We all know Columbia’s system is a mess. We all know COVID-19 has thrown some major wrenches into everyday life. So why are we still registering for classes in April?

I write to you today not to admonish you for your outdated-looking directory of classes, nor for the fact that you still gave me a late registration for the fourth year in a row (I’m going to be a senior, guess it doesn’t really matter). Today, I’m here to talk to you about the fact you still made us register in April for classes when there’s a pandemic going on.

With all the decisions that have been made regarding housing, the move to online classes, and the grading system, I don’t need to tell you twice that things are going less than smoothly. Your warm, if overly wordy, emails with updates are appreciated in these trying times.

Yet, for some reason, students were still made to register for classes the past week.

I already have my reservations with being told to register in April, especially when some classes still don’t have locations listed (if I have to make a 10-minute sprint from Kent to the Jewish Seminary again, I’d like to mentally prepare myself). But this pandemic has made registration even worse than it normally is. Just listen to these horror stories:

The math department had the times for their linear algebra courses posted well over a week ago. [I] made my whole schedule more or less around that class, checked my schedule frequently to make sure that everything was in order. [I] log onto ssol on [T]uesday. [I] find out that ALL of the linear algebra course times have been changed. [I] have to reconfigure my entire schedule, find a new science core, etc. etc. etc. [H]owever once [I] register [I] do so in relative peace for a linear algebra class on [Monday/Wednesday] that was originally a [Tuesday/Thursday]. [M]y friend emails the linear prof to confirm that the ssol time is indeed the right time, just to double check. [W]e believe all is fine. [H]e responds and says no, the department has told me my class is a tues/thurs. ssol still says [Monday/Wednesday]. [I] literally found out this latest info while [I] was writing this email. [I]f it truly is still tues/thurs [I] will have to reconfigure my schedule once again.

The class [I] was most excited to take was listed as “cancelled.” Turns out it changed ID number and time, so it took a hot minute to find on Vergil. The time was also listed incorrectly on the course list, so I still don’t know if it’s at 2:40 or 4:10. Either way, I had to leave space for both times, and this is when I realized every history class is at the same time!

Like [the person above], I hade entire classes (that I had lovingly planned into my schedule and specifically made room for!) straight up disappear.

I also had classes disappear! I am now only registered for three classes for some ungodly fucking reason.

Many of my classes did not have time slots when I signed up, so I have a backlog of other classes in my schedule just in case I need to do some major reorganizing. This is super stressful, as I need to keep checking SSOL for updates.

Now, you could argue that this is not completely pandemic-related. Maybe the classes are just switched around because of a lack of communication between the departments etc. etc. etc. (not that that excuses you from the stress that these people experienced). Even so, that doesn’t explain why we were told to register for classes exactly three days before PrezBo sent out his email confirming that classes would indeed be occurring next year. I don’t claim to know how the university keeps its professors in the loop, but I do know that if the students weren’t aware whether or not classes would even be happening, it’s not entirely unreasonable to assume that some of the faculty didn’t know either.  That just might help to explain why some classes were suddenly changed or why some time slots have yet to be assigned.

We already know registration is not the smoothest of procedures, but to make us register for classes on top of the general confusion that is COVID-19 is inexcusable. If universal Pass/Fail was meant to help take the pressure off this semester, then registration should have been postponed until at least the summer, when the university had a better idea of its plans for the academic year.

Could I beat them in a fight? Probably not with my fists (nor am I the fighting type), which is why I chose the written word.

Self-defense tip: Take a breath, remember it’ll all work out somehow and that you’ve gone too far to be done in by one scheduling mishap.

Header via Wallpaper Flare