Photo courtesy of Connecticut College
November — a month of much ado here at Conn. Between the beginning of winter sports, the cramming for tests and papers mixed with the anticipation of Thanksgiving, and the onset of darkness by 4:30 p.m., there is no shortage of seasonal pressures. Perhaps one of the most stressful aspects for students is registration for spring classes. From finding endless backups to trying to analyze student demand for specific classes, it is easy to see why. In the wake of such an important and anxiety-inducing time, it is no wonder one question unfailingly enters the minds of almost every Conn student — is there a better way to do this?
In hearing from eight students, several common themes emerged. For one, no student felt that Conn’s system is perfect or even that it is adequate to support the expanding student body and need for specific classes. Max Ludington ‘26 did not get into a single class they wanted or needed for a requirement. For Ludington, these issues, specifically their inability to enroll in a single Psychology class, have been so detrimental that they have decided to transfer to another school next semester. Though not all students have had such drastically negative experiences, many still found the process extremely challenging. Another first-year student who wishes to remain unnamed also had a stressful time registering for her fall classes, and wound up very unhappy with the majority of them. She said, “Half of them are night classes and one of them was literally the last possible choice left,” after not getting any of her first choices. She was only able to enroll in one class that pertained to her intended major, and even this was through a wait list. This struggle at the beginning of the semester has led to a lack of confidence in the system leading up to spring registration, where she fears that she is“going to get stuck with the bottom of the barrel” since she is a freshman.
While many first-years with student advisors found advising to be very beneficial to their confidence in registering, the process itself often left them blindsided. According to Ludington, their advisor informed them that registration would not be difficult and that they would most likely get into all of the classes they desired with only one backup each. Instead, Ludington found themself shut out of everything. Even students who did get into most of their classes, such as Lucy Morrison ‘26, feel that certain departments undoubtedly need to expand in size and classes that are offered each semester. It is not a stretch to say that almost everyone at Conn knows someone who has struggled to get any classes they need.
Though it is understandable that first-years may have a more difficult time getting into classes than an upperclassman, there is no shortage of upperclassmen who experience challenges as well. Valentina Baehrle ‘24 is concerned about overlapping class times–and though she feels that Conn’s system of course registration has worked for her and her International Relations major–she has seen many others in more popular majors face serious frustrations, often to the point where they cannot get into the classes they need.
Directly impacted by this struggle is Rosan ‘25, who intends to major in Government. She has found herself frustrated by the lack of courses offered this spring in the Government department, as well as by how quickly everything in her Psychology minor fills up. Despite this, she does not necessarily take issue with the Conn’s system itself. Instead, it is individual departments that frustrate her, as she does not feel they have enough course offerings or faculty to accommodate the bigger classes that Conn has been offering in recent years.
While it is understandable that course registration at any college will be a stressful process to some degree due to the nature of limited courses and limited faculty, students unable to get into required classes should not be such a widespread problem. The end goal of every student at Conn is to get a degree, and students forced to take completely random classes in order to meet the minimum required credits is not helping anyone achieve this. For a college so rapidly expanding in student size and popularity, the class offerings and enrollment simply do not live up to what they should. If Conn is to expand and develop into the school it can be, the College needs to ensure that courses offerings are adequate, new sections are added when necessary, and student input is valued.
