Waitlists

Waitlists open on the first business day following priority registration and are removed at the end of the first week of classes.

How they work:

When a section of a course fills to the enrollment limit, students attempting to register through GWeb will receive a registration error message that a waitlist exists. The student will then be given the option of adding themselves to the waitlist for the course. If a student already enrolled in the course should drop, that seat will not become available for registration through GWeb if there is an active waitlist for the course.

In order to be offered the waitlist option, students must enter the CRN on the GWeb registration form. Using the class search option will not present the waitlist function.

When a seat becomes available, the first student on the waitlist will receive a notification to their official GW email  address. The student will have 24 hours from the time of the email to register for the class through the GWeb Register for Classes screen. Choose "Web Registered" from the drop down list under the Action column in the Summary and click "Submit" to register. It is the student's responsibility to check their preferred email  daily once on a waitlist. If they do not register for the class during that time period, the seat will be offered to the next student on the waitlist. GWeb registration is available 24 hours .

The Registrar's Office cannot extend a waitlist notification beyond the registration window nor reopen an expired notification. The automated system will offer the seat to the next student on the waitlist if it is not claimed within 24 hours.

Any registered class(es) which conflict with the time of the waitlisted course must be dropped through GWeb before or during the registration for the waitlisted course.

Promotion from a Waitlist:

The selection of students to be promoted from Waitlisted to Enrolled is not simply a first-come, first-served process. Seniors and then juniors are given priority when placing themselves on a waitlist. A variety of factors, including year of study and major/minor, will be considered by each academic unit when determining the order in which students will be selected from the waitlist as seats become available. Questions regarding a specific waitlist should be directed to the appropriate academic department or advising office.

Students cannot be registered for a class using an RTF-EZ or Registration Transaction form while there is an active waitlist. If it is necessary for a student to be registered in the class, they must first place themselves on the waitlist. The appropriate academic department or advising office can then move that student to the top of the waitlist and request an increase to the class enrollment cap, provided the room capacity has not been reached.

Things to Remember:

Obtaining a space on a waitlist should not be interpreted as a guarantee of getting a seat in the course. Waitlists can accommodate many more students than are likely to ultimately gain a seat in the course. This is done to allow departments to more accurately gauge the demand for a course. This information can be used by academic departments in future planning.

Time-conflict checking will not take place with waitlisted courses. Students will be permitted to register for courses which meet at the same time as waitlisted classes. This is done so that students retain the flexibility in their schedule to register for an alternate course. It is the students' responsibility to drop those conflicting classes through GWeb if a seat in the waitlisted course becomes available. Students may only register or waitlist for a single section of the same course.

In the case of a linked course, you will waitlist for the lab/discussion section. If offered a seat in the lab/discussion section, you must register for the lecture at the same time.

Should students change their mind about desiring a place on a waitlist, they should remove themselves from that particular waitlist through the GWeb system, which will allow another student to waitlist for that course.