Enrollment & Waitlist Troubleshooting

Prerequisites & enrollment requirements

Prerequisites are courses that need to be taken before you begin taking the selected class.

• If you are currently enrolled in a course that is a prerequisite: the system should allow you to enroll in the next course, if you are currently taking a prerequisite for the course you want, because it assumes you will pass the prerequisite. However, you will be dropped from the course just before instruction begins if you ultimately do not pass the prerequisite.
• Prerequisites from Other Institutions: If you’ve completed prerequisites elsewhere but face enrollment issues, contact the department or college offering the course. Newly admitted students taking summer classes before their first fall should send unofficial transcripts or proof of prerequisites to summeredge@ucsc.edu.
• Unrecognized Prerequisites: If you believe you’ve met prerequisites but encounter errors, carefully review the course’s prerequisites and restrictions in the Class Search. If issues persist, email registrar@ucsc.edu, or summer@ucsc.edu for summer classes.​
• Mandatory Sections Closed: If a class is open but required sections are full, reach out to the department offering the class for assistance.​
• Placement exam scores: You can view your placement exam scores on MyUCSC:
  • Log in to MyUCSC.​
  • Click on the “My Academics” tile.​
  • Select “Test Scores” from the left-side menu.
  • Click “View All” to see all official examination results.

Holds on enrollment

A hold may be placed on your enrollment for various reasons, including unpaid debts, junior standing without a declared major, and others. When you attempt to enroll in MyUCSC, a hold creates an error message. You can view your holds by logging on to the MyUCSC portal and clicking on the Student Center. Information on how to remove each hold (or which office placed the hold) is included in the hold details.

Waitlisting: common questions and tips

In fall, winter, and spring quarters during your waitlist appointment, you may begin adding up to 14 waitlist credits. You can see your waitlist appointment in your MyUCSC Student Center by selecting “details” under “Enrollment Dates.”

The waitlist runs every half-hour during normal business hours through the seventh day of instruction. After the seventh day of instruction, waitlists will disappear and you must have a permission number to enroll in a class.

Your waitlist position number may not indicate the order in which you will be enrolled in the class. For example, your waitlist position will be skipped if you have scheduled the course with a time conflict or have attempted to enroll in more than your allotted credits. If you are still on the waitlist at the start of instruction, attend the first class meeting to determine if you will be able to enroll. You may be dropped for not attending the first class meeting. Some things to consider:

• Waitlisting does not guarantee enrollment;
• Waitlisting does not guarantee more seats will open in a class;
• Error messages do not indicate that space is being held open in a class or that enrollment is guaranteed. 

Pro Tip: When choosing a course which has multiple enrollment options (e.g., MATH 19A-01 and MATH 19A-02) or has required secondary discussion sections or labs, make sure to “View All” to see all options. Sign up for all classes that work in your schedule. Also, when signing up for a class that has a secondary discussion section or lab, add the secondary discussion section or lab that fits in your schedule with lowest waitlist enrollment or most open seats. This will improve your chances of getting in when a spot opens up one of the courses.

Following the 7th day of instruction, the wait list function will end. The wait list is no longer an option for enrollment in a class and permission numbers are required to enroll (instructors and/or departments issue permission numbers). Check your portal to ensure you know if you were enrolled from the waitlist. If you are still on the waitlist at the start of instruction, make sure to attend the first class meeting to determine if you can enroll. Being on the waitlist is not a guarantee of eventual enrollment.

How to waitlist a course:

• Sign in to MyUCSC and select the Enrollment or Student Center tile.
• Select the add tab at the top of page. Select the correct quarter and type in the five-digit course number of the course you would like to waitlist.
• Check the “Waitlist if class is full” box and select Next.
• If you would like to drop another course that you are currently enrolled in (to allow you to add the wait-listed course if space becomes available),  you can indicate this in the “If Enrolled Drop This Class” drop down menu. You may only select a class as “Drop if Enrolled” once. Note: if you need to use a permission number, you cannot also use “Drop if Enrolled.” The waitlist process will error and you will not be enrolled.
• Review your selection and select Proceed to Step 2 of 3.
• To complete the enrollment select Finish Enrolling. 
• A checkmark under Status means that your enrollment was successful.

