College Senior Registration Woes

[tplyons]

Just venting here:

For those who don't know, I'm a college senior majoring in business management with a concentration in marketing and a minor in accounting. I fell behind a few semesters ago and have been struggling to catch up. We're allowed to take 4.5 units (1 unit = 4 credit hours) per semester, unless one has a 3.5 GPA. Only then may a student take a 5th course unit for free. With a 3.0 GPA, one must pay for the additional unit, and below the 3.0, one must get permission from the dean.

For the last three semesters, I've begged and pleaded for the dean to give me the fifth unit. She said no because my GPA was lower than required, and she recommended I CLEP for a couple course units. I insisted that I'm at college to learn, and wish to do that, instead of getting credits for something I already know. She still denied everything.

Needless to say, after three semesters of begging, I went again. I need the fifth unit this coming spring semester in order to graduate with the required 32.0 units. She told me that if I take a half unit course, I can graduate with 31.75 units. I told her I would rather pay for the additional course and have the option to take a course that pertained to my future career as opposed to an art class learning to make pottery. She reluctantly agreed.

So, one big hurdle out of my way, I'll get enough units. However, I still have two graduation requirements out of the way, a history (we're a liberal arts school) and a course on the impact of art or science on society. I sign up for these, and my last requirement for my major and the last requirement for my minor meet at the same time and no additional times are offered.

I talk to the department head who decides that as a major, I HAVE to take the senior seminar for management techniques, and that he will waive the last course of my accounting minor (Intermediate Accounting II) for another accounting course, so I'm taking Cost Accounting instead. Second problem averted.

So I turn in my paperwork at the registrar, they okay it, and I'm off on my merry way, ecstatic that I meet all my graduation requirements, and will graduate on time in May. Right? Wrong.

I get a phone call from the registrar saying my Artists as Activists course which fulfills my social impact course is full. I look at the other suitable courses for the requirement, and find that the only other three options meet during either my management seminar, my last accounting course requirement, or meet during the only history course that meets at a time other than the other two classes.

So I HAVE to take this class that is full, and cannot seem to track down the instructor in order to get permission to take the course even though it is currently earmarked as full.

So this is the third time I've had difficulty graduating in the course of one day. All the deans, department heads, and my faculty adviser are ecstatic that I'm being proactive to get everything taken care of, but I've lost several hours of sleep, vital study time, just to get two big things out of the way, only to be hit with a third problem.

It's a waiting game now, and it's driving me nuts.

[/rant]

[Selta]

Aw dude, don't you just hate that? Reminds me of the community college I was attending at one point.
Every two years they review their programs and revise them as needed. This is cool, cos you know that they're up to date yadda yadda.
Well, be a very part time student (was enrolled in online school, working a "real" full time day job, and gigging weekends), I kept getting screwed everytime the program would change. An additional course here or there made me delay my degree time. Good thing this was only for self enrichment and not much else! It still made me mad.

Hopefully they can get ahold of that professor and get permission to let you in. Sometimes if you jump over his/her head they'll force you in, but it sounds like you tried that.
If anything else fails, perhaps you could look at an independant study? I've done many of those over the years.

[tycobb73]

I remeber when I was all like "I want to take a class to learn so it will help me in my future jobs, not just any class." Then I got out in the real world and no one cared. I have masters in business and accounting.

Take whatever you need to and graduate. No one cares what classes you've taken as long as you have a degree in the field and sometimes even just any old degree will do.

[tplyons]

Originally Posted by tycobb73

I remeber when I was all like "I want to take a class to learn so it will help me in my future jobs, not just any class." Then I got out in the real world and no one cared. I have masters in business and accounting.

Take whatever you need to and graduate. No one cares what classes you've taken as long as you have a degree in the field and sometimes even just any old degree will do.

For me, the last class is market research, that's the one I'm taking that I don't NEED to, but going into marketing, I feel it will give me substantial benefit to learn ahead of time.

Besides, I'd rather take that than ceramics, the only half-credit course available. My parents sure as hell don't need any more imperfect vases.

[Mark Latimour]

Try to convince them to give you credit points for your organisation and stress management skills used in negotiating academic beauracracy.

[tplyons]

Originally Posted by Mark Latimour

Try to convince them to give you credit points for your organisation and stress management skills used in negotiating academic beauracracy.

I'm sure they'd give me credit just for that load of BS. They could call it an independent study in marketing.