Several questions about the ways that UW's website works...

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Washington
1

<p>I feel really dumb for asking this because I've been at UW for quite a while, and some aspects of it are still a mystery to me. Since they've been evading me for so long, I don't expect anyone to know all the answers. In a way, I'm just kind of thinking out loud.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I've noticed that when you're registering for classes and looking at a subject's time schedule for a particular academic quarter, if you open up multiple courses in new tabs by middle-clicking their SLNs (five-digit numbers) in too quick of a succession, the first one will work, but the ones after that will give you a message that says "Time Schedule Status - Invalid Request. Your request was improperly formatted. Try again." This doesn't seem to happen at all if you wait at least five or so seconds before opening each one. Does this happen to anybody else? I'm just wondering why this happens.</p></li>
<li><p>Kind of the opposite thing. In DARS, they say that your report takes 1-5 minutes to generate. However, from my experience, the thing seems to be instant. Is everything happening as it should be? I hope it's not giving me an incomplete report or anything, because that would not be good. Or is it just that some of the more advanced students will have audits that take longer to process?</p></li>
<li><p>This is about jointly-offered courses. It really doesn't make any difference which section you take, right? They're the same locations, same instructors, and same times. Do they count toward the same credit requirements as well? For example, if you need COM credits but you were registered under the POL S section, would it count for either? If it does, then what's the point of having the difference? Sometimes one section will have requirements that the other doesn't have, and I can't imagine how that's supposed to be helpful.</p></li>
<li><p>I found a class (<a href="https://sdb.admin.washington.edu/timeschd/UWNetID/sln.asp?QTRYR=SPR+2011&SLN=16403%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://sdb.admin.washington.edu/timeschd/UWNetID/sln.asp?QTRYR=SPR+2011&SLN=16403&lt;/a&gt;) that is a 500-level class but seems to have no prerequisites. I thought that anything higher than 400-level is limited to graduate students. I registered for it just to see what would happen. It worked, but then I dropped it in case anything bad arose from it. But why would this class be open to everyone? Is it actually not a graduate class then because I'm an undergraduate?</p></li>
<li><p>What's the point of taking GEN ST classes that are CR/NC? Okay, so they take you closer to 180, but is that it? There are some classes within a major that are CR/NC, and that I can understand. But GEN ST is just nothing. Speaking of CR/NC classes, are they actually pretty easy to get credit for as long as you make a note of what it takes to get the credit and work toward it? I make that assumption because the grading is pretty black and white. Or is it actually conceivable that you could try hard to get credit and still fail?</p></li>
<li><p>They said during freshman orientation that you should almost never switch to S/NS grading for any class. I spoke with an academic advisor who said that it is a very bad idea except in extreme circumstances. When exactly would it be better to use that option?</p></li>
</ol>

2

<ol>
<li><p>Usually takes like 10 seconds, don’t worry there’s no glitch with your report.</p></li>
<li><p>Doesn’t matter. Although sometimes the UW registration system has glitches. For example, I am taking a class that specifies a prereq of STAT390. I am taking MATH390 which is the same class, but the system won’t let me get into the course.</p></li>
<li><p>People take it if its something they’re interested in. Seminars give you insight on a certain subject or topic.</p></li>
<li><p>It is a bad idea unless you are doing terrible. A lot of people tend to use it for electives during their senior year, so they can focus on other things (job search, etc) and not have to dedicate all their time into maintaining their GPA.</p></li>
</ol>

3

<ol>
<li><p>Yes, the invalid request page pops up if you open tabs too much. I had the unfortunate experience of opening around 15 of them before realizing that half of them I had to “reopen”</p></li>
<li><p>Not all 500 level courses require prerequisites. I’m taking a 500 level seminar this quarter, but I am by no means even close to graduating. If you have questions about classes that you would like to take that are 500 level but have no prerequisites, shoot an email off to the professor or the departmental advisors! </p></li>
</ol>

<p>In this case, I suggest you add it onto your schedule (in case it fills up) then email the professor. Worst case, she’ll tell you that at your current progress at UW, you -shouldnt- be taking the class and you can just drop it. =)</p>