How to drop a wait-listed course:

• Sign in to MyUCSC. Select the Enrollment or Student Center tile.
• Select the drop tab at the top of the page. Select the correct quarter and check the box next to the course you wish to remove from your waitlist.
• Select the secondary section that you would like to change or just select next for no changes to the secondary section.
• Select the Drop Selected Classes box.
• Confirm the selection and select Finish Dropping. A checkmark under Status means that your drop was successful.

How to edit your secondary section while on the waitlist:

If you are unable to successfully enroll in a wait-listed course because of too many credits or a time conflict, you can edit your waitlist.

• Sign in to MyUCSC. Select the Enrollment or Student Center tile.
• Select the edit tab on the top of the page. Select the correct quarter and choose the course you would like to edit. Select Proceed to Step 2 of 3.
• Select the secondary section that you would like to change or just select next for no changes to the secondary section.
• Indicate the course you would like to drop if you are enrolled in your wait-listed course in the “If Enrolled Drop This Class” drop down menu. Select Next.
• Review your selection and select Finish Editing to process your edit request. A checkmark under Status means that your edit was successful. You can return to the edit tab at any time to review the setup of your wait-listed course.

Detailed instructions on how to edit a wait-listed course.

If you preemptively drop the class that you have specified as your Drop if Enrolled class, you will remain on the waitlist, but without a Drop if Enrolled class. You may not get into the wait-listed class if your enrollment will exceed your credit limit. If you change the section for your Drop If Enrolled option, that class will no longer be listed as your Drop If Enrolled class, because your enrollment setup has been changed. In this case, you may edit your waitlist enrollment to specify a new Drop if Enrolled class.

How to view your position on the waitlist:

• Sign in to MyUCSC. Select the Student Center tile.
• Under the Academics heading on the top left of the page is a drop-down menu that says “more links…” Select Class Schedule from that menu and select the Go button.
• Your wait-listed classes will be shown on the Class Schedule page, and your waitlist position is shown in the Waitlist Position column.
• It is important to make sure you do not have any time conflicts or too many credits. If so, the process will fail to enroll you and move on to the next person on the waitlist.
• Note: The waitlist system may try to enroll you even if you are not number one on the waitlist due to scheduling issues for preceding waitlisted students.

Waitlisting for classes with mandatory corequisites (for example, a lecture with a required lab):

• Waitlists in My.UCSC do not allow simultaneous enrollment in classes that are mutual corequisites. These courses are modified during the waitlist period to allow enrollment,, so that students must add one course, usually the lab, and follow that enrollment with the corequisite offering. 
• For courses with mutual co-requisites, please add the required lecture once you are successfully enrolled in the lab, and/or follow the instructions from the sponsoring department.

The $10 Waitlist Correction Fee and how to avoid it:

The Waitlist Correction Fee is charged when students ask Registrar’s staff to switch their waitlisted course options, on their behalf,  during fall, winter, or spring enrollment. The fee does not apply to manual actions taken by you, and does not apply to the first correction (the fee will be automatically waived for the first call). You can avoid the fee by being strategic in your enrollment.

• Enroll in a backup class first.
• Enroll in the wait-listed course, checking the “Waitlist if class is full” box. Indicate in the “If Enrolled Drop This Class” drop down menu which back up course you would drop if enrolled in the wait-listed course.
• Check to make sure you do not have any time conflicts with the wait-listed course.
• Some co-requisite labs require a two-step waitlist process. Sign up on the waitlist for the lab. Once enrolled in the lab, you will then be notified to enroll in the co-requisite class.

Waitlisting two offerings of the same course: 

If a course is offered more than once, you can waitlist both offerings – however, once you are enrolled off of the waitlist in one offering of the course, you will automatically be dropped from the wait list of the course that you did not get into.

If you are already enrolled in one offering of a class and would like to wait list for a different offering, you must set up the wait-list enrollment as a swap so that you are not dropped from the wait-listed class. For example, if you are enrolled in Physics 6L-01 and you’d rather be in Physics 6L-02, you will need to set up the enrollment so that if you get into Physics 6L-02 you will be dropped from Physics 6L-01. Otherwise, the system will drop you off of the wait list from Physics 6L-02 and you will remain enrolled in Physics 6L-01.

Please be aware that if you change your section for the enrolled offering of the class, that class will no longer be listed as your “drop if enrolled” class, because the enrollment has changed, and you will be automatically dropped from the waitlisted class.