Friday, April 11, 2008

To register...or not

Can I just express to you how frustrated I am right now? Well if not, you can just leave.

Seriously, all I want to do is register for class. Every college I've ever attended (4, thank you very much) have made a big deal about how easy it is to register, how convenient it is. And my experiences have generally backed that up. I don't think I've actually gone to a school to register for class since 1997. Maybe '98. I've been able to register by phone and internet every other time (2000, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008--I'm a student for life.) How easy! How convenient!

Not this time.

I will be taking classes from the local community college (MCC) and from UIS this summer (10 hours at any given time, 13 hours total), and I will continue taking classes at UIS in the Fall. The issues with registration began about two weeks ago. I applied to MCC and had to request that official transcripts be sent to them from TJC and UIS. That process was relatively painless, although I had to pay $5 for my UIS transcript (what a rip.) So I called MCC on Monday of last week to verify that my transcripts had been received--this is a prerequisite for registering--and was told they had the TJC transcript, but not the UIS one. It's been the same story every day since then. My credit card was charged, and UIS said they sent it, but it's obviously gone to the Bermuda triangle of lost mail. UIS has graciously offered to send another one at no charge, but here's the catch: MCC will need another official transcript AFTER the spring semester is over. In the meantime, they will accept an unofficial transcript, which I can access, print, and mail to them. So today I will be asking if UIS can send another official transcript, but wait until the end of the semester (less than a month!) to do it. I doubt they'll be so accommodating, but we'll find out today.

So all I need to do to be able to register is print the unofficial UIS transcript and send it to MCC, right? Wrong.

The information I have access to has my UIS ID number on it, but not my social security number, which is some of the required info. Will MCC accept it anyway? Again, we'll find out today.

And now on to my problems with UIS. I have to get permission to register for classes at UIS and in the process of asking for permission to register for a psych class for the fall (Child Development), I discovered that my Intro to Psych class from TJC never transferred to UIS. This wouldn't have been a pressing issue except it's a prerequisite for the Child Development class. So in the middle of trying to get that straightened out I discovered that UIS records show they've never received my official AP scores. What?!? I had those sent in March of '07!! (Are you understanding my frustration by now? Wait, there's more...)

So I called the AP people and was going to gripe them out but good, because they totally cashed my check ($25) when I discovered, yes, they DID send the scores. The problem? My scores have been archived because I took the tests over ten years ago, and the scores sent to UIS were archived. Meaning? Whatever UIS got didn't look like the AP scores they receive for incoming freshmen so they marked them as unofficial. AP has graciously agreed to resend the scores at no charge (this is a lovely trend, and I'm grateful for it) and are *supposed* to somehow note that these ARE the official scores. We'll see. (FYI, the AP thing doesn't directly relate to registration, it's just been one more thing to deal with.)

So back to the psych class. After battling with The System for a few days, UIS finally got my psych class transferred over and I was able to ask permission to register for the Child Development class. I still haven't heard back on that, so that's another call I'll be making today.

But at least I can register for the summer semester at UIS, right? Wrong. Yesterday, the first day I was allowed to register, I logged on and found there's a hold on my account. The problem? They say they haven't received my transcript. (Pause to appreciate the irony.) Really, two semesters in and you haven't received my transcript? I can access my student information and SEE my transcript, but you haven't received it? Hmm, how does that work out? I'm willing to bet a gojillion dollars that this is related to the issue with the psych class, but COME ON, PEOPLE! And, that's one more phone call to make.

And, did I mention I'm in the middle of a major research paper? I need a personal assistant.

**Update: Remember how I said the AP scores didn't really have anything to do with registration? Strike that. It turns out that's the reason for the hold.


Angela said...

If it's any consolation, Sarah has complete nightmare stories from her one semester at George Washington University. I mean stories that will literally make you break down and cry for her. Their inability to do anything right is one of the reasons why she left.

sandy said...

At some point I would have broken down and screamed into the phone as loud as I could, "You Idiots!" Any confessions you need to make? So sorry you are having to endure the hassles of getting it all straightened out. And if you continue to have problems, my advice is to try and get your call transferred to a supervisor or the supervisor's supervisor. OK so maybe the president of the university could fix this for you!

Anonymous said...

On behalf of UIS faculty, let me commiserate. Reg and Records is a bane of our existence too.