Registration Insanity

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
1

<p>As the parent of a freshman, Cal Poly class registration belongs in the category of “there must be a better way” to build a mousetrap. Particularly at a school which takes great pride in their College of Engineering. Please have your queue theory specialists in IME devise a better way. I’m begging you…</p>

<p>First, there is the block schedule. All but one of son’s classes assigned to him are classes for which transfer/AP credit are pending. So a total schedule rework was necessary. OK, this might be somewhat understandable.</p>

<p>But then, many classes and sections of classes which would work well are completely full with waiting lists of up to 20 students in a classroom holding 40 (CHEM 125). Huh? Seems as though it’s time to open more sections… </p>

<p>And then, because credit for so many classes are pending (56 hours), CPReg doesn’t recognize that son already has prereq’s in place to take classes commiserate with his academic level. So he can’t sign up for the class online. Instead, he has to go through his advising office and each respective department for permission to register for these classes. In the meanwhile, the classes fill up. What a headache for a kid who hasn’t yet set foot on campus… well, figuratively speaking.</p>

<p>So for first quarter freshman year that might be just a quark of the system, however, going forward there is this crazy lottery/priority system for registration which in no way rewards seniority for upper division students. Now I know this is just “the way we do it”; but, the vast majority of universities across the country give priority in class registration by completed hours and/or class standing. Although not perfect, it seems to work well almost everywhere else. It appears to me that the Cal Poly process becomes a 3 or 4 times a year exercise of Machiavellian gamesmanship and maneuvering. That is one way to educate. After all, it is learn by doing. Come on, man… no wonder students are routinely there for five years. </p>

<p>Can those with experience in playing the game explain how often students move off of these deep waiting lists? Or what are the best approaches to “crashing” classes and how often does that work out successfully?</p>

<p>Sorry for the rant, but this process does beg the question… Where are the engineers when you need them most???</p>

2

<p>Yes, the registration system is not the most efficient. I heard it was devised by the math and science department here some years ago. And while it may make it seem as though it’s impossible to get classes, the truth is, it’s not. Teachers try to be as accommodating as possible. I’ve had some who would try to get a class moved to a larger room just so that more people could enroll. Obviously this is not always possible, but I’ve found that the majority of teachers try to help students get into classes. </p>

<p>The best approach to crashing is to actually do it. Some waitlists might seem impossibly long, but then once it comes to the first day of class, hardly anyone bothers to show up. This is not always the case, but I’ve seen it happen. The trick is to figure what classes are both most in demand as well as most difficult to get into off a waitlist, and use your priorities wisely on these types of classes. Also, be persistent (I wrote more about this in one of my previous posts). </p>

<p>Being picky about teachers or class meeting days/times make some people fall behind too, so it’s not just the registration system that’s a problem… I’ve personally been able to get into every class I’ve crashed - even some that I did not have the pre-requisites for completed yet. I only had to resort to crashing a few, and graduated in four years with no AP credit coming in.</p>

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<p>Don’t worry it is not as bad as you think, but I am surprised the AP classes he took this year did not get adjusted into his schedule. Every student is given three priorities to use at anytime except as a freshman. My D has been able to crash every class she was wait listed for, one did take a week. They actually do a pretty good job of making sure you get your major classes by reserving seats for majors only, it is the GE classes that require a little more strategy. When you see really long wait lists for all sections of a class, they will sometimes add more sections.
One note, my daughter started as a solid sophomore and was unable to use a priority the first year. I do not know if that is still the policy, but it seemed a little unfair because by the time housing came up she was classified as a junior, which gave her a very low priority for housing.</p>

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<p>GunnerDad I remember when my son was an incoming freshman and we tried to make sense of the registration priority system. It seemed very confusing and stressful at the time. It took me about 1.5 years but I eventually let it go and trusted DS to make his way through the registration maze, which he did with aplomb. He played the waitlist game as the previous posters have indicated; most of the people on a waitlist give up and don’t even show the first day of class, so the persistent few usually get a seat. He’s also spoken directly to professors to get their permission to take courses, and used his priority registrations carefully. He didn’t always get the GE classes he wanted, or the times he’d have preferred. Despite these challenges he was able to graduate in 4 years.</p>

<p>Your son should be able to get everything sorted out with his AP credits and class schedule during WOW.</p>

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<p>Appreciative of the feedback. There is no doubt that all will work out in the end. This is not our first college rodeo so my perspective is relative to several other first hand experiences at public universities outside CA which were much more straight forward.
Thanks for the advice. </p>

<p>Designed by mathematicians and statisticians… no wonder the process reminds me of a Rube Goldberg contraption… a lot of commotion but all to accomplish very little that otherwise could have been done in a simpler, less complex way. This is ripe for a master’s thesis in some department… I’m just saying…</p>

