<p>what I found particularly disturbing in this article was not that students were closed out of intro / 200 level courses on a first-come first-serve basis and that the student might have a chance another time, but that the more experienced students were allowed in, and not those who wanted to explore a discipline as a newer student. I can see the value of having portfolio / audition / professor approval for higher level classes, but to shut students out at a lower level because of a lack of talent or experience is unsettling.</p>
<p>The ironic thing is that as I read this, I thought, well this happens only at universities, and then it talked about Oberlin. Perhaps this does happen at other schools as well, but I guess it behooves prospective students to ask about course registration policies. It is just disturbing to me to think that students go to LACs with the idea that they can explore a wide range of study and then find this not really to be true.</p>