Well look at that. It’s everyone’s favorite time of the semester. No, I’m not talking about finals. I’m speaking about class registration.
Before spring break everyone should have received a wonder-ful e-mail from Banner with the time they have to register for class. I can see all of you now as that familiar ring of Microsoft Outlook, telling you that you have mail, echoes through your laptop speakers. You casually open up the program expecting to see another one of the chain e-mails, or the occasional porn e-mail that you swear you have no idea why you get it, and there right in the from line you see “Banner.” A look of pure anticipation comes over your eyes. It is like Christmas Day. Should you scroll down? Should you say a prayer hoping for the best time? After taking a few deep breaths (and rubbing that lucky rabbit’s foot that got you through IED), you steady your shaking hands and scroll down the e-mail. Your eyes grow wider, your heart beats faster, beads of sweat drip down your forehead. Then appears your registration time: the last day (for your class year) at the last time.
Has that ever happened to you? Well, every semester that has happened to yours truly and a few of my friends. Now with the current registration system, you time is determined by the number of credits that you have received. That does make sense and I am not arguing that. With this system seniority is rewarded, and more senior classes are filled first.
But there is one small drawback. Many students at this school came in with transfer credits, whether that be from taking classes at a local college or through AP courses. Some high schools (like my own) did not offer AP courses. Because of that I don’t have the upper hand when it comes to picking classes, and usually I am stuck running from department to department to get papers signed. Now the running itself I don’t mind; it does, after all, help to keep me in shape, but it is quite a hassle.
I work hard here at RPI; that is how I am. Look around this campus and I’m sure you will find quite a few people like that. Why else would I take on a dual major? Along with that, I am able to receive dean’s list honors each semester. But that doesn’t help me out. Wouldn’t one think that you could get a helping hand with registration if you were doing well in school? There is a simple way to do that. This way would fit both sides. The more credits you have, the better chance of getting an earlier registr-ation time and the higher grades you have, the better chance of getting an earlier time.
Instead of basing registration times on the number of credits one has acquired, base it on one’s quality points. Quality points appear on all of our report cards. This is simply the number of credits multiplied by your grade. For example if you got a B in Calculus II your quality points for that class would be 12—4 credits times 3.0 (B).
With a system like this people who work harder for the grades are re-warded, and so are people with more credits. It also provides incen-tive for people. For cer-tain majors you have to take the right classes each semester or you will be stuck here for an extra semester. So, with a system based on quality points, you don’t have to take a massive number of credits each semester just to get a better chance at getting into a certain class. Then maybe next time you see that Banner e-mail, you can jump for joy at your registration time.
