The Worst Game in the World: Registration

            After fighting through the frustrations of registration for the Fall Semester, I gave myself some time to reflect on the entire process. Ultimately, what I realize, like with many things over the majority of this course, is that registering for classes is just one big game. I mean think about it. People sit at their computers days before their registration date, making their ideal schedules with no Fridays, and no early mornings, only to learn two days before you register that half of those classes are filling up. So you begin to panic and scurry around for other classes that fill certain requirements and fit in your schedule enough that you don’t need to tweak it enough. And then, when you finally find the right combination of classes the night before registration, odds are, in the morning, one of those classes will be wait-listed. It truly is a game, as students must find classes that fit in their time schedules, fill specific requirements and are in specific subject area and at the same time, compete with 20,000 other students to get in the class.

            While Michigan’s process of class registration is very similar to a game, the difference between signing up for classes in the fall and winter is the fact that there is a whole summer before classes begin. Those who take more credits are in turn rewarded by getting earlier registration dates, just like in a game, the more you do, the better options you have as the game progresses. However, in the summer, it is all up to the player whether or not his or her schedule will change. Four months is a long time away from school and many students will find that they forget about the upcoming semester to focus on other things like summer jobs and internships or other things to occupy time. However, the university begins to open seats in classes which, for those paying attention to Wolverine Access allows students a second chance into classes that might have been filled up when they registered, almost like a respawn in a shooting game. Students will check daily to see if they moved up slots on the waitlist or if new seats opened up. Sometimes the university even opens new sections, which allows for a group of students to get into the class. As long as you are willing to wait out the waitlist, generally, you will be rewarded. However, there are those times where the waitlist just doesn’t work out and alternatives must be put into effect.  Overall, while it is a stretch, registration for classes certainly does resemble many aspects of gaming and in order to win, you must find multiple sets of the best schedule for yourself and just pray that you have enough credits to beat out the other person with the same exact set of classes. 

 

            However, even when it seems as though you have failed, and you waited throughout the whole summer, checking everyday to see whether or not you have moved up on the waitlist and never did, there is still one more option. For those students outgoing and ambitious enough to do it, like in all games, there is one cheat code in the system of registration. Students who show up on the first session of classes, even if he or she is still on the waitlist or not even enrolled often times can talk to the professor after class and will be granted an override slip, and ultimate acceptance into the class. This is truly the final chance a student has to get enrolled as the professor ultimately hold all the power in this game. So for those who are number 78 on the waitlist for a class in Fall of 2012, wait it out for as long as you can bare, and I wish you the best of luck.