Registration for the spring 2020 semester begins in the second week of winter intersession, but as students try to adjust to their fast-paced classes, it can be difficult for them to organize a schedule and plan out classes in the midst of it.
Spring registration begins on Jan. 15, the second Wednesday of the winter intersession. Intersessions last six weeks, and because of the shortened class period, the classes generally go at a much faster pace than they would in a 16-week semester.
Emilie Quintero, 28, is an English major at Mt. SAC who’s gearing to graduate in spring. Quintero was not aware that registration was beginning this week, but she said that students should have more time to get their feet wet in winter session first.
“People are just barely settling into classes that take six weeks,” she said.
Quintero is also a tutor as part of the Mt. SAC Writing Center’s tutor in the classroom program, so she works with a specific class. According to her, she expects that some of the students she tutors will miss their registration appointments because of how quickly their English class is moving.
“I think a lot of them are going to miss the opportunity because they’re already working on finishing their first essay, starting their second essay by now,” Quintero said.
When it comes to classes, not all students simply just click and register the classes they need. Some may need time to organize their schedule based on their work hours or research which professor they want. Tanusha Nagpal, a 22-year-old biology major, is one of these students.
Nagpal feels that she already has a lot on her plate. She scours through the spring semester catalog and tries to match her various STEM courses, like calculus and organic chemistry, with other classmates, which takes a lot of communication. She’s feeling stressed because her registration date is a day later than her classmates’, and she’s afraid she won’t be able to get the requisites she needs to graduate. She also has to work on a research study for the biology class she is currently taking, for which she needs to find 25 participants whose data she later has to analyze. On top of all of this, Nagpal is working on her college applications as well.
Nagpal organized her list of classes, schedule and professors months ahead of the registration date, so she doesn’t feel overwhelmed. However, she agrees that registration begins a bit early.
“I think it is slightly early because we still have a lot of time,” she said. “Winter just started.”
Since she wants to take the same courses as her classmates, though, and there’s a limited amount of classes for the courses she needs, there’s still a bit of pressure there.
“There’s so much stuff that we have to do,” Nagpal said. At some point, she simply gives up, says “I’m not doing this today,” and just puts the catalog away. Nagpal isn’t alone.
As Quintero put it, “You should give people more time to adjust because it’s too much to think about all at once.”
