Class scheduling - no openings, "forced" classes

Colleges & Universities A-Z Texas A&M University
1

<p>A friend of mine and his daughter attended freshman orientation a couple of weeks ago. Everything went well with the exception of scheduling her classes. Somehow there were no openings left in any of the math classes. They told all the students that they would “force” the math classes. What does that mean and how do students get into the forced math classes?</p>

2

<p>Wow, that’s weird. I have no clue what “force” means, but I just tried to look up some math classes and nothing showed up. o.O
But, my Math 147 (Calc for Bio & Med) that I’m going to take, however, showed up and had several openings.</p>

3

<p>I suppose it means that they will literally be packed into classes, even if the classes are “full”. The poor kid might end up in a class with 200+ students…</p>

4

<p>When the courses were entered into the registration system, a certain number of seats were made unavailable. Say the lecture hall holds 200 people. The department would allow 150 to register. Then the department can force 50 other kids into the class by entering their names manually. If too many people are registered, the department will move the class to a different room or open up an additional section.</p>

<p>I’d honestly suggest your daughter take her math at Blinn. Depending on her major and requirements, the math courses are weed outs. With 200+ kids in a room and an average GPA hovering around a 2.0, I think a first time college student would do better in a smaller classroom unless they’re great at math.</p>

<p>A helpful site for the math classes is the grade reports A&M releases.</p>

<p>[Registrar:</a> Report](<a href=“http://admissions.tamu.edu/Registrar/FacultyStaff/Report/Default.aspx]Registrar:”>http://admissions.tamu.edu/Registrar/FacultyStaff/Report/Default.aspx)</p>

<p>You see a GPA breakdown of each section by professor. It can help you pick the professors that grade a little easier than the others.</p>

5

<p>This isn’t for only freshman either. For this fall, I had to be forced into 4/5 of my classes… and I’m a Junior! As long as you are in good standing, you’ll be fine though.</p>

6

<p>I’m concerned about class scheduling also, especially considering I cannot register till the 21st of August at my NSC. I need to be taking a specific set of classes to attempt to get into Mays for the Fall of '10.</p>

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<p>Thanks everyone for info/comments. How does a student get forced into a class? Do they need to contact the specific professor to get on his wait list for a specific class or check back later during a general enrollment period to see if new spots have been opened, etc? Does the student have to be proactive to get “forced” into a specific class?</p>

8

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<p>It depends. If the class the student needs is within their department, their departmental advisors can force them. If it’s in another department, the first step is to contact that department’s advisors. They will tell you their department’s process. Some departments allow the advisors to force while others it’s up to the professor, department head/chair, etc.</p>

<p>The student definitely needs to be proactive. The student’s departmental advisors are a nice resource, but in the end it’s your money and education. Things can and do fall through the cracks, or the advisors may not have all the correct information. I’ve found it best to contact the department directly and see what their policy is.</p>