Shop till you drop
By Jessica Lee
Jan. 18, 2012 11:33 p.m.
Shopping is usually affiliated with tangible goods ““ new clothes, new shoes. It epitomizes consumerism, promoting the search for the highest level of satisfaction possible. So as college students, consumers of higher education, why don’t we “shop” for classes?
The mentality behind it spurs students into actively seeking and enjoying a broad variety of classes with professors who suit their individual learning styles.
Some schools, Harvard University and Yale University among them, already implemented this process. It’s called a shopping period.
At UCLA, the idea may seem bizarre. Students, myself included, oftentimes do not take full advantage of the add/drop period. During the quarter, students register for classes to take next term, expecting the schedule to dictate their lives for 10 weeks. From personal experience, study list modifications, although not unheard of, are also not the norm. For the most part, my study list stays constant ““ even if a class induces boredom so extreme that it makes poking my eyes out seem like a better use of time. The cost of searching for the rare, open class is long and inconvenient.
But this also reduces the opportunity for intellectual adventurism.
Uggi Lee, a Harvard third-year statistics student, said, “Shopping period creates a space where exploration is not only possible but also encouraged.” Lee described the routine at Harvard: students browse the course catalog, find a range of interesting classes, shop them and submit their final course selections at the end of first week.
The process is similar to UCLA’s add/drop period. Students enroll in courses, attend classes and make any necessary adjustments to their study lists, and have a set schedule by the end of Week 2. The difference, however, stems from mindset.
Jenny Mei, a Yale third-year molecular, cellular and developmental biology student, feels participating in shopping period is very much a part of the Yale mentality, even when students are fairly certain about their classes of choice.
Mei said, “We want to make sure we’ll enjoy the class and the professor.”
The UCLA attitude on add/drop period may discourage students from tackling a wide range of courses, prodding them to make safe choices. This is a shame when professors and classes students take are the central factors in defining the undergraduate experience.
Michael Huh, a UCLA graduate student in experimental pathology and a teaching assistant for the earth and space sciences department, said, “(Shopping) is most suitable for classes that are general education requirements.” Older students already know their course of study.
I agree with Huh, but we shouldn’t limit shopping to general education courses. Not all of UCLA’s academic fields offer introductory courses fulfilling GE requirements. Sophomores and upperclassmen can utilize shopping period for elective classes. And freshmen, especially, have a lot to gain; sampling classes would enable them to discover what major they will find most satisfying.
The quarter system often also has professors cramming their class material into a short 10 weeks. But classes during shopping period are still regular, full-fledged classes, and students are expected to keep up.
Furthermore, professors may find the constantly fluctuating class sizes intrinsic to shopping classes frustrating. The unknown enrollment number may make planning for them difficult.
Thus, Lee said Harvard recently introduced a preregistration system. “It’s just a way for Harvard to get a sense for what classes people are thinking about taking. … It’s basically a way of trying to be efficient with resources.”
UCLA also has students register for classes the previous term. This provides professors with an idea of the size and popularity of their courses.
Moreover, full classes might be the prime deterrent for shopping classes, but this is not a predicament exclusive to UCLA. According to Yale Daily News, more than 300 students shopped an 18-person seminar at Yale. Students, thus, had to apply for the class. UCLA professors could apply the same selective whittling.
Because of UCLA’s size, administering a formal shopping period will be challenging. If the registrar finds the number of students at UCLA too daunting to employ such a practice, it should at least devote 10 or 15 spots in every class for students who take shopping seriously. Doing so would signal the school applauds intellectual enterprises.
Although the structure of building study lists isn’t the most conducive to shopping classes, UCLA allows students to tweak their schedules as they please. We should take this as an invitation to shop for the best bargain.
Do you plan on “shopping” for classes next quarter? Email Lee at [email protected]. Send general comments to [email protected].
