Nearly a week into the start of Fall term, course waitlists of class-seeking students continue to besiege several College academic departments.
Despite offering two sections of Economics 10, Introduction to Statistical Methods, the department currently has 20 students on the waitlist for the class, which is a prerequisite for the major, Administrative Assistant Fawn Burgeron said.
According to John Menge, chair of the economics department, the number of students majoring in economics has increased. In 1993 the College had 71 economics majors; there are now 102, he said.
Menge said the department added another section of Economics 21, Microeconomics, to accommodate the increased number of students interested in the course this term.
The department also raised the course limit of intermediate economics courses from 35 students to 40 students, he said.
The chemistry department has also faced similar problems. Initially, over 30 students occupied the waitlist for chemistry 51, the first course offered in the two-term introductory organic chemistry sequence, Administrative Assistant Kathleen Savage said.
Roshni Alli '97 was placed on the Chemistry 51 waitlist at the beginning of the term and said she found it "really kind of nerve-wracking. I think that the people who need to get in should identify themselves first," she said.
But since the course is also offered in the spring, many students dropped the course in response to a blitzmail mailing that was sent out this summer, encouraging students to make room for others who would be unable to take the class later. The current course count is 146 students, and the limit is 160, she said.
"Students are helping each other more," Savage said.
Chemistry 5, General Chemistry, still has seven people on the waitlist, she said. The course is filled to the maximum limit of 150, which is a 25 person increase from the number of students taking the course last Fall.
Professor Andrew Garrod's Education 20 class, Educational Issues in Contemporary Society, is also filled to the limit of 75 students.
Garrod said that though the course is offered in both the Fall and Spring terms it is usually a popular course, no matter who is teaching.
There are some students on the waitlist for the course, but Garrod said he does not want to increase the course size. Exactly 75 students fit in the classrooms of Rocky 1 and 2, which is where he prefers to teach the course to facilitate "interaction with students."
But according to the English department, department waitlists are actually slightly smaller than last year.
The Math department also escaped waitlist problems, as the only courses offered with limits are Freshmen Seminars.
According to department Administrative Assistant Mary Beth Flynn, the government department does not have waitlists. Instead, students who are "bumped" from the course must appeal directly to the professor teaching the course.
Many students were not able to enroll in Government 54, American Foreign and Military Policy, this term, due to high demand for the class, Flynn said.
"There are so many people who want to get in; it's too bad they all couldn't," Anna Green '96, a student enrolled in the class, said. According to Green, the class is quite large.
The increased number of students enrolled this term may be the cause of the waitlist problem, but according to College Registrar Thomas Bickel, "nothing really stands out."
Menge attributed the demand for economics courses to increased interest in the department rather than increased student enrollment. Burgeron said more courses could be offered if the department received more funding and additional faculty members.
According to the registrar's office, as of Sept. 12, 3,846 students were enrolled for this term, compared to 3,759 last Fall.
