<p>My parents are against me applying to certain public universities because someone from a college seminar said that CSUs and UC schools don't have enough classes for the amount of students so many get less each term, thus taking them longer to graduate (and wasting more money on tuition). How much truth is there in this statement? How sure can you be when getting the classes you need to graduate?</p>
<p>I know that schools are getting harder to get into each year because they receive more applicants than spots, but this means that they only admit a certain amount of students, right?(I am disregarding community college) So where does the problem really lie?</p>
<p>I am a freshman at Cal Poly SLO and classes are EXTREMELY hard to get. I just registered yesterday for my winter quarter classes. There are 23 days to enroll, and my registration rotation was on day 8. At the end of the day, every single class that I registered for no longer had any available seats. Every major at CP is impacted, which makes it that much harder to get any classes necessary. An engineering student at CP can pretty much guarantee 5-6 years there just to get a Bachelor’s. Luckily I am a Poli Sci major so if I get the classes I need at the right times, I should be able to get out in 4-4.5 years.</p>
<p>Privates are really expensive, but offer quite a bit of financial aid. Honestly, I wouldn’t discourage you from going to a public school. Even though it might take you longer to graduate (no guarantees) they have a lot to offer. However, don’t discount either. Apply to privates. Their online apps are almost always free, so you have nothing to lose. Tour some campuses and really get a feel for what you want. After you weigh everything, then make the decision that is best for you. If graduating in 4 years is a top priority, go to a school that will make that possible.</p>
<p>at UC Davis pass times are determined by the number of units you have (including those AP units!!! i started with sophomore academic standing). also helpful (assuming you’re in the major) is that some classes, are closed for the first pass to those outside of the major to try and make sure the students in that major get the class.</p>
<p>i’m a senior in mech/aero engineering and i’ve never had trouble getting a class. never waitlisted or anything. the only time i didn’t get a class i just took it the next quarter (i got lucky with it being such an easy fix). also sometimes they will open a new section bc they see so many students waitlisting the class. and as a last resort there is always summer school.</p>
<p>my friends at other UC’s as well have never had a problem getting the classes they NEED.</p>
<p>the only people i know taking more than 4 to graduate are doing so bc they want to.</p>
<p>I also go to UC Davis, and I’ve noticed that unless you come in with close to zero AP units, you should be able to get the classes you need. When a class like general chemistry or calculus fills up, they will open up more sections for students who still need to enroll. I had my pass time on the second to last day, and I got all of the classes I wanted (including the times/professors I preferred.) I know people who had the last registration day who had some trouble, but they all had less AP units than me (I came in with 28.) However, even people with the last registration day seemed to get the classes they needed; they just might not get a popular elective they wanted. Overall, it really depends on the school. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to get any classes I needed here, but so far it’s been extremely easy to get not only what I need, but what I want as well.</p>
<p>I go to UC Irvine, but I came in with 50 AP units and I’m in the honors program, so I get priority registration. But I’ll speak about what I’ve noticed from my first registration (in which I didn’t have priority) and from what I’ve seen of other people.</p>
<p>It is difficult to get into some classes, but you should have no problems as long as you have some APs under your belt to put you a little ways ahead of your class. In the beginning, with your GEs and lower-division classes, they’ll have a lot of sections so they can fit everyone. My one class that I had trouble with was my lower-div writing class (my only non-major-specific class), but they had so many sections that I was easily able to find another that still kept my schedule looking pretty. They also make sure that they have a variety of times, like three times a week for an hour each, two times for an hour and a half each, or one three-hour lecture per week. </p>
<p>There will be plenty of sections for the lower-div and GE classes, and once you get past those and your GEs, you’ll be in major-specific classes and have more units, so you shouldn’t have any trouble getting in.</p>
<p>Edit:
Also, I know someone going to a private college (Westmont), and he is having a lot of difficulty registering, too, since their classes fill up really fast.</p>
<p>I don’t think it has as much to do with private/public as it does the size of the school. Obviously it will be harder to get the classes you want at a bigger school. That being said, I go to a school of 40k+ people and I haven’t had too many problems with class availability. I don’t usually get my perfect schedule, but I’m rarely locked out of something I really need to take. And it gets better every semester because the more credits you have, the earlier you can pick your classes.</p>
<p>Something else to consider - while bigger schools might have more problems with certain classes being available, they also have more classes in general. So lots of times, when it seems like you HAVE to take a certain class for a requirement, there are lots of other, potentially more interesting options.</p>
<p>^ Agreed. If you go to a smaller school, it may be easier to get into the classes you want, while as if you go to a larger school, it may be hard even to get in your general education classes, or at least hard to get the specific teacher you may want.</p>
<p>I got to a school where we have about 15,000-18,000 and though there is usually space in most classes, I can already tell you at least two of the six classes I was hoping to take were already filled up before I could even register. However, one of my friends who is only a freshmen was able to register a whole week earlier than all the other freshmen because she had so many AP credits from high school to give her sophomore standing. </p>
<p>If you’re really worried about getting into some classes in college, you can always befriend some upperclassmen/honors program student and ask if they have room in their schedule to hold a class for you until it’s time to register. Or be in the honors program to get priority registration (though sometimes that doesn’t always work, as one of my friends found out that the honors specific class she needed to take was already full within 15 minutes of registration).</p>
<p>I can’t speak for any California schools, but I currently attend a SUNY school and I think there is a lack of classes in comparison to other schools. Ultimately I think most people manage to get the courses they need in order to graduate on time, but some departments are better or worse than others about letting students into already filled classes or opening more spots in a section.</p>
<p>Just a warning, small private schools can also be hard for making schedules. My problem is always that most classes only have one section (i.e. there is only one class per semester). It’s really frustrating when the classes I want to take interfere with each other.</p>
I should really consider privates huh…</p>