<p>My first year D had her registration timeslot today and was not as successful as she hoped. All the sections of calc 151 were full, of which I guess there are many, as were the two sections for an intermediate language class in her potential major. I assume these were full by prior upperclassmen registration.</p>
<p>Her advisor told her she didn't like to see someone leave with only two classes registered officially, but that there should be a problem getting into these classes.</p>
<p>Any strategies besides just going to the class and asking the prof? Esp for the math which will be filled I assume mostly with first years, is there a better way to try to find a section which might let her in? I would think in most cases less popular times would be better, but she plans to do crew which makes the very early classes not as workable for her.</p>
<p>For the lang class, there are only two sections I assume the same prof, she will definitely stress that this is her planned major and try to work a deal there.</p>
<p>Seems like bad luck to have such a late advisor date, especially if one is an athlete in a fall sport and thus with real time constraints.</p>
<p>I think there’s a lot of ebb and flow in the math classes – people dropping down, people stepping up, etc. If an early time slot won’t work, look for a teacher with a heavy accent! Based on other CC posts, that should clear out a few spots. (And it doesn’t matter.)</p>
<p>Other possibilities: Take 160? Or 130? Or a statistics class, which would probably be the best choice of all if your kid doesn’t plan on taking more math in the future. They try to funnel everyone into 150 or 160 – at least that’s the impression I get – but I’m not convinced that one’s life is fundamentally impoverished if one doesn’t take that particular approach to math.</p>
<p>The language class will really be dependent on the teacher – if he or she wants to make room, room will probably be made. I’m sure people drop out of them, too. I know one of my kids did last year!</p>
<p>she tried one of the two lang sections today and said there were quite a few people who were there who were not registered. going to try calc tomorrow, she already bought a book from an upperclassman. She is confident about getting into both, hope she is right. She said the lang might be too easy, if it turns out she cannot get in there might be a better placement for her, but she might be overestimating her abilities this early in her college career ;)</p>
<p>I tried to steer her in the stats direction earlier since at one point she had interest in psych (think that is past) and she had a 5 on the AP. But I think she thinks it is more macho to do calc.</p>
<p>If she got a 5 on the calculus AP, I am surprised that she hasn’t been browbeaten into taking 160s calculus. That’s really the math department’s signature course, the one they not-so-secretly think everyone should take.</p>
<p>fingers are still crossed, but it seems it will all work out. She did get into the lang class which was the biggest risk, as only one of the two sections would not conflict with possible crew practice times. Calc they did add another section and although her preferred slots are still showing as full, at least there are workable options even if not her preferred sched.</p>
<p>JHS- she got a 5 on stats and a 4 on AB. She was lured by the sirens towards 160s, but she also showed the course descriptions to her HS teacher and he (along with me) suggested she not attempt the 160s, this is a kid who wants to do more than a typical load anyway (although probably more in line with typical Chicago students), and since she is not planning a path in math or science, she can spend her extra cycles in other places than honors calc. Placement recommended 150s anyway, so we are all good :)</p>
<p>Hope anyone else with any registration challenges is getting resolved happily as well. I hope this note also serves those in the future to see that the college/depts are being accommodating at least in these instances.</p>
<p>jackief, my D, a 4th year, never had your D’s issue with trying to schedule classes. But one of her friends seemed like she had problems like you’ve described every single quarter for the first two years. Not to worry though, just like what your D’s found, it always worked out fine. Hope she has a great year.</p>
<p>During the family orientation, the rep from student counselling said something to the effect that they play games to make room for all students throughout the orientation week and that they close and reopen classes for registration.</p>
<p>I agree I am impressed with the accommodations they made, from adding a calc section (where one really seemed to be needed) to the lang prof letting the enrollment in that class exceed the maximum. It is great to see that this worked out so easily. If this had been another core class where second or third choice would not have really affected the student, that would be one thing, but in both these cases where starting the sequence mattered more, the college did the right thing.</p>
<p>This story sound so much like my own D’s experience at UofC. Lots of angst at the beginning, followed by some real flexibility and movement later. </p>
<p>The only note of caution I would add is that while UofC like many colleges offers a generous course shopping period, students need to be careful that they don’t take it too casually lest they enter a course late in the second week hopelessly behind. Things move fast in the quarters system.</p>
<p>not that I want this to be focused on our own data point of my D, but I want to mention her experiences through the end of this drop/add period so others can read it in the future. And I’m glad to see the comments that it is not uncommon. The saga is still very much continuing in her case…</p>
<p>Although she did get into these courses, they ended up not being the best placements as she would like. The lang course, with the blessing of the current teacher, she is going to try to move up another series. Calc is more problematic, as there can be a wide variation in the sections (as I’ve read in scouring all the historical threads here) the section she is in is moving much slower (she called it remedial) than the orig section she attended the first class. She is meeting resistance to switch back because of the enrollments in each section. Since calc is not a long term interest I hope this wouldn’t be a big deal for her, but she sounded pretty bummed out and unhappy in general owing to these two classes. She is still working on this, hope she either gets a placement more to her liking or can accept that everything doesn’t always fall to the best outcomes.</p>
<p>Finally talked to S yesterday. He was very fortunate–sections were open when he registered and he got the three courses (soc, hum, and calc 153) he wanted, all at reasonable times. (The parents are a little concerned/annoyed/disappointed that all three courses are being taught by grad students. I don’t mind this in individual cases, especially for a straightforward, well-defined topic like calculus–but all three is a bit much.) He seems happy so far. </p>
<p>JHS, you had me worried that they were going to push him into honors calc, which I think would have been a mistake for him, but they didn’t. </p>
<p>Jackief, I don’t know anything specific about how the math courses at UChicago are administered (but just drawing on general experience as a prof) I’d guess that differences in the pace of different sections of the same calculus course will be transient since every section does need to cover all the material required for the next course in the sequence. If it looks like this is not the case after another week or so, your daughter might want to politely raise the issue with the instructor–it might inspire him or her to check with colleagues and adjust if the section is not on track to cover all the material.</p>
<p>as things continue to work themselves out, the language placement is now resolved and she is in a “much more interesting class.” If calc continues to be boring for her (considering the rest of her load,) I would not be upset.</p>