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Plan your enrollment in advance. The Schedule of Classes is available a week before enrollment starts, plan out your enrollment and put your courses in your shopping cart. 

Then, whether you have class during your enrollment appointment or not, you can simply click “Finish Enrolling” at your appointed time.

Be sure you have met the prerequisites. Review the prerequisites and major or class-level restrictions prior to enrolling.

You cannot enroll in a course, or on to a waitlist, if you have not met all the listed requisites. If you have completed the prerequisites at another institution, see How To: Troubleshoot Your Enrollment for how to check for prerequisite credit.

Check for time conflicts. If any of the courses you are attempting to enroll in conflict, you will NOT be enrolled. 

To check for conflicts, fill out a schedule plan for your intended enrollment. Map out all class meeting times – lecture, discussion section, lab lecture, and lab section. Select discussion sections and/or labs that work with your schedule, it is very difficult to change your schedule once you are enrolled. If you have a time conflict, review our instructions on How To: Resolve a Time Conflict.

Prioritize your courses. Determine which course is the most important to your progress and enroll in that course first.

Seniors should always enroll in the courses required for graduation first. Do not presume that seats will be reserved for you due to your pending graduation, enroll at your first opportunity. If you are not a senior, you are subject to the two-pass enrollment process and should prioritize your major courses in your first pass. For more information on Two-Pass Enrollment, see the Registrar’s Enrollment Information.

Enroll during your enrollment appointment. You have the best chance of becoming enrolled at your appointment time. 

Check MyUCSC for your enrollment appointment time and be ready to enroll at that time – have your schedule worked out, your courses ready in your cart, and simply hit “Finish Enrolling” at your appointment time (even if it is while you are in class). 

Attend your 1st class meeting or you may be dropped. Most instructors will administratively drop students who do not attend the first class meeting. Be on time, many lab courses take roll in the first ten minutes and subsequently drop no-shows to allow other students to add the course.

You are responsible for the accuracy of your enrollments. Be sure to verify your enrollment and grade options by the deadlines.

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If discussion sections are not required, do not enroll in one. 

If “no selection” is an option in the list of discussion sections, this means that enrollment in discussion section is optional. If you enroll in a discussion section, it complicates your schedule and can lead to conflicts with other required courses.

Permission codes are not the answer, troubleshoot your enrollment. 

Permission codes circumvent the enrollment process and make access to courses inequitable; we only use them as a last resort. Most PBSci departments will not issue codes until after grades are in for the current quarter, and only then if space is available after all other students have had an opportunity to enroll. Use our How To: Troubleshoot Your Enrollment guide to address your enrollment problem without a permission code.

You cannot enroll in a course you have already taken and passed, here is how to enroll… 

The enrollment system is designed to prevent students from repeating credit. To repeat credit, your college will have to override your enrollment. Students who took the wrong calculus for their major will need an override to repeat any calculus course that is equivalent to the course they have already taken and passed. For example, if you took MATH 11A and now want to pursue a major in the School of Engineering and have to repeat MATH 19A, your college will have to override your enrollment into MATH 19A.

You cannot enroll in a course you are currently enrolled in… 

The enrollment system is designed to presume all students are going to pass the courses they are currenrtly enrolled in; as a result, you cannot enroll in a course you are currently taking. You will only be able to enroll once you have a non-passing grade in the course.

Students need approval to enroll in a course for a third attempt… 

The approval process for repeating a course for a third time can take up to two weeks, it is best to start the approval process two weeks before enrollment opens. See your college advisor to request approval to enroll for a third attempt well before enrollment opening. 

Student Responsibility: You are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of your enrollments. Be sure to verify your classes and grade options prior to the enrollment deadlines listed in the Academic and Administrative Calendar.

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Q: I am currently enrolled in a class with a required lab, but would like to swap into a different lab section. Can I swap?

A: If the lab you want to swap into is open, you can swap. Step-by-step instructions for swapping a class or lab can be found on Registrar Enrollment & Waitlist Troubleshooting.

Q: I am already enrolled in a discussion section, how do I change to a different discussion section?

A: Step-by-step instructions for editing your discussion section can be found on the Registrar Enrollment & Waitlist Troubleshooting.

Q: Is enrolling in a discussion section mandatory?

