<p>I had a look at courses for my daughter for the fall and was shocked to find that some of the courses that she needs to graduate are closed out already (she'll have to take them next Spring). Two years ago, I registered her in August (dual-enrollment), last year, I think that she registered in July. So now classes are filling up so fast that you have to register in May - unbelievable.</p>
<p>If you're going to publically funded schools which are running into overcrowding problems, then sign up early!</p>
<p>I also looked at all of the community colleges in the state for taking courses this summer that would transfer. Her school is one of the strongest in the state. Most of the other schools don't offer her major much less the courses that she needs.</p>
<p>Happykid registered two weeks ago, and didn’t have any trouble getting the classes she wants. BUT she is happy to have 8 and 9 am classes, and she chose the electives that fit around the courses for her major. Now that she’s past intro to theater and intro to acting, there is only one section of all of the courses in her theater tech. major, and she is guaranteed a seat in those classes.</p>
<p>Has your daughter made an appointment with her advisor? He/she should be able to get her into the classes that she needs. If that isn’t possible just yet, she should get herself onto the waitlists. At Happykid’s CC, students who haven’t paid yet are dropped out of the course registration at the beginning of August and a lot of spaces open up.</p>
<p>I think that she can just register online as she is no longer a first-year student. At our daughter’s school, slots don’t open up again if someone drops it. Once it is filled, the course doesn’t show up again. I sometimes wonder if that’s a bug with their registration software.</p>
<p>That is definitely strange! It makes me wonder how they manage their finances and their class waiting lists. Do they even have waiting lists?</p>
<p>Happykid is at [Montgomery</a> College](<a href=“http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/edu/]Montgomery”>http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/edu/) There are several kick-out dates in the scheduling process each semester. If the bill isn’t paid, the registration is lost, and spaces open up. It is tough for students who are waiting for financial aid to clear, or who are trying to scrape their pennies together for tuition and fees because it means they have to be up before dawn on those dates and try to grab back the slots that they have just lost.</p>
<p>Be thankful you are not here in California. Nearly all the Summer and Fall classes at every CC has been full since the beginning of May. The California State Universities are almost as bad and even the campuses of the University of California have numerous students who can not get the courses they need. My younger son, who just graduated from HS and is planning to be a Physics major, might have to wait three or more years before he can even begin to take the lower division courses in his major with probably two more years to finish them, then two years of upper division courses. In the California System of Public Higher Education almost no one gets a bachelor’s degree in four years. Six years is becoming standard and it will soon be seven years for Science and Engineering majors. </p>
<p>I already have one son finishing his second year in a State University majoring in Geology and will certainly not get his BS in less than five years because of the trouble he has had getting lower division Calculus, Physics and Chemistry courses, My other son majoring in Physics is starting in a State University or a CC, and then transferring to a UC, this fall. It could take three or four years at the CC before he will have the credits to transfer to a University of California campus. I really feel trapped in this dreadful public education system that is in the process of disintegrating. As a medical doctor I make too much money to get need-based financial aid for private universities but because of a stroke I suffered a few years ago I can not work full time and therefore can not afford $50,000 a year to send each of my two sons to a private university.</p>
<p>Lemaitre, is going out of state an option? My son is going to Montana State, whose out-of-state tuition is about what you’d pay for a UC. Montana is also generous with additional merit money – my son (whose GPA is quite unimpressive) got $4K a year for 4 years ‘scholarship’ on the basis of his ACT score alone (28). Which means he will be attending a school that’s strong in the sciences, with brand new, state-of-the-art biology/biochem facility, where it’s easy to graduate in 4 years, for around $22K a year. Just a thought.</p>
<p>Since it takes so long to get a BA/BS from a state school, maybe the way to look at it is the cost over the 6 - 7 year timeframe rather than cost per year.</p>
<p>My oldest went to a $50k/yr school and was easily able to graduate within 3 1/2 years. Never had a problem getting the courses he needed. So now, while his hs friends at state schools are still trying to get the courses they need, he can work for 2 1/2 years at a career, which offsets the total cost.</p>
<p>katliamom, that’s an excellent idea! I think the University of Wyoming is fairly inexpensive, as well.</p>
<p>At our local California CC, students are assigned a specific time slot to register online, and spots in general ed classes are divvied up among the time slots so that all students theoretically have an equal shot. As each time slot opens, classes like English 101 fill up literally within seconds.</p>
<p>Lemaitre, one of my D’s HS friends is a Physics major, rising junior at a CSU. Last year, he was telling me about his registration quandry: As at most California publics now, registration is a race, and he was trying to decide which he needed more desperately – an English class or a lower-division Physics class. He knew he couldn’t possibly register fast enough to get both. He’s probably looking at 5 years too.</p>
<p>I don’t see this situation getting better anytime soon as state revenues typically lag the overall economy. So if the economy does recover this year (which is doubtful), state revenues will recover a year or two after that. For now, we’re participating in the race with our daughter. She only needs five courses to graduate next year and pricing is per course. There is one course that I really wanted her to take in the fall that was closed out - she doesn’t need it in her major but I wanted her to have the knowledge. I may teach it to her myself this summer. She shouldn’t have any trouble graduating if she jumps on the registration system for next Spring when it opens up.</p>