At the end of June and beginning of July, while many university students are busy enjoying their summers, new and returning Carleton students are being thrown into a panic-induced frenzy when they realize they have missed their course registration time ticket.
But for those of you still reading (meaning you who have not just dropped this article now that you’ve been reminded your time ticket was two hours ago), I’d like to go over a few of the reasons why the course selection process can be a hassle and, often times, a disappointment.
I have a job, as do many university students who find themselves short on funds partway through November (I’ll allow you to venture a guess as to why). For my time ticket to begin at 2 p.m. on a Wednesday is decidedly inconvenient, especially because I don’t get home until after 6 p.m., by which time anybody who might be of any assistance has also gone home.
Now, I love flipping through the course calendar as much as the next guy, but a phone call to the registrar’s office has proved to be a valuable shortcut on more than one occasion.
Scheduling becomes tough, but it’s not an unexpected pain: prerequisites, program requirements, interests, and prioritization of these things need to be taken into consideration.
I know I’m not the only one who has screamed at my computer after organizing my timetable, writing it down, finalizing it, and then plugging it all in, only to be given a registration error for that one Canadian History course I am required to take next year — the hassle.
By the time I do get a hold of a very helpful young lady at the Registrar’s Office (no sarcasm intended), I’ve only registered for two of my required courses and I’m well into my time ticket. She gives me a hand organizing my schedule to meet the rest of this year’s requirements. I have two more credits to fill for the year and the only courses I’m interested in that fit my schedule are already full — go figure.
After much deliberation and a minor disagreement with the psychology department concerning prerequisites, I’m now taking the second (only the second — I never took the first) instalment of an American Literature course in the fall and Philosophy of Art in the winter — the disappointment. For everyone who might be looking forward to taking these courses, I mean no disrespect — I’ll see you there next year.
The truth is, this process is neither straightforward nor efficient from the standpoint of a student. I just happen to be a student who has gone through it before, but tie in the unfamiliarity of the process for a freshman and six words come to mind: Thank god for the Registrar’s Office.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a way to simplify this process or give students more time due to the great deal of work required on the administrative side of things. But, considering many of us lose our heads when we get anchovies on our pizza instead of pepperoni, shouldn’t we be a little more concerned about having to spend an entire term studying something that is, as it may turn out, neither relevant nor interesting? Just something to think about.
Now, at this point, some people may be thinking, “Hey, I didn’t really have that many problems. Maybe this guy is just some disorganized punk who needs to get his act together.”
The latter part of that statement is besides the point.
For those in this category — those of you who have managed, in a very small time frame, to put together a favourable schedule, meet all of your requirements, and still have time to read my comment about it — I commend you. Then again, maybe you just got lucky.
–Tristan Bronca is a third year journalism student.