Revamp shopping period to fix its flaws
by Elly Kalfus
Op-Ed | 9/15/09
Posted online at 2:54 AM EST on 9/15/09
Entering Brandeis just three short weeks ago was a harrowing process. Figuring out all the ins and outs of living on campus was even harder. But the silver lining on the whole situation was the idea of navigating the world of shopping-shopping classes, that is.
While I concede that there are benefits to the Brandeis shopping system, such as giving students the opportunity to meet their professors before committing to a class or allowing us to see which areas of interest we most want to pursue, the cons definitely outweigh the pros.
I'm not advocating that the University eliminate the shopping system altogether; rather, I think that the University should revamp the system to make it run more smoothly in order to have a relatively happier and more peaceful start of the school year.
To start, first-years sign up for classes early on in the summer, practically while we're still in high school. Because the significance of the shopping period isn't impressed on first-years beforehand, a majority of first-years are too intimidated by the process to actively look for alternatives to the classes they have signed up for, and instead, find safety in sticking to their pre-existing schedules.
This means that by the time the first day of class rolls around in August, we are utterly committed to each and every one of the classes we have signed up for and have practically memorized, though we will consult our folded-up schedules countless times in a single day.
Even if first-years wanted to shop classes, there is such a vast number and variety of classes that too easily intrigue students that it can easily overwhelm and intimidate a student of any class year.
And then once students decide which classes to shop, they must then reconfigure their whole schedules around the classes they eventually decide to keep, an undesirable feat considering the complexity of the sage system despite its recent reconfiguration.
Another particularly confusing part of the process is whether to buy one's required materials as soon as the syllabus for the course appears online. If you act quickly, you can look for them online and hopefully get them at a discounted price, but if you decide later to drop the class, you find yourself having to choose between sticking with a course you don't like and dropping it and having to find a friend in the class who will buy your books.
While I concede that there are benefits to the Brandeis shopping system, such as giving students the opportunity to meet their professors before committing to a class or allowing us to see which areas of interest we most want to pursue, the cons definitely outweigh the pros.
I'm not advocating that the University eliminate the shopping system altogether; rather, I think that the University should revamp the system to make it run more smoothly in order to have a relatively happier and more peaceful start of the school year.
To start, first-years sign up for classes early on in the summer, practically while we're still in high school. Because the significance of the shopping period isn't impressed on first-years beforehand, a majority of first-years are too intimidated by the process to actively look for alternatives to the classes they have signed up for, and instead, find safety in sticking to their pre-existing schedules.
This means that by the time the first day of class rolls around in August, we are utterly committed to each and every one of the classes we have signed up for and have practically memorized, though we will consult our folded-up schedules countless times in a single day.
Even if first-years wanted to shop classes, there is such a vast number and variety of classes that too easily intrigue students that it can easily overwhelm and intimidate a student of any class year.
And then once students decide which classes to shop, they must then reconfigure their whole schedules around the classes they eventually decide to keep, an undesirable feat considering the complexity of the sage system despite its recent reconfiguration.
Another particularly confusing part of the process is whether to buy one's required materials as soon as the syllabus for the course appears online. If you act quickly, you can look for them online and hopefully get them at a discounted price, but if you decide later to drop the class, you find yourself having to choose between sticking with a course you don't like and dropping it and having to find a friend in the class who will buy your books.
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