Registration – the most stressful time of the year

Katherine Johnson
Columnist

Aside from finals, registering for classes may be one of the most stressful times of the year for students.

Between holds, classes not being offered, the server crashing or classes filling up too quickly, many times students are left with very few options when they can finally register.

Although I’m only a freshman, I was able to register about a week before the rest of my friends because I brought in a lot of credits from high school. Since I was registering so early, I figured that I’d be able to get all the classes I originally planned to take.

Just to be safe, I checked the day before, only to find that I had to rearrange my whole schedule because the majority of those classes were full. If I was having that kind of luck, what would it be like when my friends were able to register?

While I think it’s only fair that those with the most credits are able to register first, it’s easy for those who register later to get discouraged and forced into classes they really don’t want just to fill their schedule.

It’s difficult to find a solution to this problem.Those who are closest to graduation, with the most credits, should have top priority so they’ll be able to finish their degree on time. Unfortunately, this fact doesn’t make underclassmen feel any better when they register.

Because of its size, VCU may want to consider opening up more options for popular classes. For example, psychology is a very popular major, so those classes are usually the first to go. This is especially true for classes that are required for multiple majors. Students from a variety of majors must compete for a class from a set list of options in order to fulfill their requirements.

I also noticed that many classes listed in the course catalog didn’t show up on the actual spring schedule. While some classes may be offered certain semesters for whatever reason, this takes out a lot of options. It seems like many of the classes that aren’t offered are the most interesting, at least to me.

As I was looking for a literature class at the 300 level, I found one I really wanted to take, only to find that it was exclusively for English majors. This doesn’t make sense because many students are required to take a class like that and ultimately face even more limitations. Getting overrides are difficult, especially if you don’t have an outstanding reason for wanting to take the class. Classes at the upper level are also smaller most of the time, which adds another level of difficulty to the process.

Paranoia and panic run rampant during registration. Students check daily to see how many seats are left in that class they really want or need to take. The only solution is finding someone who registers before you and asking them to hold a class. I’ve already done this twice in the last week.

Registration could be a smoother process, but it’s difficult to determine exactly where the flaw is. The new built-in prerequisite check is a definite step in the right direction, and makes registering a faster, more efficient process. Still, the biggest problem is class availability, whether it’s the number of seats left or the classes being offered.

VCU should expand the options for classes so students aren’t forced to take ones they don’t like or don’t need, wasting both time and money. Hopefully, this will allow students to graduate on time.