The Dread of Pre-Advising

We all know how stressful pre-advising can get, with what feels like a million courses, instructors and timings to choose from. But fear not, BRACU Express is here to relieve your stress… sort of, with a few stories that any BracU student who has gone through the bittersweet experience of pre-registration can relate to.

1. Finding faculties and matching times:
   You’ve been waiting for this day ever since it was announced on 16th March 2020, and you’re all geared up to get the best section for a particular course. Scrolling through various Facebook groups for course reviews, you are done researching the best faculty members this course has to offer. You’ve mapped out every possible combination to make sure you can get home on time and start watching Netflix again.
2. Ready for the match – sitting in front of desktop/mobile an hour before advising slot:
   The crowds are cheering you on (in your head). You are geared up with everything you might possibly need to aid you in this battle. You are up against your friends, your classmates, your seniors and your juniors to finally get that seat for that one course you couldn’t do for the past 2 semesters. The table is lined up with two laptops, one you borrowed from your cousin, and your phone in between the laptops, with all of them having three browser tabs open.
3. Praying the connection doesn’t get lost:
   You know the moment before you click “Add course” you connect to God more strongly than ever, praying that the internet connection remains steadfast. We all know that the internet in Bangladesh is not something you can trust, but you certainly can put your trust in God. At this moment the internet will decide your fate, there is no other option but to turn towards God to ensure your connection to USIS remains intact.
4. It’s advising time – you can now enter the advising panel:
   5..4..3..2..1. The browser starts refreshing while you are sitting there biting your nails, waiting for the Advising Panel to finally show up. You start to envision the happy moments you would have with that “chill” teacher and how you would get home on time to take a 2-hour long nap. You get your notebook out where you had every single combination of courses written down. You’re into the advising panel, time to get your right index finger to work and start clicking!
5. Lol your connection got lost:
   After what feels like aeons of staring at the screen watching the pre-advising panel countdown to 0 seconds, you rush to secure your seat
   in your desired course, happy about being right on time. As you had already expected, the course has enough seats for you and all your friends to get a seat. Feeling like
   you’ve conquered the world, you jump to click the “add” button and you do, but the page
   reloads and you see the three dreaded words. CONNECTION IS LOST.
6. Constantly refreshing to get back to connection:
   Disappointed at the world and your own luck, you remind yourself, patience is the key to success. Staring at the screen, clicking the refresh button with barely contained fury is the way to go. But eventually, you realise it’s equivalent to pressing the lift button continuously, only to realise that no matter what you do, it will arrive after exactly 984345 hours. Finally, the page has loaded and you click on the pre-advising option, and once again it is an endless loop of waiting for the page to load and your lungs almost burst.
7. Comes back 10 minutes before the slot is about to end:
   Right when you’re about to give up the page loads, and there is finally a blip on your heart monitor which was about to flatline. But you only have 10 minutes left. Your phone is about to burst with calls from your friends and you keep browsing your desired courses which have exactly minus 2 seats left. The entirety of the next semester flashes before your eyes.
8. You take whatever course you can:
   Like what happens during war, you have to make the most of what’s left. You dramatically pull out the list of courses that you still haven’t completed and quickly calculate the combination of courses, timings, midterms and finals that will save you from destruction. But nothing seems to work out because 2 finals in a day seem inevitable. “I am invincible” you whisper to yourself as you add those courses, sacrificing your sanity.
9. Beg teachers for an extra seat:
   The phrase “giving up” doesn’t exist in your dictionary, which is why nagging the faculties is the last, and also the best, option. You do everything in your power to convince the faculty why doing classes with your best friend is absolutely necessary. I mean, you’ve never been separated since the first semester after all! You even argue that you’re fine with sitting on the floor. A seat in that particular course is all you want. But alas, you’ve been rejected, and so will the other 15 people standing behind you.
10. You make vain attempts to trade courses:
    You take a deep breath and calm down. It’s alright, you have (your dad’s) money – you can offer people burgers to get them to swap courses with you.

“CSE101 anyone? I’ll give BTE201 + Chillox” you post.

The feral shine in your eyes betrays the contempt you feel for plebs who can’t get their way with money. 5 hours later there is nothing but 13 “HAHA reacts” on your generous post and a feeling of rage in your entitled heart.

11. You have conquered pre-ad:
    You can’t believe it! After all that stress and uncertainty, you managed to end the pre-advising period with the courses of your choosing. You were able to take them yourself or trade them from others, but they are finally yours and nothing can take away your precious. All’s well that ends well, you conclude.

Then the advisor lets you know you chose a course no longer allowed by your department, and another course requires a prerequisite you did not do. The software is to be blamed, not you, right? Wrong, it’s your parents’ fault for allowing you to get into BracU, and also for giving birth to you.

12a. You give up:

The whole pre-advising business is a sham to you – not worth splitting your hair over. You live a peaceful life now, laughing at the people who stress over such a mundane ordeal. You don’t laugh too much though, you need the energy. Not doing the pre-ad means your day starts at 8am and ends at 5pm with a 6-hours gap in between. It’s almost boring enough for you to want to do pre-advising for next sem. You shudder at the thought and head to the library to sleep.

12b. You become a hoarder:

You’re a senior now, hence it’s easier to get the courses you want.

So you make sure to take full advantage- you choose 5 without fail, even though you only keep 3 at the end.

You do this not for yourself, but for your friends and juniors who have less credits under their belt. You see, you are the good guy, the hero, saving courses from less deserving candidates to distribute among your chosen.

And you do this for the low-low price of Takeout burgers.

12c. Everything is perfect:

There is no trouble logging in, the servers don’t crash, there are ample seats under your favourite faculty, the class slots line up perfectly, even the final exam dates are perfect!
You are done in under 10 minutes, with a gleeful smile and love for BracU. You log out and step outside your mansion, and ride your Tesla to the new permanent campus. Ananta Jalil gives you a fist bump after you park – life’s great.

Written by: Aryan Rahman, Ashabul Islam, Sadrina Afrin.