It’s that time again – time to register for classes. Many students are asking their friends advice on “easy” or “interesting” classes. Other students just feel that there is no point, because they will be stuck in the classes that no one wants. And many of us wish we didn’t have to worry about classes filling up before we register.
The SMU Enrollment Office assigns students registration times based on the student’s year in school and the number of classes he or she has taken. For example, seniors get to register first, and the seniors with most hours get the earliest times.
SMU does offer a variety of general education courses so students can fulfill their general requirement classes. However, the number of spots in these classes fill up quickly. Well, at least the classes that are referred too as “easy” or “interesting.” If you are a student with a late registration time, you are probably going to be out of luck if you want to take a class that you heard was “easy” or interesting.” Many of these classes are full the first two days of registration.
In addition to the classes that are full way before the registration period is over, many seniors forget to enroll in their last general requirement class to graduate. So, when these seniors do realize they need this credit, they have no choice but to take the class that still has seats available.
Nonetheless, many students (regardless of their year) will attend the first day of class, read the syllabus and, if there is a big paper or mid-term, they drop it. And, most of these students wait to the last minute to drop the class before they are charged for it. However, since the add/drop day is on the same day, students, like the seniors who forgot about their CFs, will not have a chance to get into a class. This is due to add/drop day being on the same day, which makes it difficult for students unable to get into a class that other students might have dropped.
In addition, more seating needs to be available for the classes that generally tend to fill up or more classes on that particular subject need to be offered. It is not fair for the students who have late registration to have to take the “leftover” classes because nothing else was available. It is better for students to enroll in a class that they are interested in, rather than have students forced to sign up for a class because it is the only class with space available.
In order for these changes to be made, students must first start a petition. Also, the Division of Enrollment Services needs to make sure it can accommodate the changes before the board approves and the changes can be made.
Until these changes are made, try not to stress too much!
Molly Pruett is a senior journalism major. She may be contacted at [email protected].
