Registration is awesome, and it only gets better as you get older. Instead of taking 8 a.m. classes every day, you’re finally able to take class only two days a week starting at 11 a.m.

This year, I accidentally slept through my registration time and still got into all the classes I wanted within two minutes (once I finally woke up two hours later). That may be a perk of being a rising senior, but it’s also one that will come for everyone in time.

So many people say that registration is the worst time of the year, but they’re absolutely wrong. Midterms and finals weeks are definitely far worse. Registration is simple compared to the weeks you spend in the library doing nothing but stress-eating and guiltily refreshing Facebook for the 200th time.

    As for the process of registration, it’s fine the way it is. I can see that it would be an awesome incentive for registration to be based on GPA, but what about the skills and knowledge I’ve learned outside of the classroom? My experiences at my jobs and as a member of clubs have proven to be just as important as the knowledge I have learned in the classroom. I don’t believe that my GPA alone defines me as a person, or even a student.

    Also, what if I’m an athlete? Trust me, I’m not, but isn’t it obvious why athletes get to register first? They can’t skip practice every day because they got stuck with the only class left, which happens to be the one at the same time as their practice.

    If you’re really afraid that you won’t be able to get into a class, you should take the initiative to talk to the professor in advance. Go to their office hours, bring them cookies and become their best friends. Ultimately, they just want to see you make an effort, cookies or no cookies. They are the ones who can pull strings to get you into a completely full class, so make the effort to talk to them before everyone else does.

    The process of registration really isn’t that bad. Ultimately, just always be thankful that you’re not an incoming freshman at the second and last orientation.

Matthew Schneider

Ah, registration. Depending on your last name, your graduation year, whether or not you are a D1 athlete and what your major is, this time of year can be either one of ease or one of difficulty. If you are lucky enough to have a last name that coincides with the first registration time, or if you are a student-athlete, you are in the clear. You will get to choose classes before everybody else, so you probably won’t end up with a dreaded 8 a.m. class. However, if you are like me and don’t have any of these things going for you, you will end up picking at a horrible registration time and forced to sift through leftover classes, all while feverishly checking RateMyProfessor.com to ensure that you don’t get stuck with a teacher that gives two midterms (it has happened) and doesn’t allow any electronics in class.

           I have gotten the short end of the stick so many times in regards to registration that I am beginning to wonder if Fairfield has it out for me. I have been forced to take an 8 a.m. chemistry class, which, while not exceedingly difficult, was still torturous to attend each morning.Additionally, during orientation, I was forcibly signed up for an upper level math that I had absolutely no interest in taking, and ended up doing very badly in as a result of my lack of math experience. I wish that Fairfield would do a better job of figuring out who benefits each time from the orientation schedule, since the current system doesn’t seem to be working very well.  I also wish that Fairfield would do a better job of helping students sign up for their first classes at orientation, as the bad grade I got in my math class placed a damper on what was otherwise an excellent and enjoyable first semester.

           Some schools decide who gets to register first based on GPA, or on a first-come, first-served basis. Fairfield, on the other hand, runs a randomized lottery system that assigns you a time slot based on your last name. All in all, the system that Fairfield uses turns what should be an enjoyable and exciting experience into one that people just don’t want to put up with. Perhaps Fairfield will re-examine the system that it uses, but it most likely won’t.

While this appears to be fair, D1 athletes are allowed to choose classes before everyone else, regardless of their last names. Although I can understand the necessity of choosing classes that don’t conflict with practices, it still doesn’t seem fair to me that they get to bypass the system and the dread that comes with picking classes.

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