<p>Can anyone say how hard it is to get into popular classes? Someone mentioned being "lotteried (??) out" of certain classes. How often does that happen? What are the most popular courses at Williams? My D is interested in physics and math, but looks forward to taking other classes as well (music, psych, etc.) At Harvard that rarely occurs because they don't cap classes but that of course leads to very large lectures in some cases, which she does not prefer.</p>
<p>My S is facing this right now with a tutorial that only has 10 students. It has been earmarked for another department. He went to the teacher involved who said he doesn’t know whether they’ll be a space for my s in this class, but he promised him a seat in either of two other classes he’s teaching this year, one in Spring, one in Fall. Was S disappointed? Yes, because this is the first tutorial he has really wanted to take (and he may still get it.) But he was pleased that the teacher offered him another excellent option. The courses cover very similar material.</p>
<p>So, although he has on occasion been closed out of a class, people have worked to provide him with an excellent solution. In some cases he has enjoyed the replacement class more.</p>
<p>I won’t say it never happens. I will say that it hasn’t been so odious that it has disturbed him.</p>
<p>It doesn’t happen in the kind of classes that would be large lectures, because there are some larger classes at Williams too (like psyche intros) that have sections, so it’s almost always possible to find a seat in those classes.</p>
<p>In my 4 years, there was only 1 class I couldn’t get into, and that was the Photography Winter Study course. I never had trouble with any academic course, and I was a science major.</p>