Uppers Select Senior Electives in Lottery
Each year, uppers sign up for popular senior electives in English, advanced health and senior studies. However, there are often more students who want to take the course than there are available spots. In this case, enrollment is determined by an upper lottery, in which students submit their top three choices.
Academic scheduler Kenney Chan noted that this year, the most popular English electives were ENG450 and ENG479, or Novels into Film and Utopias and Dystopias in Literature. There were 29 choices for ENG450 and 28 for ENG 479, but only 26 available spots in each. He also noted that for non-English electives, the most popular courses were fall and spring psychology, which 14 students listed as their first choice and was capped at 13, Sports Science, which 25 students listed as their first choice and was capped at 24, and Science, Technology and Profit, which 21 students listed as their first choice and was capped at thirteen.
Chan explained how there are two separate senior lotteries, one for senior English electives and the other for non-English electives. “The lottery was designed so each rising senior has an equal chance of selecting one English and one non-English elective,” he said.
After students select their courses, they are then assigned a random number.
He said, “Courses are filled based on the student’s number where the first student’s choices are filled based on the three choices. If there is room in the first choice, the student is enrolled in the course. If it is full, then the second and third choices are selected, depending on which course is open. If all three choices are full, the student is not assigned a course.”
If this is the case, a scheduler will email the student and inform them they have been waitlisted for all three courses. The student then has the chance to register for other courses since they were not awarded their course. Chan said, “If students would like to register for more than one senior lottery course, they need to do so during the open enrollment starting April 22.”
The courses, available for seniors only, qualify for the lottery, but departmental chairs decide which courses are included in the lottery and what their course cap is. Popularity of courses vary from year to year, making it hard to predict when a course will be over-enrolled and hence necessitating the upper lottery.
Upper Annie Choi wished for higher satisfaction among those participating in the lottery.
“I think it is unfair that there's a chance that not all of us will get what we want, but I also know that it takes a lot of work for the school to bring in more teachers for specific courses.”
Some students questioned whether the lottery was publicized enough. Upper Bharat Arimilli was unaware of what the system really was until very recently. “I had my college counseling meeting yesterday and while I was discussing my plans for next year's courses, my counselor asked whether I was doing any senior studies and she showed some courses that she recommended I take, which is finally when I realized what they were.”
Upper Hersh Bhargava also questioned how informed students are, stating that although he knew about upper lottery, “Initially, I was unsure whether it was a first-come, first-served system, especially after one of my friends told me that she had dicked a class to sign up.”
Some students, like lower Ruby Fludzinski, felt that some courses should be selective. “I think if the school can't bring in more teachers, then maybe a more selective way of determining who gets to take the course would be a good idea. If the school could bring in more teachers, that would be ideal.”