University students: trouble scheduling classes?

[FNH]

Well, the pre-med and biology guys have it pretty easy, Campbell Hall stays packed with those two groups. Which isn't surprising since the focus of the university is on medicine. However, the School of Engineering is just as big as the School of Business, if not bigger. Most real business majors go to Tuscaloosa anyway. Which is why I can't understand how 30 years ago people could get engineering degrees at night and they can't now.

JS here. The school has gone to a traditional university style these days, see the commons, and campus green BS they've been charging us for. I've only been in the Rec Center once, when they first opened it. And I wish they'd stop calling to ask for donations for that dumbass dragon statue. But...I hope we beat memphis!

[Plow]

I'm a Mechanical Engineering major, and I work full time

ur doing it wrong

[Hellfury]

While in the military, they didn't give a damn that stuff crashed, so we just had to take what we ould get, except for mandatory. When I took psychology at uni, it was hell on earth beyond the mandatory programme courses trying to get a working schedule put together. After I started economy studies at a different faculty, it got pretty easy, but I suspect this is because they have focused on making the logical course combinations work out.

[Melchiah]

The one in front of Bartow? God that thing is hideous.

[FNH]

The one in front of Bartow? God that thing is hideous.

They want a bigger one on the green. next to heritage hall.

[Darus Grey]

My school is similar...when I was doing my linguistics under-grad I had a class that was only offered every *3 years* that was a requirement to my degree. I didn't get a spot in it during my junior year(probably cause there's 50 other seniors in same situation), which meant my graduation was pushed back *3 years*...Of course I didn't settle for that and just did an independent study of the same course material to get credit for the class, but I'm sure there's been people who didn't think of that and got fucked over.

[Lbelle]

Yeah there are classes in my degree but a different "focus" that are only offered in fall, or only offered in spring. So if you come to college in the spring and haven't taken the prerequisite for that course, you have to wait another year to take it, and you can't continue with classes in the major unless you've taken it. I think that that's stupid scheduling.

[Kang]

Hey Mel, long time no see.

I got one month left on my seven year trek through college and university so I'm glad the pain of class scheduling is almost over.

I mostly had problems in my first year because there wasn't much choice in what you can take and everyone had to take classes at certain times.

Nowadays, my classes go from about 10-4.

I start my co-op next month which will be 9-5 so the times the last few years for me have been kind.

[Seraph]

I always just considered class scheduling a lesson in dealing with potential real life bullshit. It sucked for me, and I had to bust my ass to make sure I finished with my BS and Minor in just 4 years (the suggested course load time was 5 years). Half of the challenge of getting through college isn't passing the classes, it's getting through college.

[Bearsan]

Hmmm, I've never had any bad experiences with signing up for classes. I've waited up to 3 semesters for famous professors to return from sabbatical to teach certain courses though. However, you guys all seem to be in engineering/sciences, while I'm a double major in English/History.

[miokomioko]

It's one thing if your major involves sitting in lecture halls that holds hundreds students, you probably won't run into scheduling issues.

It's another thing if your major involves lots of continual feedback from professors as you continue through longer hands-on projects, classes tend to be a hell of a lot smaller. Also, with the cutting back of faculty/hours/etc you have a surge of students approaching professors for independent studies to satisfy their major's units. However, as far as I know (or at least at my college) they do not get paid for taking on independent study pupils so it will only go so far until every instructor is spread too thin. You will need to tell someone higher than a counselor (I forget the title that would be appropriate for this) that you need your units satisfied and their budget cuts shouldn't interfere with your graduating on time so other available courses need to cover you.

[Meresgi]

They economic situation and the fact that I live in upstate NY where they were screaming money problems 2yrs ago before this shit has meant huge cuts for us and I ended only being able to get my classes for Comp Sci in the morning. They cut back pretty much all courses to only 1 section as well this semester which is unusual. Patterson even came to our campus to tell us we were going to lose even more money and that NYS was going to dick over students.

[Jefe]

I have but is not the university's fault. I have to work and projects to finish for my business, so it's a pain in the ass to come up w/ a decent schedule. I'm grateful my university has a bunch of different sections per class. My daily routine starts @ 7:00 am w/ Differential Equations ;x

[Vuitton]

I am fortunate in that my current job allows me to make my own schedule and change it every term to fit around my class schedule. This allows me to take classes at any time morning, noon, or night, and work before, between, or after classes to get my 40 hours.

I'd speak with your department advisor about possible work arounds. You're not the only student working so I am sure they've encountered this before and have advice on getting past the roadblocks. They might be aware of future classes that will meet your needs.

[Parshias]

Man, my college is totally sweet about getting into classes, although its really just the department I'm in.

If you are a Math major, and need to get into a Math class, you get into that class. Period. Doesn't matter if its full, you're in.

[Milks]

I'm transferring to UAB in the fall...I work full time as well.

However, I can afford to drop work hours because I still live with my parents.

[Natallon]

i have no difficulty registering for classes at my school because I am in an Honors program so I get to register before the regular Freshmen, which makes it a buttload easier to schedule anything I need

[_chuchu]

Camping drop/add is fun, just gotta be persistent because someone will always back out of a class at the last minute

[Flarega]

Try going to Cal poly. Only about 25% of undergrads graduate in 4 years. This quarter I wouldn't have gotten into any classes for my major, but there was exactly one spot left in a late Heat Transfer section. Otherwise absolutely every other ME course I could take was completely full.

Got an early registration for next quarter though, and I can hopefully catch up on my major courses even more over the summer.

[Ryany]

A lot of the problem comes with how classes will get smaller and smaller as you go more in-depth into any major. Classes like thermodynamics, calculus, chemistry, and physics will have a zillion sections since just about every engineer has to take them. That's not the case towards the end. An example for me would be a 400-level class such as "Theory of Reinforced Concrete Design" would be offered only for one 30-student class and one semester a year.

I'm pretty sure a school also doesn't have to guarantee a certain class will be offered at a certain time 3 1/2 years down the road, so it doesn't matter how much you plan if they change the time of the class in those 3 1/2 years.