<p>I'm trying to make a little comparison between private and and public education, so I'm wondering if students at Yale ever have to deal with the BS of having to take another redundant class because class enrollment is overloaded in the class they really wanted to take in a specific semester?</p>
<p>I never had a single issue. Nor did I know any other student with this issue either. Obviously, some specialized seminars required approval and they may have had limited space. Otherwise, the scheduling is extremely user-friendly. My wife attended a Big Ten school and it was nightmarish for her…</p>
<p>The only problem I had, or that my son has had, is having two classes you’d like to take scheduled at the same time. Sometimes there is a class you really need to take for your major, and that can have an effect on the rest of your schedule.</p>
<p>I attended a Big 10 school for undergrad and am now at Yale for grad school. There are a few differences between scheduling courses at a public vs. private, but it’s not all roses at either one. At Yale I’ve never had to deal with an over-enrolled course, which is a plus, but there is a selection process that goes into scheduling certain classes that I was not prepared for. </p>
<p>For instance, I would have loved to take Grand Strategy, but to enroll in the class you have to submit an application form, resume, a 1000-word essay on why you want to take the course, a research proposal, transcripts, two references, and do an interview - and then still hope you’re lucky enough to get selected. In my experience, that sort of differentiation between students who are otherwise within the same graduating class/same program does not occur when scheduling courses at public universities.</p>
<p>I don’t think that degree of material is typical for undergrad courses at Yale, though. There are some courses, like creative writing or music composition classes, that will require you to submit a portfolio.</p>
<p>The only time that really happens is for freshman seminars and other non-traditional courses that have limited enrollment. Otherwise, I haven’t heard of overload being much of a problem. Even if a course is technically full, a chat with the professor can usually get you in, from what I’ve heard.</p>
<p>The way final course selection works is submitting your schedule the 1-2nd week of school. At this point in time, nobody knows how many kids will be in a class. So for the vast vast majority of classes, there isn’t even a way to cap enrollment. The notable exceptions are freshman seminars (which are kept small), labs, writing seminars, and, to a certain extent, intro (112, 115, 120) math, but there will be lots of sections and they never all fill up.</p>
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<p>Since the OP is an incoming freshman, I’m thinking he/she is mostly interested in undergrad course selection, so this isn’t really a problem. The only class I’ve heard of having a selection process is Harold Bloom’s class, and I believe it’s much less involved than the one you described (an essay, I think).</p>
<p>To respond to the OP, essentially no problem. On the other hand, since Yale is a small school, many classes only have one section available (anything beyond intro classes pretty much), so if classes conflict, you have to postpone taking one. It doesn’t seem to be much of a hassle for most people since there are usually other classes the student would love to take, but it is a slight disadvantage.</p>
<p>The real issue that Yalies deal with is having too many classes they’d love to take any given semester but logic and time just don’t allow for it. Those eight semesters go quick and the list of “must take” classes is LOOOOOONG. Wait til you experience Shopping Period!</p>
<p>D1 had a similar problem as Hunt’s S. Premed courses and their labs often conflicted with other non-science classes she wanted to take.</p>
<p>Quite a few of the junior seminars have applications, at least in history, and enrollment is often limited to about 15. This is particular true for seminars with “name” professors.
As mentioned, creative writing courses and freshman seminar courses (at least some, anyway) have applications.
The undergraduate application for Grand Strategy is also very involved.
Enrollment preference may be given to majors in certain fields. For example, a course on the philosophy of time filled completely with philosophy and physics majors.
The final semester that Spence was teaching a course on the history of Japan, senior history majors had priority for enrollment, although others wound up being able to enroll.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I have not heard of anyone having difficulty graduating within 4 years, due to scheduling issues.</p>
<p>To put it another way, you may have trouble getting a class you want, but you are unlikely to have trouble getting one you need.</p>
<p>There are two issues involved here. First, Yale does have some classes and programs for which it limits enrollment. Not everyone who wants to do Directed Studies gets admitted, for example. The number is much larger than it was 20 years ago, but there are a number of frosh who show up in the fall each year who are disappointed because they didn’t make the cut. (If that’s no longer the case, please feel free to correct me.)</p>
<p>It also has some limited enrollment majors–architecture, EP&E and Global Studies are of this type. (There may be others; these are just the ones I know about.) Then there are classes for which the permission of the instructor is required to enroll. Lots of people who want to take some of these courses get turned away. Many of these are those in which talent is involved–acting, writing, studio art. Not all of them are of that type though. Then there are seminars that limit enrollment and are not offered more than once–lots of the residential college seminars fall into this group. Grand Strategy, which usually has half undergrads and half graduate students, also limits admissions. </p>
<p>Second, there are some popular majors in which it can be very hard to get into particular seminars. You won’t “need” them to graduate, but it can be hard to be an average or below average student in some large departments and get into the seminars you want. This can be an issue for students in majors like English, history, and pol sci. </p>
<p>So, personally, I think anyone who wants to go to Yale should understand that getting in does NOT mean you will definitely be able to take Directed Studies or major in architecture. And I know lots of Yalies who have been denied permission to take a number of courses they really want to take.</p>