Student website aims to solve registration woes

For many students, registering is a stressful experience. First there is the watching and waiting while students with early registration privileges, like honors students and athletes, take all the good classes.

Add to that the competition from other students also fighting for popular classes, and people become desperate sharks snapping at whatever they can catch.

But there may be a solution. ClassXchange.com, a website created by Baruch graduate Alexander Vovk, gives students the opportunity to swap their classes with each other through on-line posts in order "to create their own ideal schedule."

"[The idea] just came to me. I had classes I was not satisfied with and I wished I could trade them with someone," said Vovk in a phone interview.

"I looked to see if there were other platforms like that and there wasn't, so I took the initiative to do it."

Students who register to the site can create posts listing either a class they no longer want or one that they would like to take.

The posts are visible to users who can then contact the original poster if they are interested.

Though ClassXchange is currently available to all CUNY students, most of its users are Baruch students, according to Vovk.

By his estimate, the system would run optimally if there were at least 500 posts.

On Wednesday night, there were only about 20 posts on the website.

"Considering that there are about 15,000 students in Baruch and considering the amount of classes that they offer, I think 500 is a good number."

Vovk said he has been promoting the website on campus by posting fliers on campus and by emailing students.

He is also adding coupons from local businesses as an extra incentive to get students to sign up.

Currently, registered users can print out a coupon for a $5 chicken burrito at Latin Thing, located near school.

But many students say they have yet to hear about the site.

"I deal with so many students, it's funny that I haven't heard about it," said Christina Muniz, who works as a library assistant at Baruch. But she acknowledges that ClassXchange could be helpful.

"It's beneficial to have that option," said Muniz, who is also a student.

Abbhyan Vora, a lower sophomore, said he has received several e-mails about the website, but he is still skeptical about such a service.

"It's a bad idea because kids can sign up for the class and they end up getting rid of it by trading," he said, while eating lunch with other friends who were also familiar with the site.

"It might start off as a trade but then people might start selling it and making money off of it."

Vovk acknowledges the possibility of spin-offs that charge students, but he intends to keep his website free for now.

"We're not focused on having people sell their classes in a secondary market," he said.

"We're just doing this for a good cause and for people to get a good schedule."

-Additional reporting by Sabrina Smith.