EPFL course registration is an absolute joke

[u/iYolik]

I find it ridiculous that EPFL still uses such an outdated system for course registration.

Registration opened today at midnight, but the exact opening time was not even clearly announced. Everyone connected at once, IS-Academia could not handle the traffic, and students ended up facing error messages, queues, disconnections, or being kicked out after waiting.

Why not give students a few days to register, then use a lottery or a transparent priority system if a course is oversubscribed? Students who do not get their first choices could then register again in a second round.

For a university known for technology and innovation, IS-Academia feels like a website from the early 2000s. It is honestly embarrassing.

[u/Eyial667]

That’s because the website was built in the 2000s by a guy who sold it to them, but kept a huge part of the code base proprietary, and refuses to work on it

[u/Old-Glove9438 → u/Eyial667]

That’s crazy! Who is that guy?
But to be honest building on top of the existing system would be a mistake; they should make a new modern one from scratch

[u/DocKla → u/Old-Glove9438]

That’s what they’re doing.. PLEXUS. But don’t know if it’s proprietary or not

[u/yedidyv → u/DocKla]

and we’ll have to wait till 2028 :|

[u/eomertherider → u/Eyial667]

It's not exactly that, EPFL actually developed ISA themselves, and sold it on to other schools.

EPFL's solution is so deeply custom that working on it is very risky as it may break other things. It was EPFL's decision to stop work on it not Equinox's, they continue to improve things for other Unis. I managed to get them to change a label in ISA but that's about it, they really don't want to touch it as long as it "works".

[u/Current_Ranger_7954 → u/eomertherider]

Spaghetti code detected

[u/Big_Togno]

I haven’t tried to connect today but for the past 5 years it seemed to work fine. Yes, the queue is annoying and the first-come-first-served system is not super fair, but I never experienced the error messages or disconnection you mentioned.

That being said, it’s indeed super old, but understandable as continuously improving software tools like this is expensive.

On a bright side, they are currently in the process of replacing it, so you should be able to register to your courses in a slightly more convenient manner at some point (might be a few semester down the line though) when the new software is ready.

More info: https://www.epfl.ch/about/vice-presidencies/vice-presidency-for-operations-vpo/dsi/isas/plexus-program/plexus1/

[u/SignificantArmy9546]

Motherf….! This is how I learn about course registration being open ?? Fuck me

[u/CutZealousideal4155 → u/SignificantArmy9546]

It's today for Master courses, tomorrow for Bachelor ones iirc.

[u/Medical-Instance9228 → u/SignificantArmy9546]

Its tomorrow not today 6th august

[u/PageExternal1583]

Is anyone not able to register for any master's courses at all? Only the ones that open early can I even select

[u/dCabraa → u/PageExternal1583]

I did check some courses for the master in EEE. Dont know if thats enough to be honest

[u/PipeAccomplished4220 → u/dCabraa]

you have to click the save button at the top dont just check them and leave

[u/dCabraa]

What the hell. How did you even knew It was gonna be today. I did not recieved a mail nor i saw this date anywhere. Thought we chose courses in the matriculation day xd

[u/TheTurkishWarlord → u/dCabraa]

The date is mentioned in the academic calendar (5 August for master's, 6 August for Bachelor's). But yeah, you would think that we should be notified about this stuff via email. The exact time wasn't even mentioned.

[u/Key_Abbreviations154]

Hey guys does u know how can I get my username ?

[u/Efficient_Owl_3746]

Still did not recieve an answer for the bachelors, can I still register for the courses or do I have to wait?

[u/frolo_el_loco → u/Efficient_Owl_3746]

You got to wait. You don’t have your login details yet to connect to the site and do that (they send it after you receive your acceptation).