A: This will vary by course. Please look the course up in the Schedule of Classes to see if your discussion section is required or optional. If the discussion section is required, you must enroll in the discussion section when enrolling in the lecture. If the discussion section is optional, you do not have to enroll in a discussion section when enrolling in the lecture.

Q: The discussion section I want to enroll in is full. What should I do?

A: A permission code will not allow you to enroll in a full discussion section. If the discussion section is OPTIONAL, you do not need to be enrolled in the discussion section to be enrolled in the lecture. Enroll in the lecture and your instructor or TA will provide additional information on discussion section attendance. If the discussion section is REQUIRED, you will need to enroll in a discussion section that is open. 

Q: At what point in the quarter will my lab meetings begin?

A: This will vary by lab. Some labs may have their first meetings before the first lecture meeting. Be sure to verify when you lab meetings begin by looking the lab up in the Schedule of Classes. Students who fail to attend their first lab meeting may be dropped from the class.

Q: I’m getting an error message that I have not met the prerequisites but I am either currently enrolled in the prerequisite course or have received a passing grade (C or better) in the prerequisite course in a previous quarter. What should I do?

A: The course may require that you enroll in an associated lab that you have not put into your shopping cart. If a lecture has a required lab, you must put the lecture, discussion section (if required), and lab in your shopping cart together before trying to enroll. You will get an error message that reads ‘you do not meet the prerequisites’ if you do not enroll in all required parts of the course. 

Q: I’m getting an error message that I have not met the prerequisites but I know I have met them. What should I do?

A: Answer the following questions to troubleshoot your enrollment:

Did you at any point in time get a “D” grade in any of the prerequisite courses?

NO, proceed to next question.

YES, the system won’t recognize a “D” grade as satisfying prerequisites even after you have retaken and passed the course, to have prerequisite credit coded, email your major advisor:

• Chemistry and Biochemistry: chemistryadvising@ucsc.edu
• Earth Sciences: epsadvising@ucsc.edu
• Ecology and Evolutionary Biology: eebadvising@ucsc.edu
• Mathematics: mathadvising@ucsc.edu
• Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology: mcdadvising@ucsc.edu
• Physics: physicsadvising@ucsc.edu

Did you take the prerequisite course at another college?

NO, proceed to the next question.

YES, to be coded prerequisite credit, email an unofficial copy of your transcript to your major advisor:

• Chemistry and Biochemistry: chemistryadvising@ucsc.edu
• Earth Sciences: epsadvising@ucsc.edu
• Ecology and Evolutionary Biology: eebadvising@ucsc.edu
• Mathematics: mathadvising@ucsc.edu
• Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology: mcdadvising@ucsc.edu
• Physics: physicsadvising@ucsc.edu

Are you enrolling in all the parts of the course?

If you answered NO to the questions above, you, most likely are not enrolling in all the parts of the course or have a time conflict with one of the parts of the course – lecture, discussion section, lab lecture, lab section. For help enrolling, see our enrollment troubleshooting section.

Q: I am getting an error message that I have not met the prerequisites but I took the prerequisite course at another school and transferred it to UCSC. What should I do?

A: You must have the course applied to your UCSC academic record, follow these how-to instructions on transferring credit.

Q: If I am enrolled full-time, how do I add myself to a waitlist?

A: Full-time students will not be added to a course via a waitlist if adding the course puts them above the 19-unit maximum. Therefore it is recommended that full-time students use the swap feature when adding themselves to a waitlist. Step-by-step instructions for swapping a class or lab can be found on the Registrar Enrollment & Waitlist Troubleshooting.

Q: If I have a time conflict with a course I want to add, how do I add myself to a waitlist?

A: You can add yourself to a waitlist for a course you have a time conflict with, if you swap – simply set the swap up with the course you are enrolled in at the same time. Step-by-step instructions for swapping a class or lab can be found on the Registrar Enrollment & Waitlist Troubleshooting.

Student Responsibility: You are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of your enrollments. Be sure to verify your classes and grade options prior to the enrollment deadlines listed in the Academic and Administrative Calendar.

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All PBSci courses will have a waitlist.  

Waitlists will be available at the start of  Second Pass enrollment: Log in to MyUCSC to view your waitlist appointment time. For your best chance at becoming enrolled, add or swap onto a waitlist as soon as they become available.

