Should we game pre-registration?

When I woke up at 7:57 a.m. last week for pre-registration, I did so with an inkling of guilt. I opened up the fancy new “Courses at Brown” website, clicked the “go to registration” button, and registered my cart. Of the five capped classes I had chosen, I only plan on taking one or two.

My reasoning is not unique. If you can switch all your classes around in September during Brown’s shopping period, then why bother registering for uncapped classes at all? Wouldn’t it be better to claim a couple more spots in a capped classes that you might take?

Factor one narcissistic weasel rational actor like me and no one will be the wiser, but when a huge portion of Brown students inevitably figure out how to game the system, we get a world where some classes end up looking like this.

But before taking out the pitchforks, we should take a step back and think about why pre-registration exists.

At most universities, registration happens many months before classes begin. This gives the registrar a chance to figure out how many sections of a class they will need to offer, and which classes to cut if no one signs up for them. Brown also uses pre-registration period for this purpose but with a catch, there is no obligation to actually take the classes you pre-register for.

It isn’t until the first two weeks of class that many Brown students decide their schedules. It’s designed to be that way. Shopping period is part of the University’s broader goal to have students “make the most of the freedom you have, and to chart the broadest possible intellectual journey.” However, this journey often descends into a week and half of attending as many courses as possible and then awkwardly trying to figure out how to leave.

This bi-annual ritual does more than damage the self-esteem of many professors. A large disparity between classes students register for and classes students take can screw up how the registrar estimates the number of students in each course, which can result in crowded classrooms and a shortage of teaching assistants. Lucky for us, for classes that a large and stable number attends every year—think the wildly-popular PHP0310 (Health Care in the United States) or the widely-required CHEM0330 (intro to Chemistry)—the registrar has a pretty good idea of how many students will take the class based on past years.

However, for mid-sized uncapped classes, this can be much harder to judge. It’s possible that a new uncapped class with few registered students would be cut entirely, not out of lack of interest, but because of students using their limited number of pre-registration credits to make their stake in a capped class.

Pre-registration also disadvantages people who don’t know the system. Some students give up trying to get into a class when they see a long wait list, even though they would likely get a spot because people drop.

Despite these shortcomings, there isn’t really a clear solution. Brown could penalize shifty students by adding a small course change fee during shopping period, but this would reward students coming from wealthier families. Brown could cap every class, but this would prohibit students that need requirements for their major.

Ultimately, preregistration is just a part of Brown, and if everybody’s gaming it, at least we are on a level playing field.

Images via, and via Jackson Cantrell '18.