Waitlist Procedures

What is Waitlisting?
When can I Waitlist?
Why can't I Waitlist myself for a course?
"Automatic" Waitlist?What's that?
How do I add a course I'm Waitlisted for?
What is the "Waitlist Fire Sale"?
What if I have not met pre-requisite(s) for a course I want to Waitlist for?
Should I attend the classes I am Waitlisted for?
I no longer want the class I am Waitlisted for. Does it matter if I stay on the Waitlist?

What is Waitlisting?

Once the maximum number of seats in a course are filled, the course closes and becomes "waitlist only".This means that students can no longer register for the course.However, they can still add themselves to the "waitlist" (a list of students interested in the course waiting for seats to open up).Priority is determined by the day and time students add themselves to the waitlist via WebAdvisor.Waitlisting is conducted entirely through email and WebAdvisor.

When can I Waitlist?

Students can begin waitlisting during their waitlisting appointments, after the registration appointment period. Waitlisting appointments will be based on the reverse order of your registration appointment priority, with 2L and 3L students combined. See the Registration Calendar for more details.After the waitlisting appointment period, open waitlisting is available and continues throughout the Add/Drop period.

Why can't I waitlist myself for a course?

WebAdvisor will not let you add a course to your waitlist if you are already enrolled in a different section of the same course.

Example: You are registered for a section of Constitutional Law I and you would like to add yourself to the waitlist to another closed section of Constitutional Law I.

If you find yourself in this situation, you will need to either come into the Records Office in person or send an email from your uchastings.edu email account to records@uchastings.edu.If you choose to send an email, the email must come from your uchastings.edu email account and must include the course number of the section you want to waitlist.The Records Office will manually add you to the waitlist.Be sure to do this before your waitlist appointment so that you can be added to the waitlist as soon as your appointment begins.The Records Office will only waitlist you for courses where this problem applies.

"Automatic" Waitlist?What's that?

During the registration period, there are a handful of courses that have an "automatic" waitlist.Students cannot register themselves for these courses on WebAdvisor; waitlisting is the only option.The Records Office will email a list of these classes each semester; it is also noted in the Course Comments section on WebAdvisor (accessed by clicking the course title).

How do I add a course I'm Waitlisted for?

A course stays "waitlist only" until the day before classes begin, when the Records Office begins offering available seats to those on the waitlist.Email notices of available seats will be sent to your uchastings.edu email account, and you will be able to accept these spaces on WebAdvisor.Emails are sent at 4:30pm, Monday through Friday during the waitlist period.Students have until 3:30pm the following day to register for the course.Only students who receive an email have permission to add the course.

If you receive an email telling you that you have been offered a space in a class, log on to WebAdvisor before the expiration date/time stated in the email. To claim your seat in the class, select "Manage My Waitlists" from the main menu page. You will see that the "Status" column next to the class in question states "Permission to Register". To enroll in the class, choose "Register" from the drop-down box in the "Action" column next to the class, and click the "Submit" button at the bottom of the page. You will be taken to a Registration Results screen if your attempt was successful. BE SURE TO CHECK THIS SCREEN! If for any reason you are not eligible to take the class (e.g. too many units, conflicts with another course, you haven't completed the pre-requisite, etc.), you will not be enrolled. If you need to drop classes in order to accept your space in a waitlisted class, you can do so at the same time that you add the waitlisted class. Your complete current schedule is at the bottom of the waitlist page; place checkmarks in the "Drop" column next to classes you wish to remove from your schedule. If for any reason you are unable to add the waitlisted class, the entire transaction will fail and you will not be added or dropped from classes.

What is the "Waitlist Fire Sale"?

Following the regular waitlist period, we will conduct the "Waitlist Fire Sale". At 4:30pm on the last day of Add/Drop, Records will send an email to all students who are still on waitlists for classes that have seats available. You will have until 3:30pm the following business day to respond to the email (from your uchastings.edu email account) if you are still interested in enrolling in your waitlisted class. At the end of that time, we will enroll responding students in these classes based upon the students' waitlist priorities, until the classes are full. If you enroll in a class in this manner, you will have a chance to drop another class at the same time if necessary.**EXCEPTION: You may not drop a non-GPA course during the waitlist "fire sale" (courses numbered in the 800s). You will not be permitted to add the waitlisted class if it requires also dropping a non-GPA class.**

Detailed instructions are provided in emails sent from the Records Office during this period.

What if I have not met pre-requisite(s) for a course I want to Waitlist for?

If you have not met the prerequisite(s) for a course you want to waitlist for, but think that you have special circumstances that will allow you to take the course regardless of pre-requisite completion, you must submit a Petition for Exception to Registration Regulations in the Records Office.The Records Office will manually add you to the waitlist.Again, this should be done before your waitlist appointment so that you can be added as soon as possible.

Should I attend the classes I am Waitlisted for?

Students are required to attend classes they are registered for.Attending a class you are waitlisted for will not increase your chances of getting into the class.Also note, a professor cannot enroll students who are on the waitlist if they attend class.

To facilitate waitlist processing, instructors are given the option of taking daily attendance in all courses, beginning the first day of classes through the last day of the Add/Drop Period. Enrolled students (but not waitlisted students) not in attendance during this period may be dropped, opening up a space for a waitlisted student.More information on attendance and excused absences can be found here.

I no longer want the class I am Waitlisted for. Does it matter if I stay on the Waitlist?

If you are no longer interested in the class you waitlisted for, for whatever reason, you should drop yourself from the waitlist.This will free your inbox from unwanted emails and is a courtesy to other students on the waitlist.