Registering for Classes in College: A Lesson in Itself

If college was so easy, then we'd all be graduated with 3.9 GPAs and on our way to working for Fortune 500 companies. Alas, something so coveted as a college education will not be an easy journey, but there are definitely ways to make it easier. Plenty of students make it through college relatively unscathed (relatively) due to their resourcefulness.

If you had to ask any student, he or she would tell you that the first round of classes is usually the hardest. Classes such as Calculus 1, Biology 1, Chemistry 1, and Psychology 1 are usually the hardest. Being that these are usually the largest classes, so don't expect your professor to give you any breaks. Introductory classes are usually hard, not because they are large, but mainly because most all of them are graded on a curve. Sometimes, everyone in that certain class is smart enough to cough up a B, therefore effectively raising the B cutoff to, let's say an 85. This means that anything below an 85 will be considered a C. Plenty of times fellow students have received 90's, only to realize that their grade was "down-curved" to a B. This won't happen often, but when it does it is excruciatingly painful.

When a class is graded on a Gaussian curve scale, it means that the smallest portion will receive A's (about 10%) while the largest portion (about 60%) will receive a grade of C or worse. This is inevitable, as not everyone in the class will score above a C in the class. College professors have certain restrictions on how many people they fail or how many people they give A's to, as the institution will be leery of someone who gives 80% A's or fails everyone. So keep in mind that professors have their own guidelines as well, and it's a pretty reasonable one.

A lot of people say that these are the "weed-out" courses schools use in order to see if some students are really up to the challenge, and for good reason. Institutions want to gauge the amount of commitment students have to succeed on campus, and since most everyone will be taking these classes together regardless of major (as prerequisites), why not give it a test? Even so, it shouldn't really be considered "weed-out", as the point of pursuing a post-secondary education is to see if you as students have the commitment to keep up with grueling academia. Personally, I think that the college weed-out courses begin when you actually register for your "major only" classes.

As you finish up your large classes and start delving into your major, you will find that the ones in the beginning are far from simple. When I first entered engineering, we had to take gratuitous amounts of statistics. Probability this, probability that. Some people just don't get the subject matter, no matter how many times you try to pound it into their heads. In addition, the professor will knowingly make the class hard in order to see who has the interest or passion in this major to actually become a learned student in this field and keep charging forward. A drop rate means that students either 1) Want to give it a try later, or 2) switched majors. A lot of majors have too many students currently registered, so they use these types of methods to spread out the student population into some of the more sparsely populated majors. This balances out things; it's also good for the department - they keep the students who are willing to try hard to succeed.

Most every university has a course critique website on which students who have previously taken a class will rate, comment, or review how well they enjoyed the class or disliked it. It is highly recommended that you read these reviews before choosing a professor or a class. Even so, remember that you have to plan out a full schedule, so even if you would prefer taking one professor over another, you have to make sure there are no time conflicts on your schedule or else you will not be able to register. Some critique websites are so detailed, that they even show the professor's average GPA for previous years. This will give you a good idea of whether you should choose him over another. For example, one professor may give 60% B's and only 10% A's. This shows that he or she doesn't really enjoy giving A's, as making it over that hump requires you to be in the top 10% of the class. Therefore, a professor who gives 30% A's, 30% B's, 30% D's and 10% F's would be a much better alternative, considering that, although you have a higher chance to score a C, it is rather easy to get an A if you study hard enough.

Here are some other tips I utilized during my registering of classes:

- Schools will usually give priority to older students so that they can register for their classes first. If you have a time slot that opens later, ask one of your older friends to hold a position in the class for you, and you can switch in later as he or she leaves the spot. A lot of classes are in high demand, so they fill up in a matter of seconds. Literally. This will ensure that you won't have to overload the class or wait until the next semester.

- If you didn't get in the first round, the school will usually have different phases of registration, during which they will open up your time slots later. Students who change their minds may drop their old classes, giving you the chance to get in a class you couldn't previously register for.

- If all else fails, try overloading. Schools have overload systems in order to review individual cases one by one. If you need a certain course to graduate but you weren't able to get it, the department reviewing your overload request can decide to let you in or not, depending on your situation. Don't count on getting in a normal class if you don't have a valid excuse though.

- Remember to plan accordingly. Before your time ticket opens, make an excel spreadsheet or something to really take a look to see how the timing of the classes will match up. Often times, there will be a time conflict somewhere in there, forcing you to choose between which class is more of a necessity.

- Set your alarm or write down when your time ticket opens to register for classes. The best you can do is get on the internet right when it opens and register for all that you can as fast as you can. That 1 minute can make all the difference.

These are just some hints on how professors approach the design of their curriculum and how you should respond. Even if your professor is a jerk and hates giving A's, always keep in mind that it IS possible. Nothing can substitute for hard work and hours of studying, although knowing how to go about registering for classes will make things a bit easier.