Course registration season is inevitably characterized by healthy portions of both hope and frustration. Students pray to get off a waitlist or avoid a dreaded 8 a.m. lab, only to be met with disappointment upon opening the registration portal 15 minutes before registration and seeing “section full” under all their planned courses. Though stress-inducing, things tend to work out, and recent data from the Office of the University Registrar reveals just where students fall when it comes to course enrollment for the fall 2024 semester.

The data, which lists the 100 most popular courses by number of students enrolled, reveals a mix of the expected prerequisites alongside other nonrequired but nonetheless popular courses. Among these courses, the School of Science and Engineering dominates, with classes in the Departments of Mathematics making up nearly 25% of the total students enrolled in these top courses.

Buddhism, Heredity and Society, Clinical Science and Psychological Disorders, Intro to Personality and Introduction to Cinema are among the few electives listed in the top 100. These classes fulfill requirements for majors like public health and psychology but are not specifically required for completion of these degrees.

“Buddhism presents not only answers to [philosophical] questions but also practical methods for changing one’s life so as to live up to the ideals discussed in philosophy classrooms,” said Karl Schmid, professor of practice of philosophy, as reasoning for why students are so interested in taking it.“The course has had a number of great teachers, who are all invested in both teaching the students the philosophical arguments as well as helping them engage with the material in ways that will enrich their lives.”

Damian Murray, associate professor at the SSE, teaches the Intro to Personality course, which ranks at No. 88. “There’s a simple reason Intro to Personality is popular among Tulane students: the class allows them to learn a bit about themselves,” he said. Murray referenced personality tests students take throughout the course, the psychology major’s popularity and his own enduring interest in the course from the time when he took it as an undergraduate student to now teaching it.

Manjong Han, senior professor of practice at SSE, teaches Heredity and Society and has a different rationale for the popularity of the course he teaches. The class explores a range of scientific principles with societal ramifications, such as “GMOs, leftover embryos from IVF, genetic diseases and treatment options, gender verification tests in female athletics,” Han said. Though he is not entirely sure why the course ranks No. 36, he speculates that it may be because both the lecture and lab portion are offered online and the fact that it fulfills a lab requirement.

Students who have taken these courses also express mixed motives for enrolling. Sophomore Anjali Akkaraju, who is enrolled in Diversity of Life with lab, says she only took the class to fulfill Tulane’s Newcomb-Tulane core requirements but has found it interesting so far. Akkaraju is also in Intro to Personality, which she chose to take because the title of the course appealed to her, and she knew she would enjoy any psychology course.

Schools of Science and Engineering, Business and Liberal Arts make up nearly 90% of the top enrolled courses, and elective classes across all schools still manage to reach top spots. It is clear that Tulane students pursue both academic requirements and personal interests and will likely continue this trend in the upcoming spring 2025 semester.