and a Fayda card.
• Dire Dawa asks for a Fayda card.
• Salale asks for a national identity card.
• Wollo asks for two 3x4 photographs.
• Bahir Dar asks its 2018 E.C. intake to check how many places a department is taking before choosing it.
• Addis Ababa asks its first years for the original and a copy of the Grade 12 result and four passport photographs, and asks anyone given a dormitory to bring a blanket, a sheet and sports kit.

• Kabridahar registers at the Main Registrar Office, on those two days only.
• Dambi Dollo registers in person at its Registrar and Alumni Directorate office, on those two days only.
• Haramaya expects its senior students at their own campus, the health and medical sciences college (CHMS) included.
• Hawassa registers its second-year regular students at the campus each was assigned to.
• Jimma registers in person at your own college or institute.
• Aksum and Dilla register in person at the campus you studied at last year.
• Arsi does the same, except that students who were at Bokoji campus in 2018 E.C. move to the main campus.
• Mekdela Amba puts natural science students at the main campus and social science students at Mekane Selam.
• Wollo reports at Dessie, Kombolcha or the specialty medicine campus.
• Madda Walabu does the registration itself online at estudent.mwu.edu.et, and still expects students at the campus they attend.
• Oda Bultum points students at its own website and at its Telegram and Facebook channels for anything further.

If you are waiting to be placed rather than to register, what that choice commits you to is in Choosing a university and a field. Addis Ababa University has meanwhile reopened its own admission for two days: Addis Ababa University has reopened admission.