All waitlists will be set to auto-enroll unless otherwise noted: Students will be automatically enrolled as space becomes available in the course. The auto-enroll process runs every 30 minutes during business hours. Students are notified when they become enrolled in the course and when they have been passed over for enrollment.  

You may be passed over for enrollment: If you receive a message that you have been passed over for enrollment in a course, you MUST fix your waitlist enrollment to become enrolled in the course. For ways to address your waitlist enrollment problem, visit our Waitlist Tips below. 

Waitlists will manage enrollment: If you want to enroll in a full course, you MUST enroll onto the waitlist. To allow for fair access to enrollment, the waitlist will be the only means of becoming enrolled in the course. Individual requests to instructors or the department will not be entertained, all students will be directed to enroll onto the waitlist.

Student Responsibility: You are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of your enrollments. Be sure to verify your classes and grade options prior to the enrollment deadlines listed in the Academic and Administrative Calendar.

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Enroll during your waitlist appointment: If the course you need is full, enroll on to the waitlist as soon as it is available. Check your MyUCSC portal for your waitlist appointment time.

Avoid waitlist limbo: Students who waitlist courses that conflict with their existing schedule or would put them over the unit limit will NOT be enrolled.

Avoid course conflicts: ONLY waitlist courses that fit in your existing schedule. Use the weekly schedule view in your MyUCSC portal to check for course conflicts. If you are trying to waitlist a course for which you have a schedule conflict, you will need to SWAP the conflicting course to enroll onto the waitlist.

If you are enrolled in 15 units, SWAP onto a waitlist:  You will not be enrolled from the waitlist in to a course that exceeds the campus unit limit, you MUST SWAP on to the waitlist to enroll.

If you are enrolled on a waitlist and you are passed over for enrollment, you will be notified that you have an enrollment error. You MUST correct your enrollment error (either time conflict or exceeding max units) and re-enroll in to an available section or back onto the waitlist. 

If enrollment in section is not required, do not waitlist a section, it lessens your chances of becoming enrolled.

When waitlisting a required section:

• DO NOT simply waitlist the first section, most people do, which does not improve your chances of becoming enrolled.
• Find an open section to waitlist, this will give you the best chance of becoming enrolled.
• If there are no open sections, start with the last section and work your way up the list until you find a section that works with your schedule.
• Choose unpopular section times, 8am and 8pm are always good bets, these sections tend to have more availability.
• After you have waitlisted a required section, continue to watch for a section to open. If a section opens, you can change your waitlisted section and become enrolled. 

Attend the first class meeting: As with courses you are enrolled in, students may be dropped from the waitlist for not attending the first class.  

Student Responsibility: You are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of your enrollments. Be sure to verify your classes and grade options prior to the enrollment deadlines listed in the Academic and Administrative Calendar.

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Fall 2017 courses with a required concurrent lab include:

BIOE 112/L, 124/L, 135/L, 134/L, 135/L; EART 101/L, 109/L, EART 110/L; and PHYS 5A/L, 5C/N, 6A/L, PHYS 7A/6L.

To enroll onto a waitlist for one of these courses:

1.  Waitlist the lab section only. Do not attempt to enroll in, or waitlist the lecture at this time; you cannot enroll in the lecture until you have successfully enrolled in the corequisite lab section.

Suggestion: To increase your chances of becoming enrolled, waitlist multiple lab sections if available. You can waitlist up to 10 units. As an example, if the lab you are waitlisting is 2-units, you can waitlist up to 5 lab sections that fit with your schedule. If space becomes available in any of the sections you have waitlisted, you will become enrolled. NOTE: Once you are enrolled, drop from the remaining waitlists for the lab.

2.  Enroll in the lecture portion of the course after you are enrolled in the lab. Upon becoming enrolled from the waitlist in to an available lab, you will receive an email prompting you to enroll in the lecture. You MUST enroll in the lecture or you will be dropped from the lab prior to the start of class.

Student Responsibility:  You are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of your enrollments. Be sure to verify your classes and grade options prior to the enrollment deadlines listed in the Academic and Administrative Calendar.

