Course Waitlists

How Does the Waitlist Work?

During Registration

Regardless of how you register, you will be placed on a waitlist if a class you've selected is full. Through your Course Enrolment History in your student record you will be able to see how many students are ahead of you on this waitlist. Please note, however, that you may enrol or waitlist for only one section of any course. For example, you may not place yourself on waitlists for two different section of English 115, or register for one section of English 115 and place yourself on a waitlist for another section. This ensures that as many students as possible get fair access to the available seats in a class.

Sometimes you may be temporarily placed on a waitlist even when there are seats available and you meet the eligibility requirement for a reserved seat. Monday through Friday our Web Registration system will check for students in this situation and automatically register them overnight. If you are enrolled in your course from a waitlist before the semester starts you will be sent an email informing you of this.

Helpful Hints

If you are close to the top of the waitlist at the beginning of the semester, contact your instructor to ask permission to attend the class so that you do not miss out on any material.

If you are placed on a waitlist and later decide you do not want to take that course, it is your responsibility to drop the course to make room for other students. If you are still enrolled after the semester starts you will be charged for that course.

After the Semester Starts

The first six* weekdays of the semester are critical. After the semester starts it will be your responsibility to check your student record each day and to claim a seat if you want it: we will not contact you if a seat becomes available. During the first six* weekdays of each semester, the waitlists are updated every Monday to Friday night between 11:30 pm and 1:30 am (no changes are made Saturday or Sunday). When waitlists are updated, the next available seat in a class is "held" for the next student on the waitlist. You should check your student record each day between 1:30 am and 11:30 pm to see if any seats are being held for you and claim them if you still want them. Please contact the Registration Centre if you are unable to check your status via computer, or need help with this process.

Claiming Seats

If a seat becomes available to you during the first six* weekdays of the semester, you must claim it on that day using Web Registration. Please contact the Registration Centre if you are unable to check your status via computer, or need help with this process.

To claim your seat, log into your online student record and go to the Course Enrolment History page. Click on the Claim this course button. This will take you to the web registration page where you will need to click the Submit Changes button at the bottom of the page in order to be registered in the class. If you do not click the Submit Changes button, you will not have completed the Claim Seat process.

If you have not claimed the seat by 11:30 pm, you will lose this opportunity and you will no longer be on the waitlist or the hold list; if you want to re-register for that class, you will be placed at the bottom of the waitlist.

*or the first three (3) weekdays of Summer Session in May or June.