Class registration stress/ can't get into classes...is this common?

[Anonymous]

My DC is disappointed that their top choices didn’t pan out, either due to rejections or acceptances with no merit and so too expensive (DC knew that possibility ahead of time) so is going with Pitt Honors but views it as a failure and that all past academic and EC efforts were for naught. This post is a good reminder that a benefit of honors is priority course registration and a nice perk.

[Anonymous]

My kid had this issue at a small LAC and lots of parents report the same. There are fewer professors and classes to select from, esp in small majors. Class sizes are small but once they hit the cap, there is no more room.

This is such a an important point, and one that we haven't thought about. Would parents who experience this at SLACs name the schools?

[Anonymous]

I heard from admissions people that schools hold back many seats for freshman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

My kid had this issue at a small LAC and lots of parents report the same. There are fewer professors and classes to select from, esp in small majors. Class sizes are small but once they hit the cap, there is no more room.

This is such a an important point, and one that we haven't thought about. Would parents who experience this at SLACs name the schools?

Virtually every single university that isn't mega-rich is experiencing massive budget cuts. This impacts facilities, staffing, faculty hiring, benefits, behind the scenes stuff, and so much more. It's not really escapable.

The way to best ensure your get the classes you want is to be granted early registration, which is done by # of credits. So if you took a ton of APs in high school or went to community college over the summer and you're a "Freshman" with 15 credits to start, you're going to be fine. If you're a Freshman with no incoming credit and are slow to decide you want to take a very popular major, you might be in a long line. That's not avoidable. It's just how it is.

I teach at a small LAC and our major has about 100 students. We plan around what they need, and no one is left behind with regard to what they need for graduation if they are on track. They may have to wait a bit, or they may have to accept a(n appropriate) course substitution, but no one is denied a class they need to progress if they are eligible and communicate about their needs. This is a huge advantage of a smaller school/program where students are able to communicate openly with advisors and professors who know them (not that they all do....but they can).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I heard from admissions people that schools hold back many seats for freshman.

Yes this is true. These spots don't show up until later in the summer when deposits are solidified. I teach one of these classes. We staff sections based on incoming class size.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid at a large public (non “bespoke” lol) university and she hasn’t had this problem much at all. Despite the laughable snobbery here (which I hope is trolling) “you can’t always get what you want, when you want it” is a perfectly acceptable life lesson, and if they haven’t learned it by 18, they need to learn that pronto.

If I’m paying $85k per year then yes, I will need to get what my child wants. If your child is at some public diploma mill then they get what they’ve paid for.

Your entitlement is oozing.

[Anonymous]

Must be uva

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My kid had this issue at a small LAC and lots of parents report the same. There are fewer professors and classes to select from, esp in small majors. Class sizes are small but once they hit the cap, there is no more room.

This is such a an important point, and one that we haven't thought about. Would parents who experience this at SLACs name the schools?

Virtually every single university that isn't mega-rich is experiencing massive budget cuts. This impacts facilities, staffing, faculty hiring, benefits, behind the scenes stuff, and so much more. It's not really escapable.

The way to best ensure your get the classes you want is to be granted early registration, which is done by # of credits. So if you took a ton of APs in high school or went to community college over the summer and you're a "Freshman" with 15 credits to start, you're going to be fine. If you're a Freshman with no incoming credit and are slow to decide you want to take a very popular major, you might be in a long line. That's not avoidable. It's just how it is.

I teach at a small LAC and our major has about 100 students. We plan around what they need, and no one is left behind with regard to what they need for graduation if they are on track. They may have to wait a bit, or they may have to accept a(n appropriate) course substitution, but no one is denied a class they need to progress if they are eligible and communicate about their needs. This is a huge advantage of a smaller school/program where students are able to communicate openly with advisors and professors who know them (not that they all do....but they can).

Hey, would you please spread the wisdom to admission officers all around the country that they need to do a better job at identifying “glories” and “discoveries” achieved by the students rather than parents? These abled students are glorified and got admitted to schools that are above them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My kid had this issue at a small LAC and lots of parents report the same. There are fewer professors and classes to select from, esp in small majors. Class sizes are small but once they hit the cap, there is no more room.