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Most students at one point or another need help troubleshooting their enrollment. Undergraduate Affairs does not issue permission codes to solve these enrollment problems, so your best bet is to get to the root cause. Use the error message you are receiving to determine the cause:

REQUISITES NOT MET

Have you at any time received a D in any of the prerequisite courses? D grades are often misread by the enrollment system. D is not a passing grade, you must pass a course with a C or better to meet the prerequisites. If you have since passed the prerequisite course, email your program advisor to have them code you prerequisite credit for the course in which you previously received the D grade.

Are you a major in the Baskin School of Engineering who has repeated calculus – for example, retaken MATH 11A as MATH 19A?  The enrollment system has trouble interpreting repeated courses and does not always recognize that you passed MATH 19A, 19B and/or 23A. Contact Baskin School of Engineering Advising to have them code you prerequisite credit for the calculus course(s) you repeated. 

PASSED OVER FOR ENROLLMENT FROM THE WAITLIST
There are only a few reasons why anyone enrolled on a waitlist would not become enrolled in the course when a seat becomes available:

1.  You have a time conflict. Carefully review your schedule; be sure to check for a time conflict with any discussion and/or lab sections. For a composite weekly view of your schedule, log on to MyUCSC, go to your schedule in your student center, click on the weekly schedule link at the bottom right corner of your list of enrolled courses. Use the weekly view to determine if the course you have waitlisted conflicts with your currently enrolled courses.  

2.  You have waitlisted a full section. Regardless of your waitlist position, if you have waitlisted an associated discussion or lab section that is full, you will be passed over for enrollment until a space becomes available in that section. To avoid this problem, choose a section that is open; if that is not possible, choose a section that has the shortest waitlist or one at an undesirable time as these sections are most likely to have space become available. To address this problem, switch your waitlist enrollment to an open section – drop the course and re-enroll onto a waitlist for an available section.

3.  Enrolling you into the course would put you over the unit limit.  If your enrollment from the waitlist will exceed the 19-unit limit, you will not be enrolled from the waitlist.

Student Responsibility:  You are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of your enrollments. Be sure to verify your classes and grade options prior to the enrollment deadlines listed in the Academic and Administrative Calendar.

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Students who have schedule conflicts with the labs and/or discussion sections can use the swap function to change their enrollment.

Swapping Labs with Units:

For labs that have units associated with them, you can follow the swap instructions to swap into an alternate lab. If all the labs are full, you can set up a swap that waitlists the lab that works with your schedule. Student can waitlist up to 10 units; within that limit, you can set up multiple swaps to multiple labs that work with your schedule.

Examples of labs with units: All labs listed with a number, like BIOL 20L-01, which includes all labs in ASTR, BIOC, BIOE, BIOL (except 101L), EART, PHYS; CHEM 146A, METX 119L, etc.

As an example, if you have a conflict with PHYS 6L-01, you can follow the swap instructions to set up a swap that waitlists PHYS 6L-03. If space becomes available in PHYS 6L-03, you will be removed from PHYS 6L-01 and enrolled in PHYS 6L-03. Given that PHYS 6L is a one-unit lab, you can set up a maximum of ten of these swaps to give yourself the best chance of becoming enrolled. If you set up multiple swaps, you will become enrolled in the first lab that has capacity.

Swapping Lab or Discussion Sections:

For lab or discussions sections, aka secondary sections, which do not have units associated with them, you can follow the swap instructions to swap into the same course selecting an alternate section.  

If all the labs or discussion sections are full, you can set up a swap that waitlists the secondary section that works with your schedule.  

Students can waitlist up to 10 units; within that limit, you can set up multiple swaps to multiple labs that work with your schedule.

Examples of courses with lab sections: All labs listed with a number and letter, like CHEM 1N-01A, which includes all CHEM labs (except 146A), BIOL 101L, METX 135/L, etc. 

As an example, if you have a conflict with CHEM 108L-01A, you can follow the swap instructions to set up a swap that waitlists CHEM 108L-01D.  If space becomes available in CHEM 108L-01D, you will be removed from CHEM 108L-01A and enrolled in CHEM 108L-01D. Given that CHEM 108L is a two-unit lab, you can set up a maximum of five of these swaps to give yourself the best chance of becoming enrolled.  If you set up multiple swaps, you will become enrolled in the first lab that has capacity.  

Student Responsibility: You are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of your enrollments. Be sure to verify your classes and grade options prior to the enrollment deadlines listed in the Academic and Administrative Calendar.

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