New registration system frustrates students

Christine Imperatore / The USD Vista

I thought my day had finally come. There I was, sitting at my computer, about to register for my second-to-last semester of college. One would think that I would be guaranteed the classes that I wanted. Imagine my surprise when I logged in to MySanDiego on Nov. 10 and realized only two of my five preferred classes still had availability.

It appears that the general sentiment of students is that they are less than thrilled with the new registration system. It may be better than the call-in system that was in place up until three years ago, but this version of online registration is starting to seem less like an upgrade and more like a major pain.

“I have 87 units and my registration day was really early, but four of the five classes I wanted were full before my time to register had even come,” junior Roxanne Miranda said.

One common complaint is that there is only one sign up time per day, instead of two, as it was in the past. Rather than allowing some people to register at 6 a.m. and others at noon on a given day, now everyone’s registration opens at 12:15 p.m. on their assigned day. Not only does this cause the MySanDiego system to run excruciatingly slow around lunchtime, but it also means that students who have up to seven units less than someone else are able to register at the same time as that person.

“I was a half credit away from registering on Monday rather than Tuesday, so I missed out on classes that had closed the day before I could register,” junior Alex Afansev said.

I believe that what is annoying students the most is that many departments are keeping waitlists electronically. This means that once a class closes, it stays that way. It is no longer possible to see a slot open up in a class and register on the spot.

Those of us who witnessed the debut of the new system last semester may remember the major glitch that occurred. On the first day of registration, holds were lifted on everyone’s account and anyone who realized this could register, regardless of class status. A group of students happened to be in the library when the incident occurred and the word spread throughout the book stacks.

The school has spent a lot of time and money to initiate this new system. However, the only people who seem to like it are the administrators.

I would like to take this opportunity to say that something needs to change. Whether the new system is reworked or we go back to the previous system, anything would be better than the current operation.

Perhaps the school should have spent more money on a registration system that is effective and less money on the landscaping that wakes me up well before quiet hours are over practically every other day.