Fishing for courses

First years are in the process of selecting our courses for the 2005-2006 year. Queen's uses this really wierd "balloting" process whereby each student is assigned a "random" number, we hand in ballots that include our picks ranked 1a, 1b, 1c, 2a, 2b, etc. And then, somehow, they fill the classes.

While in some ways I can see this system as more fair than the first-come-first-serve system that more schools use, it also has its drawbacks. First of all, it's really complicated and difficult to get used to. Etc. Sorry, I don't want this to be a site full of complaints, so I'll leave it there.