Course Enrolment

Before your course registration opens

Based on your maximum course load for the term:

  • decide on a list of your first-priority courses
  • decide on a list of your second-priority courses in case you can't enroll in some of the courses of your first choice
  • enter your first-priority courses into Draft My Schedule to make sure they have no time conflicts

After your course registration opens

  • Enroll in as many of your first-priority courses as you can, based on your maximum course load
  • If any of your first-choice courses is full or has a priority constraint and the only option is to join the waitlist, consider the following suggestions:

Joining Course Waitlist

  1. Select an alternative for the waitlisted class from your second-priority courses, ensuring it is offered in the same term and does not conflict with your other courses.
  2. Enroll in the alternative course.
  3. Join the waitlist for your first-priority course by arranging a swap for the alternative course for which you have registered. This way you will be eligible to be automatically enrolled from waitlist when the course has space available.
  4. Your waitlist position will be provided in your confirmation message. You can review your waitlist status and position in your Student Center. Go to Academics > Course Registration > Enrollment Summary. Select the "By Class" view.
  5. A notification will be sent to your Western email account when you have been automatically enrolled from a waitlist.

Note that you will also be automatically enrolled in a waitlisted course (provided a spot opens up) if you have space in your schedule for that term -- for instance, you are only registered for 4 courses instead of 5.

Before add/drop deadline

A few days before the term add/drop deadline, check to make sure you are enrolled in all the desired courses based on your maximum course load. If you are still on the waitlist for a course, you may want to consider removing yourself from it to avoid being automatically dropped from a class you used as a swap to join the waitlist (see below).

See Register in Courses, Office of the Registrar website for more details (including FAQs) on Adding/Dropping, Swapping a Class or Lab/Tutorial, or Waitlisting a Class. Add/drop deadline information can also be found on the same webpage by clicking the relevant link under Preparing for Course Registration title.

Things you must pay attention to:

  • Waitlists will continue to be processed up until the end of the course registration period (last day to add a course). Remove yourself from a waitlist if you no longer wish to be automatically enrolled into the class or if you no longer wish to be automatically dropped from a class that was indicated in your swap to waitlist request. Warning: If you used swap to join a waitlist for a Winter class and indicated a Fall/Winter or Fall class to drop then you will be automatically dropped from the Fall/Winter or Fall class if you are eligible to enroll from the waitlist for the Winter class. This drop may result in a course withdrawal (WDN) for the Fall/Winter or Fall class. Select your alternative course from the same semester as the course you hope to add so you can avoid this problem.
  • Using Swap to Waitlist a Different Tutorial or Lab for a Course That You Are Already Enrolled In: Caution! If you use swap to waitlist a closed tutorial or laboratory section, you will be immediately dropped from the lecture section and added to the to the waitlist for both the lecture and tutorial/ laboratory section.
  • Keep track of which class you have set up to swap for each waitlisted course. While you can review which course you are waitlisted for on your class schedule, it will not display which class you have authorized a drop from if enrollment from waitlist was to occur.
  • You cannot modify your swap selection after you have joined the waitlist. If you want to change the class you have indicated to drop (or add a class to swap if you had not initially done so) then you must drop the waitlisted course and resubmit a swap request. Warning: You may lose your original position on the waitlist.