BY: Erica Condon
Asst. Perspectives Editor
It is the morning of your class registration time. As you anxiously wait to click submit on Web Advisor, your computer freezes. After about 5 minutes of refreshing the portal, you see that you didn’t get into half of the classes that you wanted.
For junior Brooke Dado, a health science major, registering for classes is a tedious and stressful process.
“In the past, I have hit submit on Web Advisor for my selected classes and then my computer freezes for about 5 minutes,” said Dado. “During that time a million things are running through my mind, hoping that I get into the classes I wanted.”
Sacred Heart University uses Web Advisor, a portal where students are able to search and register for classes offered. Students are assigned specific days and times to register based on their class year, alphabetical order of their last name, and participation in athletics or the honors program.
For sophomore Bianca Valenti, a criminal justice major, finding classes on Web Advisor is not stressful. However, she believes there are other issues in the registration process.
“I think the process of finding classes online is easy to understand, although I think they should add more classes,” said Valenti. “I don’t have trouble making a schedule but I have trouble actually getting the schedule I made.”
Additionally, many students spend hours finding classes to fit their new schedules for the following semester.
“I think the most annoying part about registering for classes is when you take such a long time to make a perfect schedule that works for you and then when you go to register half of your classes are already taken and you have to make a new one,” said Dado.
Freshman Elena Bartoli, a nursing major, who is registering for classes for the first time finds the process quite confusing.
“I am finding Web Advisor a little confusing at times, especially because I am first learning how to use it,” said Bartoli.
Are there any changes that could help make things run more smoothly for students?
“I think the process would go more smoothly if someone sat down with all of the freshman and went over how to register and actually helped us make a schedule,” said Bartoli. “Instead of them just showing us the steps and then making us do it on our own.”
Even after going through the class registration process for multiple semesters, many upperclassmen still find that picking classes is hectic.
“Every year, I feel as though it gets more stressful because sometimes it can be difficult fitting in the classes that you need for graduation,” said senior Kathy Mitchell, an accounting and finance major. “Also, there is no guarantee that there will be room in the classes that you need.”
Junior Mike Covino, an accounting and finance major, thinks that Wed Advisor is an extremely confusing system that has the potential to be much easier to use.
“Personally, I find registration to be one of the most stressful times of the year. For me it has gotten harder to register as I have gotten older because every semester they switch who gets to register first in your grade based on your last name,” said Covino. “So now, I am picking during the last time slot instead of the first this semester.”
However, some students realize that registration is generally unpredictable and inescapable and not worth stressing over.
“I tend to not even look at Web Advisor until the day before my time. The first schedule you make will never be the one you end up using,” said junior Paxton McLane, a media studies major. “I avoid the stress by not setting expectations for myself and my schedule.”
