Orange Pulse: Class registration brings stress to Syracuse students

Class registration is one of the most important times of the year for students, as it determines what their next academic semester will look like. While it can prompt excitement for incoming academic challenges, it can also cause stress and anxiety.

An Orange Pulse survey, conducted in light of last week’s registration windows, found that only 48% of students secured all the classes they wanted, and more than 60% of respondents reported a level of stress of at least three out of five.

“I felt very stressed coming into it,” said acting junior Sofia Peralta. “My major is very restrictive in which elective courses I can take. So I had to make some sacrifices of some classes I wanted to take, which sucks, but I thought that the process was fine.”

Just under 8% of respondents felt completely ambivalent toward registration, reporting their stress levels as a one out of five. Only 31% of students surveyed felt confident they would get all of the classes they wanted to take — a pretty low number, but not one that can be easily fixed given capped class sizes.

While registration can be anxiety-inducing, certain majors have it easier. Classes for more specific programs usually don’t fill up as quickly and are often tied to specific tracks.

“Most of the classes I’m going to take, I really have to take for my degree, so there was not really that much ambiguity,” said senior sport analytics Max Theriault. “In the past, I had more stress because I didn’t know what I was doing. I had no idea, I was lost.”

Photo by Alex Calabrese

Many students encountered one major hurdle during registration — technology. More than 44% of respondents, an alarmingly high rate, said they experienced some technical difficulties during registration. This can prevent registering for necessary classes and heap on additional stress as thousands try to access the MySlice servers at the same time.

Technical difficulties weren’t just small issues, either. Survey responses on technical difficulties ranged from constant website crashes and freezes, inaccurate hold notices, browsers not working and slow loading. One student even described the whole process as an “unimaginable horror” in which they “went through all five stages of grief.”

There is no easy fix to this. Servers get overworked easily in these situations and crashes are tied to the limitations the MySlice platform. The high rate that students experienced difficulties this week suggests the problems are something that the University would be well-positioned to look into.

With the main phase of registration now complete, students look forward to the classes they’ll take in the spring. The students Orange Pulse spoke with are anticipating taking classes outside of their normal focus areas, perhaps because of the opportunity to mix things up.

Peralta will take a Politics of Latin America class just for fun, even though it is well outside the normal purview of her VPA studies, while Theriault will take a class on game theory.

“I’m probably the most excited for game theory,” Theriault said. “That’s a class of the types of which I have not taken, so I’m excited to see what that provides as an academic challenge, and I’m looking forward to being a part of that class.”

As students shift from the stress of registration to the promise of a new semester, many are finding optimism in future classes. While the challenges of navigating limited seats, strict degree paths and technical setbacks are real, students’ sense of curiosity and optimism suggests registration ultimately opens the door to academic experiences that feel new and meaningful.