LETTER: Registration is a headache

Editor,

Last week as I arrived to several of my classes, I heard comments such as this: “Oh, I love registration,” (in a sarcastic sort of tone) or, “I hate the QUAD!” And my personal favorite, “Registration is a joke.” I thoroughly agree; registration is a joke.

You wake up early to be the first one on the QUAD to register. You log in, and nothing. You try repeatedly, still nothing. Finally, you get into the system, after 45 minutes of trying. You type in your pin number, click on the registration icon and you are feeling great. You then type in the call numbers to all of the courses you need and submit. You cross your fingers as you anxiously await a response. You get one that reads something like this: “User capacity full.” So you blow it off and try again, this time it’s “User login error.”

You try repeatedly receiving all sorts of error messages, and just as you are about to give up you decide to try once more. Finally you get in, and you do get some of the classes you’d hoped for. But, two of the classes are already full and one of them has a prerequisite. Funny how your best friend just called you and asked if you got into English because he/she just did two minutes ago, and tricky how you are in the class that is the pre-requisite for the course you wish to take, but it still won’t let you in.

I think many of us have experienced a scenario somewhat close to this, which is why I think something should be done to fix it. Registration shouldn’t be such a hassle. Granted you are not always going to get all of the classes you wish for, but to have to go through this every time you register seems a bit ridiculous. Maybe we should stop fussing over how much our spouses are having to pay for the fitness center and see if we can get some of our fees to go toward a better registration system.

Holly Scott