It’s pre-registration week and the tensions are high. It’s hard to put our feelings for this week into words, but we tried to capture it in this article. We narrowed down those emotions into seven relatable moments in the pre-registration process. Let us know if you can think of anymore to add!
Eagerness
At this point, you know pre-registration week is coming and you want to see the new courses Amherst has to offer. You look through the course catalog and choose your preferred courses. Will you get to sleep in? Are you going to take a seminar? WIll you have a class with your best friend? It’s a time of exploration and imagination.
Overwhelment
Now, you have to meet with your advisor and show that you have a plan for the rest of your life. It’s like playing a game of 20 questions with short responses, instead of yes and no. Why did you choose Philosophy of Religion over Ethics? Are you sure you want to be pre-med? Five courses, really? I don’t even know what I want for lunch this afternoon, are you serious?!
Worry
You successfully completed your preferred courses list and now you have begun to ask your friends what they are taking. You don’t have a class with anyone. The professor who you never heard of is notorious on campus destroying GPAs. Oh and everyone else’s advisor approved the course that you couldn’t get into. Maybe you made the wrong decision.
Competitiveness
Pre-registration opens at midnight and you must race against your class to get a seat in your preferred course. The numbers of students enrolled tick and you realize your advisor never approved something. Or maybe you didn’t update your family information. You don’t know if you will make it before the cap, but you will fight to get that perfect schedule. You email the professor for good measure.
Pride
You got the courses you wanted and now you want to tell everyone about your master plan for next semester. You can’t wait to compare schedules again, this time with something more final. Your professors are also interested in your course choices and want to gossip about them. You couldn’t feel better.
Exhaustion
No one ask you about your courses. If someone asks, “What are you taking next semester?” you may flip a table. Enough is enough. Darn you Amherst Awkward and the inability to ask unique questions in a conversation.
Focused
Pre-registration week has quite a bit of stress attached to it. Now you can focus on your mid-terms, projects, homework and essays that you put off to pre-register. Now, all you can think about is break. Soon…