410 Class Inquiry

[Mo Pula]

Good morning,

I'd like to take a 410 (game) class. Will there be one posted at any point in the near future? Thanks.

[sarabeth2408]

I second this. I would like to see more 410, 411, and 412 classes offered. I've already taken 401 twice and I haven't gotten into advanced yet so I believe if I take one of these courses it might help my chances without having to retake 401 a third time.

[kevhines]

We do these occasionally. They don't sell as well as any of our other classes so we don't put them up quite as often.
I don't have a timetable for when the next one will be.

[Hannah]

Just wanted to chime in here, having gone through process, perhaps worthwhile to share my logic, perhaps not.

I took 401 twice before getting accepted into advanced. I would love to have taken a 410,411, or 412 but I know they are not offered regularly. So instead, I jumped at the chance to take another 401 when it was posted.

Just wondering if perhaps the reason that people don't sign up for 410 series classes is because they are already enrolled in 401s since those post more regularly, and if you don't pass a 401 there's a certain fear that you might never improvise again, so you become eager to jump at the first class posted.

But, who knows?

[kevhines]

Maybe Hannah, but I don't know.

When we've offered more 4 week 400s they don't sell out fast (and if we don't give enough lead time don't sell out at all).

So the idea that if we offered more they'd sell better, seems unlikely. But they have been selling better lately, so maybe it's shifting?

I don't know either. We are always trying to figure it out.

[Elliotu]

When you say that the 410 classes don't sell out as well, do you mean that they don't sell out in "five minutes" after posting? I have taken 401 four times and a level 410 with Kevin and would take another 401 or any other courses offered but I have genuine difficulty registering. Sure I could log on to twitter all day long and then beat the rush to register but may I ask is this what a good school is all about? Is it about filling classes in five minutes and elimnating dedicated UCB students who can't be on twitter all day long and who may have other responsibilities during the course of a day and cannot register so fast? Why not offer more courses? They all fill if not in five minutes in two days. Why not offer courses in a way that dedicated people such as myself and others have a decent chance at registering for more, UCB courses?

[kevhines]

I mean we have had 410, 411, and 412's not sell out when we offer too many of them. We've had classes that are not to capacity. We want all our classes to sell out because if we don't that's a class that students not in class. And students not in class are waiting for a specific class. So I'd rather try to offer the classes that the most students are interested in.

We still offer 410, 411, and 412 - but we'll never offer as many of them as we do of our core classes.

401's always sell out.

[Elliotu]

What I wrote applies as well to 401 classes . I have taken 401, four times and twe were with Kevin. They were great classes and I learned amazing things from amazing teachers but the way the school is structured now, it is virtually improssible to take another 401 class without being on twitter all day long. This is not possible for someone like myself who holds an imrportant and responsible day job. I fully understand that it is pat on the shoulder of the UCB faculty and administration that classes fill within minutes of being announced on TWitter but this does not work for dedicated UCB students like myself who want to continue our studies but are prevented from getting into class because we can't monitor twitter all day long . What is also wrong with offering more 401 or for that matter any core curriculum classes in sufficient quantity so that a student wil have day or more to see it listed in courses offred and then register? By making the benchmark of who can and cannot take a course, a twitter rat race, is denying the golden opportunity for other good, dedicated students to advance their improv, writing and acting skills. This is not good for UCB as well as the greater improv community. It would be a shame if a future Will or Keven Hines or Amey Poehler went undiscovered because he or she could not get into UCB classes.

[Mo Pula]

I'm currently taking an excellent 412 (listening) class, as I continue to apply for advanced classes hoping I hit the lottery at some point (the last one I got into ended in November and I've tried several times since then). I've seen a 410 (game) class listed once, some time ago, and think they might be more rare than 412.

My main goal is to be a better improviser, so I see the 400 level classes as a good alternative to not being in any class at all. I understand the dilemma with there not being as much demand for them (although that personally mystifies me since so many people want to study, and I know of at least one other person in my 412 who is an advanced study student who took it for the same reason I did).

In any case, all we can do is keep trying. Thanks.

[kevhines]

Elliotu - there isn't really a good solution. We put up as many as we can, and Erik tends to post them in the same time frame as when the class will be offered (evenings classes are posted in the evening, day classes are posted during the day)

We have too much demand, and we work very hard to offer as many classes of a variety of levels as we can. There are some ways that would be easier for one person to sign up but would be harder for another person. There is no way we can please everyone with the process with which we post classes.

it's unfortunate and not something we ignore, but until we come up with a better solution we are sticking with the current format.

We offered a couple of 4 week 400 level classses lately, and they didn't sell out instantly (though did within a day) - so if those were classes you were interested in there was ample opportunity.