Dartmouth recently instituted a new software for course selection and registration called Courses@Dartmouth. We asked The Dartmouth’s Opinion writers how they felt after using it for the first time to register for courses earlier this term.
The moment you open the new user interface, you’re hit with a photo of campus that seems like it was put through an AI blender and turned into a confusing mush — that just about sets the tone for the rest of your journey through this Byzantine mess. Two different search buttons … with a reset button placed between them? And what are we resetting? Oh, we’re resetting the filters, which are in a completely different section from the reset button. And then there are the endless rightward-expanding tabs, which quickly grow out of control. It seems the College has a debilitating fear of simply loading a new screen when there’s new information to display. Don’t worry guys, we can handle it. Then they gave us a “cart” for our classes. That’s cute. As far as shopping experiences go, I rate this one somewhere below Walmart and above looking for toilet paper during COVID.
- Ryan Alahyari ’28, Columnist
Perhaps I’m just old and used to the old software, but I found the new website difficult to navigate because of all the submenus. The user interface is much nicer and I suspect its search features might be better, but I am uncertain whether the overhaul added any new functionality to the website. Sometimes you don’t need to reinvent the wheel; just updating the graphics to be sleeker would have been enough.
- Ramsey Alsheikh ’26, Columnist
While I have only used Courses@Dartmouth for add/drop, I found the interface to be clean and modern — and definitely more intuitive. The real test, I suppose, will come when it has to handle a full registration cycle and we see whether it holds up without glitches.
- Caroline Menna ’29, Columnist
Though I appreciate that we can now swap courses without the potential of losing a spot in a current enrollment, I find the new course selection platform otherwise frustrating. In an attempt to generate a modern and sleek platform quickly, Dartmouth has left students with a course platform that lacks many crucial tools. We need software that allows students to look at past and future courses, not just those that are currently being offered, and also that sustains the option to search for CRN. The course system needed an update, but the current solution is inadequate.
- Becca Davis ’29, Columnist
Although the new course selection portal has pretty pictures of campus, it also has a host of issues. I can’t look at classes from previous terms, I can’t see what room my classes are in and I also dislike the usage of “cart” to describe classes –– it financializes my education and gives me the heebie-jeebies. That being said, I also like how Dartmouth is trying to be responsive to the complaints of its students who have constantly complained about the timetable for a while. Although it’s a little misguided, at least they tried!
- Eli Moyse ’27, Editor
