Overwhelming feelings of discouragement about DePauw’s scheduling system and process are setting in. I am beginning to comprehend that as freshman, the notion of having an abundance of time to dabble in a variety of subjects is merely a concept, and a misleading one at that.
Upon receiving the email from June Wildman to look at classes for the fall 2017 semester, I was excited to see what classes there were to offer. DePauw did not disappoint; the classes looked intriguing, thought-provoking, and challenging. I quickly starting listing the classes that I need to take and others that I wanted.
However, after two hours of attempting to construct a schedule for myself, I was frustrated. As a student in two honors programs with a major in English writing and minor in Spanish, scheduling is stressful and often discouraging. Typically, half of my schedule is filled by honors classes, leaving roughly only two spots for classes that fulfill my major, minor, distribution area requirements, and competencies.
Ultimately, in order to graduate, the classes I write down on my scheduling sheet have to be completed in the semester I put them down for; without receiving these exact classes, my ability to complete all of DePauw’s requirements dwindle.
What is challenging is that simply submitting the classes I need does not guarantee my chances of getting into those classes. Like many DePauw students do, I email professors asking in advance to receive a SPAC code or be put on the waiting list in the hopes of getting a spot.
However, professors are not always eager to give you either. Scheduling feels like a game of chance: you either get the class and all is well, or you are stuck begging to be placed in a one. Yet begging isn’t even beneficial. Friends have told me how they’ve waited two, three years to get into classes, typically those that fill quickly like language courses, and still cannot get in to complete their requirements.
While my situation and challenges with honors programs may not apply to every student at DePauw, it does not mean that others possibly striving to only achieve a major and minor do not struggle as well. Students who are undeclared have difficulty scheduling as well. Nobody is guaranteed any course.
Many of my fellow students and friends have experienced similar discontent with the scheduling system. Some have had to drop majors or minors all together because of the inability to achieve the required courses within their major and minor as a result of needing required competencies. Other’s schedules could work, but distribution requirements that they still have to complete are scheduled at the same time as their other courses.
Besides having to drop majors or minors, a vast amount of honors and fellowship students have had to drop their program in order to complete their requirements. While some drop for reasons other than merely accomplishing credits, for those who drop because of schedule complications, perhaps more honors students would graduate with the program or fellowship if there was more overlap in terms of distribution requirements and credits.
Do not misunderstand me though: the competencies and distribution requirements DePauw offers is unlike any other college. DePauw wants students to become well-rounded individuals, whether a course is one that supports student’s strengths or reveals their weaknesses.
DePauw has attempted to recover this inability to achieve all credits by petitioning to have, let’s say, a course that counts for a Social Science credit and also count for an Arts and Humanities credit. Yet, there are so many hoops, ladders, and ropes a student has to climb and jump through in order to have both areas considered, let alone counted.
Perhaps I am being too dramatic, but when I hear upperclassmen sharing their secret methods and tricks to getting into all the classes I need, it seems ridiculous to me that DePauw hasn’t found a way to make the process easier for students or at least provide alternatives for achieving required credits. My friends have spent hours writing out their entire four year scheduling plan, trying to make everything work.
Students want to use the scholarship money they received coming into DePauw to the fullest, whether that be having the opportunity to study abroad or taking interesting classes outside of their major, as 19 course credits outside the major subject and 16 outside the major area must also be completed.
What is the cherry on top is all the AP, honors, and rigorous classes I took in high school ultimately counted for nothing. While I understand that DePauw does not want students to skip over introductory classes that could be beneficial toward their majors or minors, not counting those AP courses only makes it more difficult to potentially complete requirements.
I understand that this frustration by no means applies to every DePauw student. For some, scheduling is a breeze and obtaining selected courses has never been a concern. However, to others who stress about their schedule and DePauw’s countless requirements, the process is painful and demotivating.