Originally Posted by nerual

If you spend less time on here complaining and more time checking SOLAR waiting for spots to open up, maybe you'll get the courses you want.

How do you know I don't check mugsi? In fact I was trying to log on before I wrote what I wrote, apperantly SOLAR was experiencing an "exception".

Originally Posted by nerual

That's ridiculous. I didn't get into the electives I wanted at first, in any of my three years here. Each year, I found a way around it. With patience, I eventually got into every single course I wanted.

So if I do exactly as you say, I'll get into my courses? I'll email them right now then. Let's all actually.

Originally Posted by nerual

Maybe someone else would have been screwed, maybe not.

Why the "may be not"? It's inevitable, there are limited # of seats, you go on to say the same thing.

Originally Posted by nerual

because it's first come, first serve.

Is it really? Because I thought the same thing when I got on early.
Unless you're saying a 1st year course was full before it was opened for 1st years' registration.

Originally Posted by nerual

Maybe all they need is to email the department. My point is, he has no right to complain if the course was open, he didn't take it, and now it's full and he's decided he wants to take it.

Fair enough it's his fault, had he been on time, it would have been SOLAR's.
I do understand what you're saying though and agree with everything that's obvious, except when you say it's "first come first serve". It's not as simple when it crashes on random people. It's more of a lottery at the beginning, and for those that are late, it's their fault naturally because they're late.

You know what... you may be right. I'm just frustrated because I was looking forward to University, to finally learn what I want. And here we go again...

Hopefully you're right about it freeing up.

How do you know I don't check mugsi? In fact I was trying to log on before I wrote what I wrote, apperantly SOLAR was experiencing an "exception".

This comment wasn't directed at you--I only meant that there are more productive ways of trying to resolve the situation other than ranting at people who have absolutely no control over your situation.

When it says SOLAR is experiencing an 'exception', it's because the last time you were on, you didn't exit properly, most likely because it crashed and therefore you couldn't. If you click exit when the 'exception' screen pops up, it will fix itself

So if I do exactly as you say, I'll get into my courses? I'll email them right now then. Let's all actually.

Emailing or calling can't hurt. The worse they can do is say no...but especially right now, they're reluctant to open up spots because they know that many spots will open up on SOLAR before classes start. There's no guarantee if a course isn't required, though, but more often than not, patience pays off.

Why the "may be not"? It's inevitable, there are limited # of seats, you go on to say the same thing.

Because, the next person who may have been screwed could have a more legitimate reason to take the course, and thus would have been able to get dept permission to take the course. I'm not sure if it's required or not, but I know it's at least strongly recommended. There's no way to know, which is why I said maybe the next person would have been screwed, but maybe not. Eventually, though, it will fill up and no one else will be able to take it...which is why, if a spot becomes available, you should grab it! or someone else will.

Is it really? Because I thought the same thing when I got on early.
Unless you're saying a 1st year course was full before it was opened for 1st years' registration.

It is first come first serve, to a degree, but no, a first-year course shouldnt be full before they can register for it. Say there are 100 seats in a 1st yr soc sci course. The dept allots 25 of these seats to open when registration starts with the 4th & 5th yrs--these are first come first serve. The rest won't open til the 1st yr soc scis start to pick, and even then, 50 of the remaining seats are ONLY available to soc scis, whether or not they're actually full. Each block of seats is first come first serve to the people available to them. Then, in July when SOLAR reopens, all seats are available to everyone.

Fair enough it's his fault, had he been on time, it would have been SOLAR's.
I do understand what you're saying though and agree with everything that's obvious, except when you say it's "first come first serve". It's not as simple when it crashes on random people. It's more of a lottery at the beginning, and for those that are late, it's their fault naturally because they're late.

It's still technically first come first serve--if you get on SOLAR first, without it crashing, then you get the course. There's also an element of luck, when it comes to SOLAR not crashing. When I registered for courses this year, I got onto SOLAR 7 times--it crashed the first six. When I finally got on, my elective was full (even tho it showed as available to people in the program). The next day, I kept checking, and within 24hrs, I got into it. Having said that, I was definitely lucky--the course was Psych 2AP3, and there's currently a 'watch' thread on here for it, to see if it opens up.

