Registration dilemma; did I advise him right?

Parents Forum
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<p>S, a rising freshman, sat down to pre-register online today, having been given one of the last days (ah the joys of late alphabet). He had been instructed clearly in a departmental letter to register in two courses within his declared major; in fact these are outlined right through senior year.</p>

<p>WHen the registration windows opened to him, all the sections of one of these courses were full and waitlisted only. He signed himself on to one of the sections waitlist, which is all he could do.</p>

<p>He phoned his department, and a kid there answering the phone told him to contact the professor of the section he'd signed up for; that it would be no problem. I saw his email and it was polite and appropriate; basically he asked for some reassurance before opening day that he'd be able to get into the class.</p>

<p>THe prof wrote back that he couldn't reassure him; that it would depend on the size of the room, how many others showed up and so on.</p>

<p>I advised my S to call back to his major department and find out if this professor is correct. Perhaps they have a way to put him into a section now; perhaps he should be on top of the waitlist since he's a major and the course is required for freshman; perhaps he should be on several waitlists of several sections....somehow they must have a way to get majors into these classes.</p>

<p>Of course, it's an introductory film history course (probably a popular elective); he's a Screenwriting major so for him it's a requirement.</p>

<p>I also think he should ask to talk to someone higher up in his film department, not just the kid at the desk. </p>

<p>The unfamiliar piece to me is having required major courses right from the get-go; my other 2 didn't declare majors until the end of sophomore year. By then, they had experience with registgration processes, knew a few moves, and had the seniority of upperclassmen. </p>

<p>There are about 8 sections of this particular course. </p>

<p>Suggestions welcome. Did I advise him right?</p>

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<p>Having taken some classes last year at our state university working on my postbac, I know it depends on who you talked to. He should talk to a head advisor. He should keep talking to advisors until the registration thing get resolved. It will be a hassel to wait until two weeks after the class starts and see how many drops out of that class. I think the professor is right in saying it would depend on the size of the room. Since it is a required class for him, he should have a priority before students who are taking that class as an elective.</p>

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<p>Ironically, film can be one of the most rigid and structured of all majors; it certainly is at my school! I would trust the advice you've been given, but double-checking within the department isn't a bad idea. Just don't be overly pushy and assume someone can pull some strings for you. </p>

<p>Most classes like these drop off a lot in enrollment, as students tend to overregister and shop around with classes. And he should definitely receive priority as it fulfills a major requirement for him. But if all else fails and he doesn't get a section, ask your advisor if he can get ahead in general ed classes or other requirements in the major, so he doesn't fall behind.</p>

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<p>p3t:</p>

<p>The prof answered you correctly but your S should definitely talk to his departmental advisor and see what can be done. The prof HAS to say that he cannot guarantee a spot since he does not know the size of the waitlist and cannot play favorites. S1 had a similar problem; there were 8 students on the waitlist, and the prof was determined to keep the class size to 30; he could not expand it by 8 and was unwilling to choose which 1 or 2 among the 8 to let in. So none of them got in.</p>

<p>In your S's case, the fact that this is a requirement for his major gives him an edge over students who want to take the course as an elective. As well, if enough students are on the waitlist, it is possible to open up another section (S1 was at a LAC with no grad TA, so this was not a possibility). The sooner the department is aware of this, the better they will be able to accommodate the overflow. Good luck!</p>

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<p>This course is even a prerequisite for the class the department wants him to take this coming Spring!</p>

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<p>p3t,
Did he sign onto a waitlist for a section which would be particularly appealing to many students? In other words, is it the 11 a.m. section rather than the 8 a.m. section? ;) I'm assuming that S would be willing to sign onto any available section. If your S has already been assigned an adviser within the department, that would be my next step. If not, I would try the department head, briefly explaining that he was "new at this" and trying to understand how the system worked for majors in the field. Don't stress too much. It will work out given the strict course demands of the field.</p>

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<p>I think you gave him good advice, and I concur with others that polite but firm persistence is warranted here.</p>

<p>My D had trouble with her major classes because the department had some unexpected staffing issues in several semesters. She was willing to take classes at any time, but the profs weren't teaching them at off times; available classes tended to overlap.</p>

<p>She got into one class by showing up every day, doing extra assignments, and bringing a chair with her after the prof said there were literally no seats left. Obviously, this is not a path your S can take over the summer, but I do think that persistent communication with the department and relevant profs, advisor, etc is appropriate, with a fairly constant theme of "this is a required first semester course for me, so how do we make it happen?"</p>

<p>Best of luck to your S--he'll get those registration skills earlier than most students need to!</p>

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<p>I just caught him on his way out to work. I don't think he has a faculty advisor yet, just a "peer registration advisor" who told him yesterday to email the professor.</p>

<p>He's very willing to phone up the department this afternoon, which will work because of West Coast time differential in our favor. Today is the last day of registration there. </p>

<p>I like the approach of his talking right to the department people, high as he can get today. I will relay to him before he calls all these suggestions. It's helpful to hear from other faculty members and parents!!</p>

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<p>Can he put himself on the waiting list for all the sections that would fit into the rest of his schedule? Or all of the 8 sections and drop something that's not required if he gets off the waitlist for one that doesn't quite fit?</p>

