On Jumping Through Hoops
By Ethan Zack, Music Editor
Can someone please tell me why underclassmen have to make an appointment with their advisor before they can register for the next semester’s classes? It’s a pointless meeting based entirely on what-ifs. You waste nearly an hour discussing and green-lighting courses that will get completely filled up by upperclassmen before your own registration date ever comes, leaving you to cobble together a collection of less-than-ideal backups that never go through any sort of advisor vetting process anyway. On top of that, the add/drop period at the start of each semester promises even more course changes so it’s unlikely your final schedule will bear any resemblance to your original plan. Don’t force me to have a meeting about how theoretically great it would be to get into the classes I want. Let me struggle for a spot in my core classes in peace.
On Changing Things Up
By Mina Mohammadi, Deputy News Editor
When I logged in to Albert last week to find that my registration date was on Nov. 14th at 9 a.m., I was ecstatic. I thought this meant I would beat the other first-years and finally get to enroll in the classes I wanted to. My expectation — which I don’t believe was too much to ask for — was that my registration date would not change; that I could continue to be excited about spring registration and finally take the first step towards my intended Data Science major. But Albert never fails to surprise me. Just this morning as I logged in to Albert, I found that my registration date had changed: now, I’m registering for my courses on Nov. 15th at noon. Well, f-ck. Literally only one Data Science lecture is being offered next semester (ironically called Data Science for Everyone), and you better believe that my late registration date is NOT conducive to my chances of enrolling in this class. When I told my advisor, he suggested that if I truly “insisted” on taking a Data Science course next semester, I could take it at Tandon instead. I told him that I plan on studying abroad sophomore year.
On Getting Wait-Listed
By Melanie Pineda, Editor-at-Large
I have wanted to take one specific journalism elective course throughout my almost four years at NYU. Every semester, the class has invariably accumulated a long wait list by the time my registration time rolls around. Since this is my final year and seniors get registration priority, I figured it would be impossible to be wait-listed from this class for the SEVENTH TIME. But oh boy, was I wrong. Not only was there already a wait list — despite it being the first day of registration — but Albert also crashed on my laptop and made me log in 10 times before I could sign up for any classes at all. I’m definitely not going to miss NYU’s online servers screwing me over after I graduate.
On Getting Wait-Listed (Again)
By Mandie Montes, Deputy Copy Chief
I don’t really know how course registration works at NYU, since I transferred here this semester as a junior. But I do know that I was just wait-listed from a class I wanted to take — a class that would have counted as credit toward both my journalism and Social and Cultural Analysis majors. Which means if I don’t get the class, I have to spend more time here at NYU and subsequently accumulate more debt. I may not know a lot about Albert, but I know that higher education is truly a scam.
On “Return to Browse By Subject”
By Lauren Gruber, Deputy Culture Editor
Tuesday was a monumental day for me. I realized that while my browser’s back button does not work on the Albert public course search, there is a hidden “return to browse by subject” button on the top right hand corner when you click on an individual subject. But I have one question: why am I only learning about this now? For the past year and a half, I have had to reload the entire course search website to look at another subject, making searching for courses infinitely more annoying than it already is. For those of you also plagued by this idiotic website design flaw, your suffering is now slightly alleviated. Slightly.
On the Core Curriculum
By Alexandria Johnson, Deputy News Editor
Each semester, I’m never able to enroll in the core classes that I need. By the time I even reach Albert, every class in my shopping cart has that dreaded blue square and I wonder why. Even worse: when I go to the Course Search page, some classes still don’t have the name of the professor. It just says “Staff.” Who is Staff? Will Staff be a good professor? Professors determine whether a class is enjoyable, and if I can’t even check their name on Rate my Professors, I feel like I’m wasting my time. Lastly, when — by a stroke of luck — you do get a core class, why are the recitations always on Friday? Fridays should be time that I don’t have classes so I can chill with my friends, and now I have to spend that time with my TA instead. Hey, Core Curriculum: no one wants a Friday recitation, so stop scheduling them!
On Registering for Classes Abroad
By Lisa Cochran, Deputy News Editor
If NYU is going to continue glorifying its international presence, the least it can do is convert its slotted registration periods to align with time zones abroad. The amount of mental gymnastics that it takes to determine when to click “enroll” in Italy when my registration period says 11:20 a.m. ET is ridiculous! To go even further, it seems like there’s a blatant disregard for the time it translates to, with some students having to register at 2 a.m.. As a rule, I prefer a sleep not haunted by visions of yellow triangles, and having to wake up at 2 a.m. just to be told that the writing professor I was ready to write into my will can’t take any more students! Appalling. Being abroad is supposed to be fun and chill and this minor inconvenience puts an espresso stain on the whole process.
Opinions expressed on the editorial pages are not necessarily those of WSN, and our publication of opinions is not an endorsement of them.
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