You know what... you may be right. I'm just frustrated because I was looking forward to University, to finally learn what I want. And here we go again...

Hopefully you're right about it freeing up.

SOLAR sucks. But there's no use stressing yourself out complaining about it. You might end up taking courses that you really enjoy, even if you don't think you will.
Of course, you should still keep trying to get into the ones you want! Especially during the first week of school when everyone is switching everything around.

Of course it's understandable my friend JUST msgd me about how all her courses are full @ york..so see it's everywhere! I remember I got SO frustrated first year because i wanted to take spanish so badly and it ended up being full! So I took a french course instead and got an A in it and LOVED it! So just keep ur fingers crossed and don't give up!

Originally Posted by nerual

It's still technically first come first serve--if you get on SOLAR first, without it crashing, then you get the course. There's also an element of luck, when it comes to SOLAR not crashing. When I registered for courses this year, I got onto SOLAR 7 times--it crashed the first six. When I finally got on, my elective was full (even tho it showed as available to people in the program). The next day, I kept checking, and within 24hrs, I got into it. Having said that, I was definitely lucky--the course was Psych 2AP3, and there's currently a 'watch' thread on here for it, to see if it opens up.

Given the unpredictable state of MUGSI, any attempts at applying some sort of normative probability to the entire process is erroneous. It isn't exactly "first come first serve"; it is the luck of the draw that follows a general trend that earlier people tend to get into MUGSI before people who arrive later on the scene. It is analogous to everyone playing with the same pair of dice, all trying to roll the same lucky six twice in a row with some starting to roll the dice earlier and others later. Luck definitely plays a big roll. And that's pretty
disdainful in my opinion.

SOLAR sucks. But there's no use stressing yourself out complaining about it. You might end up taking courses that you really enjoy, even if you don't think you will.

Or you might not.

Of course, you should still keep trying to get into the ones you want! Especially during the first week of school when everyone is switching everything around.

Good point.

welcome to mcmaster, aren't all universities like this anyways?

Originally Posted by andrew22

welcome to mcmaster, aren't all universities like this anyways?

SOLAR does suck more than most systems...someone posted the results of a poll on another thread, and Mac was tied with U of Calgary for the worst registration system, with a grade of C+, however overall student satisfaction was pretty high, meaning in the end, crappy SOLAR doesn't adversely affect our satisfaction with our education.

I have heard from several people at other universities that they're having issues with full courses too, so yeah, I guess to some degree all universities are like this.

http://www.macinsiders.com/showthread.php?t=2848 3

I ended up getting 4/5 of the electives I wanted.. but so far that doesnt mean anything to me, because for all I know I wont even like the way its being taught, or the type of class it ends up being. So even if you do struggle and finally get the electives that interest you right now, theres a chance youll want to switch out of it after the first week.

You guys need to relax, well the ones who are freaking out anyway. I was in social science in first year and I got into all the courses I wanted off the bat. Probably because I went in early, and got the classes I needed first instead of beating around the bush. The electives were a bit harder, but once August came around, there were so many available you really couldn't keep the smile off my face.

Second year was harder, and I didn't get every course I wanted, but that's because I ended up liking what I got, and didn't bother switching things around in August and September. As Allie said, you guys have SO MUCH TIME to get what you want, you just have to have patience and perserverance. Keep checking every day throughout the summer and you will most likely get what you want. For courses that are mandatory for you, e-mail the department and you're on your way.

Yeah everyone's having issues. Course registration has been, and always will be, a royal pain in the ass. At least it isn't like the old days where you had to actually go to the university take a number and wait in line. I know places like york and u of t have issues. We just need to add in some of the options the other universities offer. Like U of T's waiting list.. or I heard for ryerson you like .. 'pre register' for courses or something like that..it's similar to online shopping or something and you put stuff on your wishlist lol.