The registration process at St. Lawrence is very exhausting, seeing as waking up at 7:00 a.m. is not ideal for a college student with a full load of classes. Registration being spread out over three days also adds stress for the students waiting to see which classes they get into.
Kate Wilson ‘23 has had a stressful week as registration did not go her way. “It would go smoother if it was at a different time, as many students have slept through their alarms or forgotten to get up at the designated time,” she said. “Registration being at 7 a.m. is a real disadvantage for college students. They are already sleep-deprived.”
Not only are sleep-deprived college students anxious about class, but Wilson also added that “many of her friends, including herself, were in bad moods after the results of registration.” This disrupted their day in which they then have to attend classes.
Lexi Bracco 23’ has been feeling very stressed out the nights before registration. She believes that waking up that early after a full course load of homework the night before is challenging. All St. Lawrence students register at the same time. “As I get older, I get stressed out about getting into all the classes I need. It’s frustrating to think that first-year students who have so much more time than I do could get into classes that I need to graduate, or even for my major and minor,” said Bracco.
Students have stated that registration is different at other universities. Betsy Driscoll ‘23 of Washington Lee University says, “I personally really enjoy our registration system, as students get the chance to register for their top priority class at 10:30 the night before, and then register for the full load the next morning. This lets us prioritize the classes we need most and then we have time to organize how we should register with the rest of our classes.” Although 10:30 p.m. is a later time, most students would rather be awake at that time to register, rather than waking up at the crack of dawn.
Associate Registrar Deborah Richards discusses how the system came to be. “We chose the best system, as we had to consider when classes start along with the needs of students in different time zones abroad. We used to do it by class year and found that many sophomores and first-year students were very disappointed with their class choices as the lower-level classes became full of upper-class students who were able to take those seats. Now, each student has to choose the class that is most important to them on each day,” she said. Doing registration at night would affect students abroad, it makes the most sense that registration is very early. Pertaining to first-year and sophomore students, the low-level classes Richards has seen in the past filling up very quickly to the point where the underclassman are left with little to nothing to pick from.
Not everyone can get the courses they want when they want it at a school of St. Lawrence’s size. Associate Dean for Academic Advising Programs Elun Gabriel discusses how faculty are more than willing to work with students on getting into the courses that they potentially want that semester or another semester. “Registration is about what economists call allocating scarce resources. There are not enough seats in certain classes for everyone who wants one. There is no registration system that allows every student to get everything they want whenever they want it. The best registration system is one that gives everyone a fair chance in the process,” says Gabriel. This system is fairest amongst the student body.
Registration has flaws in students’ eyes. There is not one system that would ever allow students to receive every class they hope for. Students who do not get their classes need to push so that teachers are willing to help and know that they would like to join classes that are full.