<p>@jakd59…Son clarified the AP issue… all of the problems have surrounded transfer credits earned through dual credit high school courses. CP had his AP credits but all other advanced courses are still credit pending. This impacted courses in Chemistry, Physics and Engineering where he was block scheduled into courses for which he expects to receive transfer credit.</p>

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<p>GunnerDad,
We also have 2 older kids in college…one out of state and one at a UC school. Priority registration based on seniority was, I thought, the way it’s always been done (going back to my college days as well). Does anyone know WHY Cal Poly does it the way they do?
Good luck to your son!</p>

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<p>GunnerDad - This is exactly my sentiment today after listening to my new Cal Poly SLO student try to navigate the registration process. I have 2 Master’s degrees, and even I was stumped while trying to help with the questions and issues she encountered. I can’t complain though, as I am comparing it to the “kinder, gentler” registration process of very expensive private colleges on the east coast for our older children. We are just thrilled with the rest of Cal Poly and the value of the stellar education it offers :)</p>

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<p>Hi GunnerDad, It’s not really such a bad system. I don’t know why your son’s AP classes were still “pending”, as none of my children had that problem. All their AP credits were processed before they got assigned their freshman block schedule. </p>

<p>All 4 of my kids went to CPSLO (youngest starting next month as a new freshman), so I have a lot of experience with CP’s registration system.</p>

<p>Cal Poly registration it is not done by student standing/year. Here’s how it works:</p>

<p>The whole student body is divided alphabetically by last name into 12 priority groups. (ex. AAA-CAR, CAS - DUN, DUO-GRI, …, TIS-ZZZ) Then, each quarter each priority group will be assigned a priority number any where from 1 to 12. Enrollment appointment date/times for a quarter are then assigned in order 1,2,…12. So the alphabetic grouping assigned priority number 1 will go first, followed by the alphabetic group assigned priority number 2, etc. During a 4 year period (excluding summers) there are exactly 12 quarters, and each alphabetical group will get assigned each of the unique priority numbers (1 - 12) exactly one quarter each. So in a four year period, it is very fair, everyone gets the same number of good/medium/bad rotations. Each student also gets awarded three “priorities” that can be used anytime after freshman year (defined as first 3 quarters at CP regardless of number of credits earned). “Priorities” are like trump cards, and basically move you to the front of the line, even ahead of priority group 1. Everyone has the same number of these “trump cards”, and most people use them when they happen to have poor enrollment priority (group 10, 11, or 12). It is wise to use them strategically to help you get “hard to get” or “must have now” classes.</p>

<p>I hope this makes sense. I think it is actually a very fair system, although NCAA athletes, marching band members, and perhaps some others get automatic priorities during their training seasons.</p>

<p>Also, there is a limit of 16 units during the regular registration rotations. Then, after all 12 groups have had a chance to register, there is a period of “Open Enrollment” where anyone can add more units up to a max of 22.</p>

<p>My two that have now graduated from CP were able to get everything they needed to graduate, though sometimes they had to crash classes or take times or professors that weren’t top choices. The oldest graduated from Materials Engineering in 4 years plus one summer, and the second graduated from Philosophy with Religious Studies minor in 4 years.</p>

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<p>Sorry for hijacking this thread, but I thought this question was related to my doubt. I thought the reason why people didn’t graduate within 4 years was because they took time off to do internships or co-ops. Or is it really because the students can’t get the classes they need?</p>

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<p>There are multiple reasons why it may take someone more than four years to graduate. I’d say that not be able to get classes is one of the least common reasons. I think that it was more of a problem a few years ago when the budget was really bad and teachers had to furlough. But if you’re claiming that you “can’t get any classes,” when in reality you just don’t want to take a class at a certain time or with a certain teacher, that obviously doesn’t count. I think most people learn pretty quickly though that they can’t be too picky about this. Then there are some people who I’ve seen in my college of liberal arts major who just did a bad job of keeping track of what classes they needed to graduate. It’s not so much that they absolutely could not get into a class they needed, they were just careless and decided to take classes that didn’t count towards anything. Then towards the end of junior year they realized, oops, looks like it will be impossible to graduate on time. I honestly don’t know how anyone can let this happen, but I know at least a couple people who are in this situation. </p>

<p>And then yeah, there are the people who do internships/co-ops, as well as those whose majors require a greater number of units to graduate, or those that do the 4+1 program, and those that change their majors or concentrations - all of which can add more time.</p>

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<p>Great to hear that, starting in the Summer Term 2015, priority for registration will be given by percentage of progress toward degree completion.
Congratulations to the administration for looking beyond “business as usual” and finding a way to build a better mousetrap…</p>