This is such a an important point, and one that we haven't thought about. Would parents who experience this at SLACs name the schools?

Virtually every single university that isn't mega-rich is experiencing massive budget cuts. This impacts facilities, staffing, faculty hiring, benefits, behind the scenes stuff, and so much more. It's not really escapable.

The way to best ensure your get the classes you want is to be granted early registration, which is done by # of credits. So if you took a ton of APs in high school or went to community college over the summer and you're a "Freshman" with 15 credits to start, you're going to be fine. If you're a Freshman with no incoming credit and are slow to decide you want to take a very popular major, you might be in a long line. That's not avoidable. It's just how it is.

I teach at a small LAC and our major has about 100 students. We plan around what they need, and no one is left behind with regard to what they need for graduation if they are on track. They may have to wait a bit, or they may have to accept a(n appropriate) course substitution, but no one is denied a class they need to progress if they are eligible and communicate about their needs. This is a huge advantage of a smaller school/program where students are able to communicate openly with advisors and professors who know them (not that they all do....but they can).

Hey, would you please spread the wisdom to admission officers all around the country that they need to do a better job at identifying “glories” and “discoveries” achieved by the students rather than parents? These abled students are glorified and got admitted to schools that are above them.

Huh?

Keep in mind that most undergraduate degrees nowadays at most schools aren’t that hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My kid had this issue at a small LAC and lots of parents report the same. There are fewer professors and classes to select from, esp in small majors. Class sizes are small but once they hit the cap, there is no more room.

This is such a an important point, and one that we haven't thought about. Would parents who experience this at SLACs name the schools?

Virtually every single university that isn't mega-rich is experiencing massive budget cuts. This impacts facilities, staffing, faculty hiring, benefits, behind the scenes stuff, and so much more. It's not really escapable.

The way to best ensure your get the classes you want is to be granted early registration, which is done by # of credits. So if you took a ton of APs in high school or went to community college over the summer and you're a "Freshman" with 15 credits to start, you're going to be fine. If you're a Freshman with no incoming credit and are slow to decide you want to take a very popular major, you might be in a long line. That's not avoidable. It's just how it is.

I teach at a small LAC and our major has about 100 students. We plan around what they need, and no one is left behind with regard to what they need for graduation if they are on track. They may have to wait a bit, or they may have to accept a(n appropriate) course substitution, but no one is denied a class they need to progress if they are eligible and communicate about their needs. This is a huge advantage of a smaller school/program where students are able to communicate openly with advisors and professors who know them (not that they all do....but they can).

Hey, would you please spread the wisdom to admission officers all around the country that they need to do a better job at identifying “glories” and “discoveries” achieved by the students rather than parents? These abled students are glorified and got admitted to schools that are above them.

PP here and I don’t understand what you mean.

[Anonymous]

It's going to vary by college. My son is a freshman at VT and hasn't had that issue in his first two semesters. He was initially placed in a online section of an English class but had no trouble switching it to an in-person during the first week of classes.

Class registration was a big problem at the California public U I went to long ago. There were 12 registration priority levels and you knew that if you were in one of the lowest priority groups you'd pretty much not get classes so we planned for our coops during the 11-12 registration times. It was very, very rare to graduate in less than 5 years. But that did typically include a coop.

It's been in the news that UCSB can't offer enough classes for students to all maintain full time status. It definitely something to investigate before deciding where to go.

[Anonymous]

When I was at Hopkins, some of the best profs/most fun classes were slotted at 8am as a “natural” weeding out process. Worked wonders….

[Anonymous]

I was shut out of classes and went to the registrar to discuss. Was told my last name starts with a letter toward the end of the alphabet and the spots were filled before me. That was wonderful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I was at Hopkins, some of the best profs/most fun classes were slotted at 8am as a “natural” weeding out process. Worked wonders….

I had a professor who purposefully put classes that would otherwise be popular at 8:00 on Fridays. They usually ended up as small seminar style classes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

My kid had this issue at a small LAC and lots of parents report the same. There are fewer professors and classes to select from, esp in small majors. Class sizes are small but once they hit the cap, there is no more room.

This is such a an important point, and one that we haven't thought about. Would parents who experience this at SLACs name the schools?

Nah, that would be a death knell for the school.