You add MATH 140 on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11:00, then drop in BMGT 220 with a discussion section that starts at 11:15. On paper both courses fit your plan. In reality you cannot be in two rooms at once. Most students discover that overlap manually, or worse, on registration day. Orbit’s calendar flags conflicts the moment you commit a section: red blocks on the grid, a banner with the exact overlap, and an Inspect button to compare sections side by side.
The old way: spreadsheets and guesswork
Checking five courses with three sections each means dozens of time combinations. Students copy meeting times into Google Sheets, squint at AM/PM formatting, and still miss a Friday lab that collides with a discussion. Orbit runs the same check automatically every time your schedule changes, so you fix problems before you copy CRNs into Testudo.
Three places conflicts show up
- Toolbar: a quick count (“2 conflicts” or “All clear”) next to your section total and credits
- Conflict banner: names both sections, the overlapping days, and the shared time window, with Inspect to open section details
- Calendar blocks: conflicting meetings get a rose border and striped styling so you spot them on the weekly grid instantly
How to use conflict detection
- Open Calendar in Orbit and add every section you are considering for next term.
- Watch the toolbar and banner. If a conflict appears, read which two sections overlap.
- Click Inspect on the banner to open section details and compare meeting patterns.
- Swap to a different section or drop a course, then copy CRNs only after the banner clears.
Session-aware overlap checks
Orbit compares actual meeting times, not just course codes. Two sections of the same course in different sessions will not false-alarm, but two different courses that share a Tuesday lecture slot will. That matches how registration actually works.
Related reading
Conflict detection tells you when sections clash. Orbit’s auto-generate feature builds every conflict-free combination from your course list so you can pick the best layout without manual trial and error. See How to Build a Conflict-Free Schedule at UMD in 20 Minutes.