Class Warfare: A Blood Bath for the Best Classes

Anatomy was filled up before Shannon Rhone ’24 had the chance to register for the class. She wants to be a medical sonographer and needs the class in order to accomplish that goal.  

“I need anatomy as a prerequisite to get into any grad program,” says Shannon, upset at the fact the school can’t help her.  

Shannon is a Psychology major and Public Health minor at St. Lawrence University. She sits at her wooden desk inside her small dorm room. Papers scattered all around. With a fixed focus on her laptop, she types away, trying to get into anatomy. Her hot pink nails push the buttons as fast as they can. Shannon’s eyebrows furrow, and her face goes so close to the computer screen you can see the reflection of light beaming off her forehead.  

The university has done nothing to assist Shannon with her problems other than the anatomy professor putting her on a waitlist. However, Shannon knows from her own experience that it’s very rare to get a seat in a class from the waitlist. So, she has to take anatomy at Gateway Community College.  

“I am already paying so much money for SLU. I don’t understand how it is reasonable that I have to go to another school to get the class I need,” Shannon says angrily. “How is it that my own school can’t provide me with what I need, but another one can?”  

This is not the first case where the university has failed to accommodate its seniors with the classes they need and want to take. SLU’s current tuition for the 2023 school year sits at $80,350. However, the usual class-due fee of $10 bumps up to $30 for your senior year. A princely upcharge for seniors, given some students graduate without taking all the classes they wanted. Does SLU staff even make an effort to get the seniors what they need for their final year?  

These challenges in registering for classes happen in each department. Sarah Gates, the English Despartment Chair, feels that seniors don’t have to worry. “If there is a senior that needs the class to graduate, I automatically let them in the class,” Gates says confidently. This is the only exception she makes.  

However, if the class is not mandatory for a student to graduate and they just have an interest in it, she will not over-enroll for that reason. She manages her waitlists in a very transparent way. “When I put a student on my waitlist, I tell them what number they are and give them some idea of if there is going to be that much movement in the class or not,” states Gates.  

She doesn’t want to give any student false hope for getting into her class.   

Ultimately, Gates believes that if a senior needs a class to graduate, every professor should let that student into the class. However, having a student just interested in your class isn’t an exception. The student must require the course to graduate to be enrolled before the others on the waitlist.  

Jacob Dafeldecker ’24 understands that he is never going to get all the classes he wants. “Every year, there is a class that I want to take, but it fills up,” Jacob says. “I think that is something everyone deals with though.”  

During the registration week, Jacob plans his days around his registering time. Most importantly, he adds at least three backup classes, knowing one of the classes he wants will fill up. During his registration time, the bedroom door always gets shut, blocking out the sounds of video games played by his other suitemates. He needs to focus solely on his fully charged, plugged-in laptop. The worst thing to happen would be to have your computer die during registration.   

Jacob changes the clock on his computer so he can watch it count down the seconds. As soon as the time starts, he smashes his mouse, clicking as fast as he can. In order to get the classes he wants, he has to be one of the first to click the register button. However, Jacob still struggles to get the classes he wants.  

“There have been so many classes I wanted to take but didn’t get into,” Jacob rolls his eyes. “I feel like it’s rigged; I have bad luck every registration.”  

A blood bath for the best classes. SLU makes its students worry about what classes they are going to be able to get into. An ongoing struggle that leaves a lot of seniors to graduate without getting to experience everything they want to.  

Deborah Richards has worked as the university’s registrar for 13 years, during which she hasn’t had any problems with seniors not graduating because of classes.  

“I can’t ever remember a time where a senior couldn’t graduate because they were short a class they needed,” Richards’s rosy cheeks raise joyfully in response to the perfect record.  

Registration is one of SLU’s most cut-throat processes. Each student plans out the classes they want, hoping they don’t fill up before they can click the blue register button. Richards feels that even if a senior doesn’t get into a class they need, the department will help that student.  

“The departments are very concerned about seniors and always help them meet their requirements,” Richards stated strongly.  

She believes seniors don’t have many problems registering for the classes they want to take. She notes that by the time seniors are picking classes, they are in all upper-level courses, which blocks out most underclassmen automatically because they lack the pre-required classes. Despite this, SLU’s seniors still have complaints.  

“The fact is I have to go to another school in order to take a class that is provided here,” Shannon’s eyes open wide with fury. “If there are too many kids on the waitlist to let me in, they should make another section of the class.”  

Shannon is very frustrated with the school’s enrollment policies. She pays full tuition with the school and believes she should be able to take the class. Anatomy is a popular class most STEM majors need. “I have been trying to get into this class as soon as I was eligible to,” Shannon says. “I don’t know how much more I could have done on my end.”