Registration is a stressful time for students; choosing classes for the next semester is not an easy task. Being a transfer student, I have registered for classes on my own before, but my first registration at Southern New Hampshire University was one I will never forget.
Before my registration date, I had chosen the classes I wanted to take as well as a few backups, just in case. As registration opened for students with more credits than I had, I watched as the available number of seats in my preferred courses went down. About half of the seats in each of my classes had been filled. I wasn’t too worried, though. Half of the seats were still available for me to take.
The morning of my registration date, I woke up 15 minutes before registration opened. I took a look at my preferred courses and began to worry. One of the classes I’d chosen only had 6 seats left, and another was down to 4. Finally, registration opened, and as soon as the clock read 7:30 a.m. I pressed the submit button. My webpage began loading, and loading, and loading… Eventually, it crashed, telling me to close my browser and open the page again.
While I was waiting for my computer to reopen the browser, I knew I had missed out on those classes with only a few seats left. Once everything was back up and running, I viewed my list again. I had been registered for one class on my list, but everything else was now full. With the exception of one, every single class I had spent hours choosing was unavailable to me.
I was tired, frustrated, but most of all, angry. The classes available to me that fit into my program evaluation were few and far between, and all of them were full. What was I supposed to do now? As an English Language and Literature major, I never expected there would only be one English or Literature class that wasn’t already full.
A friend on campus mentioned that because a lot of underclassmen skip taking their general education or lower level “easy” major courses until they are juniors and seniors, it creates a cycle of current underclassmen not being able to take the classes they need at the time that would best fit to their needs.
I understand that the cycle exists, but can nothing be done about it? I can only imagine what it would be like for someone trying to receive an Associate’s Degree, who has even less time than me.
I tried making an appointment with my advisor, but around registration time it proved to be difficult. The woman at the front desk offered walk-in hours, which, due to my schedule, I could not attend. As of now, I have not met with my advisor, and am slightly worried that the classes I was forced into registering for do not make the most sense for me and my future.
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