Say YES to Success
For the past week, conversations seemed to have centered around classes and YES, the system that Vanderbilt uses for course registration. As an engineer, most of my classes are chosen for me, so it’s just a matter of picking professors and avoiding the 8 AM classes. However, my roommate is double majoring in Medicine, Health, and Society and Psychology, so she has many less required classes and a long list of classes that she can choose from.
For every year, there are two registration days, and students in each year alternate between getting the coveted first or second registration period. For the spring semester, I had the second registration period unfortunately, so enrolling in classes right at 8:00 became much more important. Many of my classes only had one or two spots left. One of the classes I wanted to take was already full by the time that my registration period started. I found another class, Finance and Accounting for Engineers, at the exact same time that fit perfectly, however, it said that you must have junior standing. I emailed the professor asking if I could still take the class, and before I knew it, he had emailed someone in administration who had enrolled me in the course on YES. This was even before my registration period started!
The mornings of registration are basically the only time it’s acceptable for me to be awake before 8 AM. Last fall there was a class that I needed to get into with one spot left. I figured out a way to increase my chances and I got the seat! Since then, I’ve kept with this rather crazy registration regime with my friends. I normally will go to a library with my computer and have both open and ready to go. I’ll also open a bunch of tabs (this morning I had 8) between both computers, so that I can refresh them all. I keep refreshing until the blue font changes to gold, and then I press “Enroll” and hope for the best.
This morning I got all my classes, except for one, Analysis of Biomedical Data, in which both sections were already full. However, I really needed to take this class this specific semester because I want to study abroad. I emailed the professor and she added more seats to the class! So I am officially enrolled in Biomaterials, Analysis of Biomedical Data, Circuits 2, and Finance and Accounting for Engineers, along with two labs. The class titles sound intimidating, but I’m excited for all the learning to come this spring and I’m glad that registration went smoothly.