Overcrowding/Overenrollment Issues at top tier schools

[Anonymous]

lots of this problem at northeastern - hence the shove off to satellite campuses and january starts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a public school problem.

Not quite. My niece was squeezed into a tiny double with two other girls at Brown her freshman year. It was old and run down on top of it with dingy dark bathrooms. She hated it.

My DC is at UCLA and many of the dorms are very new. They now guarantee housing all four years. UCSB has a worse housing problem though.

[Anonymous]

There was a lot of talk at one point about the UC schools being so crowded that kids couldn't register for their required classes and it was contributing to their graduating in 5 years rather than 4. This is a common state school thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:every single school

No. If looking at the top tier colleges, it's only a problem at the publics - Berkeley, UCLA, and Michigan. Which is another reason why the USNews rankings became so bogus last year. The UCs are plagued by this problem and have no business being so highly ranked for undergrad. There's classes with 1200 students. And graduating in four years is a real challenge for a lot of students.

Do you have a student at UCLA and Berkeley? I do and she has NEVER had a class with 1200 students, is graduating next week in 4 years with a double major and could’ve graduated last December. Oh and she studied abroad for a quarter too. All her friends are also graduating in four years. In so-called impacted majors too.

Real life experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was a lot of talk at one point about the UC schools being so crowded that kids couldn't register for their required classes and it was contributing to their graduating in 5 years rather than 4. This is a common state school thing.

This was my experience teaching premeds at UCLA. Lots of 5th years were in sophomore level lab classes (namely 14BL, 14CL, 30BL, and 30CL) because they were so impacted. I'd probably consult current message boards to see if it's better for these specific courses or if they're still a problem.

[Anonymous]

Public schools in CA have had this issue for a long time

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Much more common at public colleges.

100% - top tier or not, this is a public higher education issue.

[Anonymous]

At UCLA triples are standard, but they guarantee housing for all 4 years, which is vital for students who need it.

It is also hard to get classes, particularly prerequisites, so if a student needs things straightforward this environment would be difficult. You’ve got to plan, hustle, and be ready to pivot as needed. Register for more classes than you need and drop one once you get the feel for the work. Can’t get into a class? Start going anyways and wait for an opening or ask the professor to approve your seat. Successful student need to be savvy and resourceful, and plenty of them graduate in 4 years (maybe snagging some of those hard prerequisites at CC over the summer). There is no handholding.

The one thing that pisses me off is the underground market for classes. Students register for classes they don’t need and then sell the seat. I wish the school would crack down on that.

[Anonymous]

+1 I was going to say the same.
UCLA guarantees housing for 4 years. Triples are standard. It’s a wonderful school with happy students and a beautiful campus. Would I spend OOS tuition? No. But for California students paying $35k it can’t be beat! All large public’s have big lecture classes. Florida does online classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hearing disturbing things about overcrowding in dorms/not enough housing at UCLA (3 freshman in a double etc)

Hearing about scheduling/class issues at Michigan, with kids not getting into required 1st year classes for majors etc.

What other schools have these types of issues? What’s the best way to find out?

Colleges know that kids drop out during the first semester and they purposefully over fill the dorms because they know that eventually it will be closer to actual capacity. They don't always get it right and every year, you hear of a few schools renting out hotels to cover the overflow. “The Middle” had a story arc about it when Sue went to college.

Middlebury’s FEMA trailers for housing a few years ago….

Middlebury has been over-enrolled for something like 4 straight years. Even after paying students 10k not to come last year, this year’s admitted class is only 50 fewer. Planned over-enrollment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a public school problem.

Not quite. My niece was squeezed into a tiny double with two other girls at Brown her freshman year. It was old and run down on top of it with dingy dark bathrooms. She hated it.

My DC is at UCLA and many of the dorms are very new. They now guarantee housing all four years. UCSB has a worse housing problem though.

UCLA is notorious for using doubles as triples, at least for freshman and sophomore year. Better than other UCs but still have overcrowded housing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At UCLA triples are standard, but they guarantee housing for all 4 years, which is vital for students who need it.

It is also hard to get classes, particularly prerequisites, so if a student needs things straightforward this environment would be difficult. You’ve got to plan, hustle, and be ready to pivot as needed. Register for more classes than you need and drop one once you get the feel for the work. Can’t get into a class? Start going anyways and wait for an opening or ask the professor to approve your seat. Successful student need to be savvy and resourceful, and plenty of them graduate in 4 years (maybe snagging some of those hard prerequisites at CC over the summer). There is no handholding.

The one thing that pisses me off is the underground market for classes. Students register for classes they don’t need and then sell the seat. I wish the school would crack down on that.

All the UCs also have impacted majors, which really restrict a students ability to transfer into popular major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:every single school

No. If looking at the top tier colleges, it's only a problem at the publics - Berkeley, UCLA, and Michigan. Which is another reason why the USNews rankings became so bogus last year. The UCs are plagued by this problem and have no business being so highly ranked for undergrad. There's classes with 1200 students. And graduating in four years is a real challenge for a lot of students.

Do you have a student at UCLA and Berkeley? I do and she has NEVER had a class with 1200 students, is graduating next week in 4 years with a double major and could’ve graduated last December. Oh and she studied abroad for a quarter too. All her friends are also graduating in four years. In so-called impacted majors too.

Real life experience.

Berkeley is known for a few computer science classes with over 1000 students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a public school problem.

Not quite. My niece was squeezed into a tiny double with two other girls at Brown her freshman year. It was old and run down on top of it with dingy dark bathrooms. She hated it.

My DC is at UCLA and many of the dorms are very new. They now guarantee housing all four years. UCSB has a worse housing problem though.

UCLA is notorious for using doubles as triples, at least for freshman and sophomore year. Better than other UCs but still have overcrowded housing.

Ucla still has doubles, but they retrofitted the bulk of their dorms into triples. It’s the standard operating procedure at this point. Not an annual scramble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At UCLA triples are standard, but they guarantee housing for all 4 years, which is vital for students who need it.

It is also hard to get classes, particularly prerequisites, so if a student needs things straightforward this environment would be difficult. You’ve got to plan, hustle, and be ready to pivot as needed. Register for more classes than you need and drop one once you get the feel for the work. Can’t get into a class? Start going anyways and wait for an opening or ask the professor to approve your seat. Successful student need to be savvy and resourceful, and plenty of them graduate in 4 years (maybe snagging some of those hard prerequisites at CC over the summer). There is no handholding.

The one thing that pisses me off is the underground market for classes. Students register for classes they don’t need and then sell the seat. I wish the school would crack down on that.

What?!? That is offensive.
Ok taking UCLA off the list.
What other schools have this?