aggravatedI'm trying to register for General Chemistry I this fall, but the section I need to take is full. I can't take the other section because that bumps my calculus to another section, which then conflicts with astronomy. And until I register for a section, I can't register for a lab, which is doubly frustrating.
Worse, the instructor just pleasantly apologized and passed my message on to the Associate Dean, who continued to parrot the "Sorry, nothing can be done, seating capacity," message. In her defense, I probably should have started with a face-to-face meeting instead of an e-mail. She had no particular incentive to help me beyond a cursory fashion based on an e-mail.
Anyway, I know for a fact it's bullshit, because I've been in classes in that very room (Sobey 255) that have been overloaded. (Astronomy, ironically.) As the teacher put it, "if everybody showed up, there'd be nine people standing." (For the record, I inflated his quote by one in my e-mails to the instructor and the Associate Dean. A desperate white lie.) And how many times were people standing? Try never - or at least, I never saw it.
I mean, I can probably still finagle my way in. The add/drop deadline is on the 18th, and I can attend the lectures unregistered until a space opens up (one or more most likely will) or that deadline passes (in which case I will have to appeal to a higher authority). I can see myself showing up for a lab but the instructor telling me I can't do anything because I'm not registered. I have a hyperactive imagination which includes the lab instructor calling security and having them escort me out. And then I punch out the instructor and ruin my academic career before it even begins.
Clearly I'm taking this a little too personally. But it IS personal, because they're refusing to do anything but offer platitudes and "we're sorry"s. I'm sorry, but that ain't gonna fly. There's too much at stake.