Dartblog

As the weather gets just slightly warmer, the the snows start to think about melting, and mud season slowly but surely approaches from the horizon, Winter Term 2008 is coming to a close in Hanover. (Or for me, in France—without the snows.) That means course selection for the Spring. As usual, this is done over the internet.

What is not usual is that this time, for to my knowledge the first time, “Course Enrollment Priorities” for all capped courses are listed* online along with the registration system. Thus we learn, for instance, that for History 50, “Modern Britain, 1780 to Present,” which is capped at 40 students, registrants are chosen in the following order of “prioritization”:

* 1st: Sophomores
* 2nd: HIST Junior Majors, HIST Junior Minors
* 3rd: Junior Other
* 4th: HIST Senior Majors, HIST Senior Minors
* 5th: Senior Other
* 6th: First-Years

For English 47, “American Drama,” capped at 100 (!!!), the order is less ridiculous:

* 1st: ENGL Senior Majors, ENGL Senior Minors
* 2nd: ENGL Junior Majors, ENGL Junior Minors
* 3rd: Senior Other
* 4th: Junior Other
* 5th: Sophomores
* 6th: First-Years

Like many other introductory courses, the popular Studio Art 15, “Drawing I,” capped at 66, favors freshmen:

* 1st: First-Years
* 2nd: Random

Linguistics 1, “Introductory Linguistics,” capped at 77, is an anomaly:

* 1st: Sophomores
* 2nd: Random

The first thing to notice is the length of the list. It is very, very long. Copy/pasted into a Microsoft Word document, it comes to 66 pages. Dartmouth has a lot of capped courses.

The most striking aspect of the list is its utter uselessness in helping students make their course selections. Can you imagine trying to calculate your likelihood of being admitted to a course from this mind-boggling list? Can you imagine moreover selecting your courses on the basis of such calculations?

Of course not. The prospect is ridiculous and has no place at Dartmouth. But in providing the list, Dartmouth’s bureaucrats seem to be suggesting two points: 1) that Dartmouth students already do this, and 2) that it is a reasonable thing to do.

Why else would the bureaucrats have provided the list just at the time of course selection? Is there any other remotely fathomable use for the list, whatsoever?

Imagine that: Dartmouth bureaucrats encouraging students to select courses based not on their interests, but on what they won’t get locked out of.

Isn’t it so nice to know that Dartmouth feeds its bureaucracy resources for projects like compiling this list—resources that could be put towards expanding the faculty to render it unnecessary?

* This is my copy/pasting of the online list into a text document.

JENN ADDS: It is ludicrous to think that a student should have to prove their dedication to their prospective major by being shut out of classes repeatedly, yet that is exactly what The Dartmouth Editorial Board asserted today. Forcing students into less popular classes isn’t a check against “herd mentality”, it is a fundamental failure of the College. There is no place at an institution like Dartmouth for a process that restricts the ability of students to seek knowledge. If reporters at the D enjoy being shut out of classes, perhaps they should give up their spots and allow those with popular interests to pursue them.