How should I handle my university dropping me from a crucial course?

[QuarkCharmer]

I am always on top of my schedule. I use the GI bill to pay for school, and it is based on time, so it is crucial that I finish my undergraduate degree in a small amount of time. This requires proper course planning as you can imagine.

As soon as my registration opens, I pick my classes. I do this so I can get the classes I need, and ensure that I am not stuck with one of the miserable professors of which my university keeps on staff.

Just today I got an email saying that I will be dropped from a course that I need because of a change in the professors schedule. There are no other courses available and my school does NOT allow sit-ins until the withdraw deadline for courses that have a corequisite lab component. I'm basically not going to be able to take the course, and they dropped me from it well after every other one filled up.

Is it worth complaining to the science department? How should I handle this? It's going to set me behind by a whole semester at best, and that's hoping the class is even offered in the fall. What do I do?

 

[elterrible]

Talk to them to see if they can squeeze you into one of the other classes that are full, explain your situation and that you can loose your GI bill if you don't finish your degree in time.

Our academic adviser also taught a few of the basic classes which were prereqs for everything else in the major and understood how badly people needed to get in, otherwise it could set them back an entire year. He would override the computer and put in a few extra people in his classes, sometimes we had to grab extra chairs from other rooms.

 

[Stengah]

At my university, if a class fills up you can get an override from the professor teaching it as long as they approve and there are enough physical seats in the class for you. So I would go to a professor teaching another section of the class and do this if you can.

 

[QuarkCharmer]

Yeah, normally this would not be an issue, I could get an override for it. However, this course is a lab and lecture in one. You can't do the course without the lab, or sign up for the lab at another time. It's a class size of 20 simply because the majority of the course revolves around the lab which is limited to 20 by some regulation. :(

 

[Stengah]

Well then you should ask your department/professors/adviser what to do.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Just today I got an email saying that I will be dropped from a course that I need because of a change in the professors schedule. There are no other courses available and my school does NOT allow sit-ins until the withdraw deadline for courses that have a corequisite lab component. I'm basically not going to be able to take the course, and they dropped me from it well after every other one filled up.

Is it worth complaining to the science department? How should I handle this? It's going to set me behind by a whole semester at best, and that's hoping the class is even offered in the fall. What do I do?

At my institution, these situations are handled by the Dean's office. I would start there- and *definitely* speak with the financial aid/student affairs folks as well.

 

[mathwonk]

I never heard of a case like this not being resolved. But you have to ask the right people, not just cry at the winds.

 

[jtbell]

lab which is limited to 20 by some regulation.

Or the amount of lab equipment available.

 

[turbo]

Or the amount of lab equipment available.

Or the number of physical lab-stations available. That would be a tough one to overcome. 20 lab-sinks = 20 students unless the school allows doubling-up, which might be prejudicial to the single students who have to do all their own lab-work AND take all their lab-notes and write them up.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I never heard of a case like this not being resolved. But you have to ask the right people, not just cry at the winds.

I agree. I think you also need to figure out what you want the remedy to be.