A bullet point brainstorm of my desired classes for senior year has been sitting in my Notes app since September. And by January, I finalized the list of what I wanted to take. But after the Master Schedule was posted on February 27th, I was disappointed to learn that four classes that I had my heart set on–Portrait, AP US Government, AP Economics and Film as History– were only offered during second hour.
Next year, I’ll luckily be able to stay in Portrait, but I’ll have to take AP US Government and AP Economics through Michigan Virtual and I can’t take Film as History at all.
After I finally got over my disappointment and figured out a plan B for my schedule, I was hit with even more disappointment. I was placed on the last day of scheduling for rising seniors. By the time Friday came, both my desired AP Literature hour and my desired AP Statistics hour had filled up.
I’m not the only student who has experienced these scheduling issues. This was the case for Elizabeth Ahlin (10), who was interested in taking AP European History her junior year, but realized she would be unable to since she also wanted to take AP Biology, and both are only held first hour. So ultimately, Ahlin had to choose AP Biology over AP European History.
“I was planning on taking both of them, but I can’t, because they’re only one hour and they’re at the same time,” Ahlin said. “It’s a little sad because I’m not sure if I’m ever gonna take that class now.”
Similar to me, Noah Christlieb (11) was also assigned to the last day of scheduling. But when his desired AP Literature class filled up, by the time he had his scheduling appointment, he had to worry about rearranging his classes into an entirely new schedule.
“It’s annoying, because then you have to switch all your hours around and figure out something that actually works,” Christlieb said.
However, despite these obstacles, there’s no better way to schedule. Jennifer Jockheck, one of the counselors at ELHS, explained that there are two ways of scheduling: the way our high school does it, and course requests.
“Sometimes people talk about course requests as being a better way to schedule,” Jockheck said. “And what that means is you choose your class, but you don’t choose the hour. You just say, ‘Here’s the classes that I want,’ and then the computer creates a schedule.”
I experienced this scheduling system at my old school, and while it seems more fair since one student isn’t scheduling before another, it gives students no chance to be in a class with their friends.
“It is hard knowing that you were one of the last people to go,” Jockheck said. “But you get more opportunity to make some choices and maybe get some classes with some friends.”
For Jockheck, the student involvement in the scheduling process is very beneficial.
“It gives you a lot of control, and it gives you a lot of choices,” Jockheck said. “With course requests, if you don’t get the schedule that you want, the counselor goes in and just puts you in some classes, and they’re crossing their fingers and hoping that it’s what you want. Whereas this way, if the schedule that you want doesn’t work, you have the option then to make some choices.”
There’s no doubt that it’s extremely frustrating when you can’t have the schedule that you want. But it’s important to remember that there are over a thousand other students also trying to get their perfect schedule, and so there’s no scenario where everyone can be perfectly happy.
“It is impossible to create a schedule where everyone, all 1200 and some, kids will get exactly what they want,” Jockheck said. “It’s just impossible.”
Scheduling definitely isn’t easy, but it can be a lot easier if you remember to be flexible in adapting your schedule and open minded about what classes you take. Ahlin has adopted this positive attitude with her scheduling disappointments.
“I’m taking other classes, which actually sound really interesting and fun,” Ahlin said. “So I’m excited!”
