<p>I'm looking to take Math 1A that has a couple dozen seats available, but all the class' discussion sessions or whatever they're called are full. I don't understand how this makes sense.</p>
<p>I asked the same thing and someone said that if Disc sections are full, the class is officially full regardless if Lect has rooms :(! I’m not sure what to do now though :(!</p>
<p>The “class size” is most likely just literally the number of seats they have in the lecture room and not really representative of other stuff. </p>
<p>Discussion sections are taught by individual GSIs and each one of them can only teach so many students, and in this case the # of students however many GSIs can teach is less than the number of seats in the lecture room.</p>
<p>So, get into a Discussion and you will get into the course (as a whole). The # of seats in lecture doesn’t matter in this case.</p>
<p>That makes a lot of sense now. Thanks! I’m position #39 in the waiting list…can anyone tell me what kind of change I have with getting in Math 1A. What gets confusing is the fact that it made me pick a discussion time when I signed up to be on the waiting list…that’s not very flexible.</p>
<p>Actually, I think the number of discussions is not reflective of how many people are allowed in the course. As far as I know, they tend to open more discussion sections as telebear phase I/II progresses, so if you check back frequently, you may find that new discussion sections will open to accommodate everyone in the lectures.</p>
<p>^ That’s true, sometimes they do open new discussion sections.</p>
<p>When it made you pick a discussion time, did you choose the one that had the shortest waitlist? That improves your odds of getting into the class for obvious reasons.</p>
<p>for african american studies r1b there are 9 enerolled and 27 on waiting list. the class size is of 17. why are there seats available but people on the waiting list? also its discussion has a limit 0f 29 but class size is 17. why? also it says that the waitlist will be processed manually by the department. what does that mean? what decides who they choose?</p>
<p>Agneisse, I think so. I’ll double check. Does anyone know how likely it is that a #39 on the waiting list will get the class? Class: MATHEMATICS 1A P 003 LEC </p>
<p>And Oscarg1, thanks for hijacking my thread to talk about a class the absolutely nobody cares about. ;)</p>
<p>@Buzz22 You mad bro?</p>
<p>buzz22 - I don’t see Oscarg1 as hijacking the thread, since the title is “Class has room, discussions full” which is a general title not specific to one class. Seems like fair game to post about any class with this situation. </p>
<p>In any case, the general rule of thumb is that about 10% of the class size will drop and let in those on the waitlist. For classes with discussion sections, those control your odds, not your position on the Math 1A P 003 waitlist. You will only clear into the main lecture WHEN you clear into a discussion section. These are 25 students in size, thus the rule of thumb says the first 2 on the waitlist should clear, the third is iffy, the rest don’t look so good unless they expand the section size or add more sections. Your position as 39 on the overall waitlist tells you nothing. Did you happen to remember your position waiting for the Math 1A S 3xx section? That will determine your fate. However, the entry math classes have been particularly good for waitlisted students which may mean the rule of thumb isn’t as useful for this class, just as the rule of thumb is pretty bad for R&C classes where very few get off the waitlist. </p>
<p>Oscarg1 - African American R1B enrolls by categories - there are two, instructor approval and ‘open’. However, the seats alloted to the open category, 9 or less, are all taken. Now the only category with space to enroll is the ‘instructor approval’ category. You have to email or speak to the instructor and convince them to give you a unique course entry code (CEC) to enroll into that category that still has seats. Anyone who tries to enroll without the CEC will go onto the waitlist. <a href=“http://infobears.berkeley.edu:3400/osc/?_InField1=RESTRIC&_InField2=503&_InField3=11D2[/url]”>http://infobears.berkeley.edu:3400/osc/?_InField1=RESTRIC&_InField2=503&_InField3=11D2</a></p>
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<p>If you click on the little link about enrollment restrictions, you get this:</p>
<p><a href=“http://infobears.berkeley.edu:3400/osc/?_InField1=RESTRIC&_InField2=503&_InField3=11D2[/url]”>http://infobears.berkeley.edu:3400/osc/?_InField1=RESTRIC&_InField2=503&_InField3=11D2</a></p>
<p>Apparently, some of the seats in that course are reserved for instructor approval, while the seats available for any student to enroll are completely filled. So contact the department or instructor about how the class entry codes are given if you want to enroll in that course.</p>
<p>rider730, thank you VERY much for you info. I’m now number 2 on the waiting list I signed up for, so hopefully it’ll work out.</p>
<p>Do I email the department or the professor?</p>
<p>oscarg1 - generally email the professor unless the department website or course catalog listing explicitly names someone else as administering the class. </p>
<p>Here is an explicit mention - [UCB</a> Online Schedule of Classes: Search Results](<a href=“http://osoc.berkeley.edu/OSOC/osoc?y=0&p_term=FL&p_deptname=--+Choose+a+Department+Name+--&p_classif=--+Choose+a+Course+Classification+--&p_presuf=--+Choose+a+Course+Prefix%2FSuffix+--&p_course=1a&p_dept=bio&x=0]UCB”>http://osoc.berkeley.edu/OSOC/osoc?y=0&p_term=FL&p_deptname=--+Choose+a+Department+Name+--&p_classif=--+Choose+a+Course+Classification+--&p_presuf=--+Choose+a+Course+Prefix%2FSuffix+--&p_course=1a&p_dept=bio&x=0) points you to [BIOLOGY</a> 1A&1AL ENROLLMENT](<a href=“http://mcb.berkeley.edu/courses/bio1a/enroll/]BIOLOGY”>BIOLOGY 1A&1AL ENROLLMENT) which at the bottom lists an ‘enrollment coordinator’</p>
<p>without something like this, always go with the professor</p>
<p>what are some things i should say in the email? i really want to take the class but i am kind of intimidated about how my message may sound. i dont want to sound pushy.</p>
<p>Is there a personal connection to the class? Something you can relate that shows why you are interested in this particular class and not just any convenient R&C. </p>
<p>Here is the booklist [Class</a> Textbook and Course Materials Requirements courtesy of Cal Student Store](<a href=“efollett”>efollett)</p>
<p>Any book here you have already read? Look at the summaries on Amazon.com and based on that, see if you have any personal experiences or have friends/family who have experiences related to any of the books. </p>
<p>If you are African-American, there is an obvious link. If you have African ancestry but didn’t live in an area that featured the culture, you could talk about exploring the experiences you missed. If you are international then you might want to understand how citizens with African ancestry lived and experienced life in the US. </p>
<p>Also, search on the professors name to see their publications and read reviews of the class to understand what viewpoint and interests the professor has. You might be able to relate your interest to that. For example, and this is totally made up as I don’t know the course nor the professor, lets say the professor applies a marxist historical analysis to the black experience in his or her writings, then you may be able to write about an interest in some unrelated subject like political science or economics or history and tie it to this class through the lens of the professors outlook. The professor might focus on activism and protest, in which case you might be interested in Berkeley’s history of rebellion and how it addressed these issues. </p>
<p>In other words, get a bit specific to stand out, otherwise speak from the heart about why the topics they will cover are particularly appealing to you.</p>