4 ms·

I remember I made this same thing when I was in undergrad b/c my uni didn't have waitlists. So people could waitlist on my app. Their priority in the waitlist i

by eggie5 9y ago

I remember I made this same thing when I was in undergrad b/c my uni didn't have waitlists. So people could waitlist on my app. Their priority in the waitlist is determined by a market. I remember getting SMS's in the middle of the night alerting me that a seat opened up!

specialist 9y ago
"Their priority in the waitlist is determined by a market." I'm very surprised registration systems aren't (generally) some kind of phased auction. There's got be some research, experiments somewhere exploring different strategies. I worked on student facing software in higher ed. Admins were obsessed with fairness. Our registration systems had all sorts of arcane rules. Which were hard to explain, validate, troubleshoot. And probably neither fair or effective. Some kind of auction, where blocks of seats were made available to different populations, progressively over time, would greatly simplify the implementation and understanding. For (a greatly simplified) example, GRADUATION REQUIREMENT ABC has 200 seats. 50 seats are released every hour. First hour, seniors have first shot. Second hour, opens up for juniors and program enrollees. Third hour, sophomores. Fourth hour, freshmen. Of course, there are other factors, like multiple sections (same class offered at different times). -- We also talked about predicting demand (capacity planning). A novel solution there might moot the entire registration stampede. Perhaps a "buying club" type solution, where students state which classes they'll "buy" and roughly when. Then registrars form up sections to satisify the largest number of students. This could reduce the twin connundrums of waitlists and over capacity. Anywho. It's an interesting problem, ripe for innovative optimization, matchmaking, auction/market solutions.
- asr 9y ago
  I'm very surprised prereigstration systems exist at all for college level lecture courses. Personally, I prefer the system where anyone can sign up for (almost) any class and then the university hires/reassigns teaching assistants as needed: http://www.thecrimson.com/admissions/article/2013/9/10/course-selection-shopping-week/ http://www.thecrimson.com/admissions/article/2013/9/10/cours...

by eggie5 9y ago

specialist 9y ago

"Their priority in the waitlist is determined by a market." I'm very surprised registration systems aren't (generally) some kind of phased auction. There's got be some research, experiments somewhere exploring different strategies. I worked on student facing software in higher ed. Admins were obsessed with fairness. Our registration systems had all sorts of arcane rules. Which were hard to explain, validate, troubleshoot. And probably neither fair or effective. Some kind of auction, where blocks of seats were made available to different populations, progressively over time, would greatly simplify the implementation and understanding. For (a greatly simplified) example, GRADUATION REQUIREMENT ABC has 200 seats. 50 seats are released every hour. First hour, seniors have first shot. Second hour, opens up for juniors and program enrollees. Third hour, sophomores. Fourth hour, freshmen. Of course, there are other factors, like multiple sections (same class offered at different times). -- We also talked about predicting demand (capacity planning). A novel solution there might moot the entire registration stampede. Perhaps a "buying club" type solution, where students state which classes they'll "buy" and roughly when. Then registrars form up sections to satisify the largest number of students. This could reduce the twin connundrums of waitlists and over capacity. Anywho. It's an interesting problem, ripe for innovative optimization, matchmaking, auction/market solutions.

asr 9y ago
I'm very surprised prereigstration systems exist at all for college level lecture courses. Personally, I prefer the system where anyone can sign up for (almost) any class and then the university hires/reassigns teaching assistants as needed: http://www.thecrimson.com/admissions/article/2013/9/10/course-selection-shopping-week/ http://www.thecrimson.com/admissions/article/2013/9/10/cours...