10 ms·
Fun fact: registration for the classes required for the pirate certificate (sailing, archery, pistol/rifle, fencing) generally run out within a minute of openin
by polygamous_bat 3y ago
Fun fact: registration for the classes required for the pirate certificate (sailing, archery, pistol/rifle, fencing) generally run out within a minute of opening.
However, this being at MIT, I was never sure whether this was because of humans or bots.
- abdullahkhalids 3y agoI don't know why universities think the best way to decide enrollment is smashing the register button. My undergrad university had the sense to let everyone pick their first preferences within 24 hours of enrollment starting. Then for over-selected courses, people were enrolled randomly [1]. This was repeated once more, iirc, and then in the third round enrollment was instantaneous. This, thankfully, prevented virtual stampedes and allowed for people to select their courses in a non-panic manner. [1] after required-for-graduation enrollments.
- ocdtrekkie 3y agoI mean, in this case it is probably considered a net win, MIT is known for its culture of "hacks", and having to game your way into the required courses adds to the challenge!
- monocasa 3y agoEh, I wouldn't want the MechEs to be left out.
- brewdad 3y agoThe Industrial Engineers have completely redesigned the registration process. Documentation is running about six weeks behind schedule. Good luck.
- doctorwho42 3y agoEh, just in the last decade MIT has seen a huge shift towards a culture of risk adversion. The administration have actively suppressed and dismantled cultural elements they do not find desireable. See what happened to Bexley house and senior house, and I'm not sure what's happening with east campus these days but some kind of construction is going on. Still a fine university, but the days of 'hacker' culture are definitely dwindling. There are still pockets here and there, but like with old forms of communication (IRC, etc ) it becomes harder and harder to foster that culture when there are less and less spaces for it while simultaneously creating curated spaces that are so much easier to use.
- frob 3y agoFor a few semesters at least, the phys ed requirement was a pool system. You wod choose your top 3 or 6 options. There were lotteries if classes were oversubscribed and those who didn't get their first choice, got lotteries for their second choice, and so on.
- mminer237 3y agoThat also has the advantage of allowing the school to potentially open a new another timeslot for the course if they know there's enough serious interest in it.
- Tade0 3y agoYou can have that without this sort of race. My college just sorted people by GPA and if there were enough of them for an additional group and staff to lead it, an additional timeslot would appear.
- progmetaldev 3y agoMy tiny local community college wouldn't even hold their displayed assembly language course, because "nobody is interested in assembly anymore". This was in 1998. I still wish I could have taken that course, even if it was for super specific chipset.
- xhkkffbf 3y agoOr why not just hire more faculty and start up more sections? The students are paying huge tuition bills. Why can't they get the courses they want? This is why I often tell everyone, not just high school students, to consider other marketplaces for information like uDemy or Coursera or any of the dozens of upstarts. They're sooo much better than old school universities because they're not designed to enforce artificial scarcity. There's no bogus song and dance for the admissions department and after that there's no limit on how many people can take the course. This is what the digital world has to offer and we should celebrate the unlimited access to knowledge.
- abdullahkhalids 3y agoBecause there are limited rooms and times of the day. I have seen the data at the Registrar's office at a couple of universities. Often, room utilization is above 90% with barely any time and space left over for talks and special events. And a university in the middle of a city (where universities should be) often don't have any land to make new buildings. Not to mention, the highest demand courses are always the easiest ones. As someone who has worked as a professor, I refuse to accept that the universities have some administrative imperative to increase the number of sections of easy courses, so students can learn less. Students should take online courses, but that is besides the point.
- ke88y 3y agoIt's not about rooms. One of the required courses is sailing. Only so many little training sail boats can even fit on the Charles.
- brewdad 3y agoMy son’s university simply opts to have the registration system crash randomly multiple times a minute if necessary until courses are somehow filled. Then you can sign up for text alerts over the coming weeks if an opening becomes available. You have approximately 8 seconds to login and grab the space.
- rendaw 3y agoTicket and limited edition goods sales websites here are often first come first serve, with things selling out within a minute. A lottery approach is so easy I cannot begin to imagine why they don't do it. All this does is add stress and negative feelings to the process.
- giantg2 3y agoThey probably have a team or club you could participate in if you are interested beyond the course credits.
- extraduder_ire 3y agoI realized this list didn't include swimming and thought it was missing, until I remembered that MIT requires swimming prowess in order to graduate.
- jefftk 3y agoPirates (and other sailors) often didn't know how to swim.
- trillic 3y agoRule #1: stay on the boat
- msla 3y agoThat seems rather ableist. As a trivial example, what happens to quadriplegics? Do they not get to go to MIT?
- extraduder_ire 3y agoProbably get a medical exemption, like many able-bodied people also do. When I looked into swim-tests initially, there were quotes from other collage's physicians who would sign a waiver for anyone without question. Still technically a "requirement" though.
- supernewton 3y agoThere are obviously commonsense exceptions granted. Also, you can fulfill the swim requirement by taking 1 beginner swim class regardless of whether you actually learn to swim during that class or not.
- msla 3y ago> There are obviously commonsense exceptions granted. Rather a lot of the history of disabled and otherwise 'unusual' people seems to disprove how 'obvious' and 'commonsense' that idea is in practice.