<p>So while registering for classes and being a non-senior, I realized that they fill up rather quickly. So I was wondering what people's experiences have been with waitlisting for a class. If you get on a waitlist do you generally get in? Is there anything I can do to increase my chances of getting into a closed class? Obviously I'm going to make a schedule as a back-up, but there are 1 or 2 classes that are full and I really need/want to take.</p>
<p>Any advice would be appreciated.</p>
<p>This is why AP credits and retro are amazing. I’m a sophomore and registered with the seniors. 
What classes are you specifically trying to get in to? For many, you’ll just have to wait, if you’re on an actual waitlist. I’ve never had experience with waitlists, but maybe someone else here has.</p>
<p>If there’s no waitlist, check back periodically. Seats are added to some classes as time goes on, people drop their section, etc. It’s about being there at the right time, and then you can enroll when the time comes. You can also email the professor to ask if they plan on adding any more seats, and what you can do to get into the class. You aren’t the only person in this situation, though, so don’t act like it. I had to email a professor, and what I had to do was show up on the first day of classes, talk to her in person, she wrote down my name and student ID and sent it to the department, and I got authorization to enroll. That won’t happen for two months though, but email now and ask the professor. If the professor is TBA, ask the department. They likely won’t do anything for you now, but it helps to show them how many people are interested in adding the class over what they currently have.</p>
<p>
Except for first year students, as is being discussed beginning with post #8 here:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-wisconsin-madison/813335-how-hard-graduate-4-yrs-uw.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-wisconsin-madison/813335-how-hard-graduate-4-yrs-uw.html</a></p>
<p>^I’ve already read that and still think they are. They help them get into classes they want to before the majority of other freshman. Things like that are easily remedied by emailing the professor and waiting, not having your parents post on a forum.</p>
<p>And if the class closes in the meantime, that sucks, but they will probably be able to get in eventually. It’s a bit of a headache, but the pros far outweigh the cons.</p>
<p>
Not so:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063562242-post31.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063562242-post31.html</a></p>
<p>And I think you’re missing the point of why people are posting their and their friends’ experiences with these problems on this forum. It’s not about students having their parents post on CC; it’s about people sharing pertinent information so that others can realize it’s not just an isolated event, it’s a pattern of problems that are occurring because of policies that are seriously out of alignment with students’ academic needs.</p>
<p>It’s hard to recognize a problematic pattern that needs to be addressed systemically if no one shares info.</p>
<p>Note the second student quoted did NOT talk with a professor but with a low level person. She should have gone through her advisor or the course professor. There have always been problems with getting what you want in any system, part of the learning is how to make a system work for you. The people who don’t take initiatives to try to solve their problems get stuck in the low echelons in the workplace also. I’m sure there are many students at EVERY college who either had to make compromises in their original ideal schedules or otherwise made their system work for them. Sometimes it is a matter of choosing an elective to fit into a schedule, changing which semester in which to take a course, etc. It is an imperfect world.</p>