Students registering for classes. (Courtesy of the University of Colorado Boulder)
This piece is from the CU Independent’s opinion section. Any opinions or views do not represent the CU Independent.
I’m walking into the back half of my junior year, and pressure to take classes that are applicable to my career is on the rise; more than anything, my priority is graduating on time. Due to the fact that this lovely school has us registering for classes about three to six months in advance of the term we will be studying, I thought I would be doing myself a favor by lining up my cart way ahead so I could just press the button on my registration time.
My method worked for the most part: three of four, one waitlist. I can’t take this one class. There’s gotta be another one, right? “Topics in Popular Culture.” Sure, it sounds pleasant enough, I guess.
After a thrilling (read: painfully dull) break in the never-ending excitement of suburbia with my parents, I finally returned to reality, ready to pick up the pieces and rejoin the world of Boulder and school. After staring blankly at Canvas and buying new pens, Outlook dinged, “YOUR BOOKS ARE READY FOR PICKUP AT THE BOOKSTORE!” Oh, goodie!
I slinked in there and got my little ticket and found my book box; I was about knocked on my rear end by the weight of this thing. What on earth did I buy? I brought the cement block of books over to the bench and ripped it open. About 20 comic books are laughing at me from their cardboard bed.
So yeah, I was a little frustrated by the fact that this alleged “topics” class ended up being the Marvel Universe. This was no user error (not this time); that was false advertising, and now I had the burden to send 20 books back to Gotham City if I want to drop this class, so I didn’t bother.
Despite the Marvel mishap, I will say the software used for registration is rather straightforward and user-friendly. The University of Colorado Boulder’s degree audit makes the process of choosing classes well guided, as there’s even a list of classes you can take with descriptions. There are also so many online resources like Rate My Professors to help make decisions. I mean, thank God, right? Because you know you aren’t getting a meeting with an advisor within a month of registration.
Registering for classes at CU Boulder is like driving on Broadway at 4-6 pm: you have to sit there for a stupid amount of time to get where you need to go, but let’s be real, you’re probably going to be too late.
That being said, my best advice is to meet with an advisor at a calm time in the semester and get a list of credits you need to fulfill the following semester AND ask for classes that would meet that credit. It’s pretty important to make sure the classes that you take actually fall under the credit you need.
To avoid issues, sending your cart to your advisor can also be helpful. I have known so many students at CU Boulder that have taken classes that they didn’t even need for their degree, under the impression that they did, so double-check. Take that running list and plan the schedule you want far ahead. Then, just like for football tickets, line up the queue a half an hour early to give you the best chance of getting the classes you want.
Get in the rat race or get waitlisted, or even worse, dropped into the Marvel universe—your choice.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Sydney Schrader at sydney.schrader@colorado.edu