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<p>Keep working up the department. If you get high enough someone will be able to help you. I ended up having to go from my advisor, to a professor, to another advisor, to the head advisor of my major, to the chair of my major, to the chair of my college to get something done. It did get done though.</p>

<p>edit: Where I say chair I mean dean.</p>

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<p>Good one, Chedva. Awesome, Chuy! </p>

<p>Just keep those ideas flowing. I think he may need a few today... ;)</p>

<p>This school publishes the sizes of each waitlist for each section. In this one he's 7/7. Others have diffeerent size waitlists; could that mean different sized rooms? It's so transparent, we just don't know what any of these numbers mean strategically for him.
Getting onto all waitlists might indeed be possible via computer... hm. Keep those ideas coming...thanks.</p>

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<p>Building on Chuy's post, does your S have a freshman dean or freshman advisor? He should contact that person, go over the schedule he has so far, discuss the registration problem for the required course in his intended major and ask the dean/advisor to help him out. That's what deans are for. If the issue is section rather than class enrollment, he may be advised to redo his schedule so as to enable him to take the class and attend section; but since registration is already done, he would need to re-do his whole schedule and for that, he probably needs the help of the dean.</p>

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<p>Many times the school will suggest that you attend the first class even though it may be full. From there, depending on how many "extra" students are there, they will typically let the kids stay that are majors.</p>

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<p>Looks like they have 10 department members all teaching the same course, each with 50 people in it. All of these classes were fully enrolled as of yesterday, and each one had a little published waitlist next to it, of different sizes like 6/7 and so on. So when he added his name to that one he became 7/7. </p>

<p>Drat, I feel like getting his permission to go onto his computer and putting him onto every waitlist right now, since it's the last day of registration for the whole university, And then have him come home from work to attend to whatever he can in the late afternoon with the department and/or a dean to straighten it out. Really want to see it fixed beforehand....if at all possible.</p>

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<p>Trying to get him on every wailisted section might help but some schools don't allow you on the computer to register for more classes/credits than are permitted and so I am not sure how many he can sign up for, but you could try it. </p>

<p>I think your son's situation is very different than someone who simply cannot get into a class. This class is REQUIRED as a freshman in his major and is a prerequisite, as well, for a REQUIRED freshman spring course. He will have to be accommodated because these are requirements for him, not options he happens to want to take. Has he been assigned an advisor yet? He should have been assigned one. That would be an important person to contact for help. He also should talk to a higher up in his department and ask how to arrange to take the required class since it appears full. The professor couldn't promise anything about getting him into that section. He needs the help from someone in charge and who advises in these situations. If your son doesn't yet have any advisor (he should though!), then contacting a dean to ask this very valid question is in order. That's what they are there for. Email or phone would do.</p>

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<p>If the school has had this major, with first-year requirements, for a few years, and the school has registration in alphabetical order, and potential screenwriters are not heavily distributed towards the front of the alphabet (I would wager the opposite is true, if anything), and introductory film classes are popular . . . then they have had this problem before, and someone knows how to deal with it. But that someone is unlikely to be (a) any of the professors, or (b) his peer counselor (whose last name begins with "B" or something).</p>

<p>So the task is to find the person who knows how this is handled.</p>

<p>If the program is new . . . well, they have a little design flaw. For that, you'll probably have to go quite some ways up the ladder.</p>

<p>I agree you should start yesterday on this. As a practical matter, however, there's a really good chance it will get resolved after, not before, classes start.</p>

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<p>You were all correct and it worked out fine. He's now IN to the section he waitlisted for yesterday, so it will even fit his schedule. </p>

<p>When he called after work a moment ago, the department was already in process of discovering their problem (Marite) and today they got busy and simply jammed a few more kids into every section. He found this out by phone and it's now verified on their computer registration in blue-and-white, so that seems definitive.</p>

<p>We'll never know whether he should have put himself onto more waitlists (Chedva) but that was a golden idea to remember for future.</p>

<p>He learned this by going up a bit in the department (Chuy, JHS). Soon they will also be making new sections (Marite) "soon" because it turns out all these registrations only reflected the film department majors and not yet any electives. SO I guess the other courses will be for non-major students who want this course as an elective. I suppose they're on another waitlist at this time. </p>

<p>THANK you (every other poster) This one really got me today and I needed the support. Had it worked out that he'd have to do it all in the first week of school (several posters), he'd have gotten through but fortunately didn't have to find out.</p>

<p>THANK YOU ALL.</p>

<p>He says he'll write back to the professor and thank him for the consideration anyway, "all's well that ends well" kind of message.</p>

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<p>my question is this, is each registration alphabetical and will son always be towards the end of the line? that seems reallllllly wrong, and unfair</p>

<p>so if you were born lucky with an A, woohoo, if a W< like, me, you have to jump through hops all the time</p>

<p>seems the system is set up wrong to begin with and this would be something as a tuition paying parent I would ask about, why should P3t kid have to be at the end of the line paying the same money, hey, I know as they go down the alphabet, your tuition drops</p>

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<p>P3t: Woohoo! Good news.</p>

<p>CGM: The registration system at S1's school was scheduled alphabetically but in a scrambled order; I also believe it was not the same order all the time.</p>

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<p>that is good, the OP said, luck of being at the end of the alphabet, so I assumed, glad I was wrong</p>