As the semester winds down, freshmen are scrambling to balance curriculum requirements with academic interests as they plan their spring schedules.
Every first-year student is required to enroll in Writing 20-a topic-specific, 12-person seminar designed to teach freshmen the basics of research, writing and analysis.
Although 73 sections of the course are being offered in the spring in a wide range of fields, the restricted enrollment capacity has left several freshmen with the final registration window in classes that did not initially pique their interests, they said.
"If the University is going to make every freshman take Writing 20, there should be more classes open than there are freshmen, so that there are more options," said freshman Margaret Morrison.
Each year, the number of freshmen is divided by 12 so that the number of Writing 20 sections offered corresponds to the number of freshmen, and each is guaranteed a spot, said Joseph Harris, director of the University Writing Program.
He added that a consistent pattern of half the freshmen class enrolling in the fall and the other half enrolling in the spring has allowed the system to work.
"I've only heard from one student having trouble finding room in the section he wanted," Harris said.
Some freshmen, however, said their registration experiences differed.
"I had the last window, so basically every Writing 20 I was interested in was filled up," said freshman Alyssa Kuhn. "The fact that it's a Writing 20 and it's not a topic you're interested is not very appealing."
Morrison-who was among the freshmen who registered during the final window-said she selected 10 sections of the course for her ACES bookbag, but by the time her window opened, all of the classes were full.
When she logged onto ACES, only five sections in total had seats available, so she enrolled in East Indian American Identities, which was not among her initial preferences.
"I don't really have a problem with the class, but I was kind of bummed out because there were at least a dozen Writing 20s where I was at least interested in the topic or had heard good things about the professor or the class," she said.
She added that she would prefer to be exposed to a more general topic as she plans her future academic pursuits.
"Something that specific would be better suited for someone who has a distinct interest in the subject," she said. "I don't know exactly what my major is going to be, so I'm looking to take more broad intro courses."
Students described a variety a tactics for making it into one of the 12 coveted seats in their preferred classes.
Kuhn said she plans to e-mail professors of the sections that interest her to see if they would be willing to make exceptions to the 12-person enrollment capacity.
Freshman Christie Mitchell, who was in the final registration window for the fall semester, said she wanted to take the course during her first months at Duke to prepare her for term papers in future classes.
When she logged onto ACES on the final day of registration, however, only one section had space, and it required a permission number, she said.
"I just kept on checking back once or twice a day to see if people switched out of classes," Mitchell said. "As soon as I saw that there was vacancy, I signed up. I think I just got lucky though."
Morrison said, however, this strategy is unlikely to work for her this semester because with available space in only three sections, there is little wiggle room for students hoping to re-arrange their schedules.
"It's going to be hard for people to switch into classes because nothing's really open," she said, adding that she will wait and see if students change sections after classes have begun. "I don't really have my hopes up."
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