The end of every semester brings new things to be excited about. For me, it’s always opening up Bionic, selecting my classes, inputting them into a temporary calendar, pressing submit, and leaving my semester schedule up to the lottery system. The Haverford lottery is unlike lottery systems at other American colleges. While students at other universities might be camping out, waiting until 9 AM hits to quickly enroll in their required classes before they fill up, Haverford claims to offer an equal opportunity for everyone through the lottery system, which takes into account everyone’s schedule, major(s), and requirements to dictate who gets a higher priority for a certain class that’s full. However, this semester’s lottery in particular showed the imperfections of a seemingly airtight system.
As a prospective astronomy and physics double major, I planned to take 4.5 major requirement credits for what’s known as the Sophomore Physics Sequence. This sequence includes classes like Physics 213, Physics 211, and Math 215, which are customary for physics/astronomy majors to take during their sophomore year. However, I experienced some difficulties piecing together a schedule and being accepted into these necessary classes. For instance, Physics 213 runs thrice a week, and during that time, so do two out of the three sections for Math 215. So, after prioritizing classes that had only one available time slot, I was left with few options to take my Physics 213 and Math 215 classes. Since these class sections overlap, I was then forced to choose between them. After finalizing and submitting my selections through Bionic in April, I received an email over the summer stating that I was waitlisted for my Math 215 class.
I found it odd that, although I needed this class for both my majors and my minor, I was placed sixth on the waitlist. What was more bizarre was that my friend (having the same majors and schedule as me) was placed twelfth. Adding to the confusion, I learned that many students enrolled in the class were humanities majors, who do not need this class to graduate. Even if they have a minor in mathematics, why did the lottery give them higher priority over my math-related majors? Had the professor not let both my friend and me into the class (for which we are extremely grateful), I would have been a semester behind in math, and we both would be a year behind in our majors, forced to take another year to complete our degree.
It’s also important to note that the lottery system relies on luck as well. Just because you require a certain class doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed it; it just means that you have a higher chance of getting into that class, something that some students might not even notice. It’s weird how the lottery works like this, allowing for some students to fall through the cracks and derail their major track, thereby inviting the possibility for them to fall behind on major requirements. This “fair and just” system seems a little bit insufficient to me. For an educational institution, it’s contradictory for its lottery system not to prioritize those who are trying to move forward with theirs. Instead, this current system only adds to students’ stress and anxiety, as they worry about whether or not they’ll be able to take their required classes. It also promotes last-minute shuffling of a student’s schedule during the first week of the semester. With this current system, the uncertainty of enrollment status in a class can leave a student with fewer options as shopping week closes.
Now, with all of this being said, how can we improve such a system? I feel as though the Registrar’s office should look more closely at a student’s schedule and prioritize students who need that specific class. They might already do this, but through my experience, it seems like they could improve this. Additionally, an option to appeal a lottery decision could leave students with more opportunities to get into their desired class. Finally, as underclassmen, students should meet with their Academic Deans and analyze their course requirements closely to prevent conflicts in later years. This would promote out-of-the-box thinking and allow students to complete other requirements that they may need instead.
As we approach the Spring 2026 semester lottery, this only highlights how important it is to have backup classes in case the lottery system throws a wrench in your schedule. Be prepared to think on your feet and have a plan B ready.
Discover more from The Clerk
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Be First to Comment