<p>Clearly, ECON 2010 is a pretty high demand class, as it was basically full when I went to orientation back in July. On Lou's List, it seems that the section I want to take, has all 480 spots filled. On the other hand, looking at past years, there always seems to be 30-40 extra spaces, so that the actual enrollment is about 510-520. I just went into SIS, and added that section to my enrollment requests to see what would happen; when I did so, since the class was closed I didn't get in, but instead of saying that the class was full, it said "Instructor permission required." So, I was wondering basically what that meant, or how hard it would be to get one of those extra spaces that are there every year.</p>
<p>Courses that are going to be popular with incoming first-years work on a system which is designed to give the same shot to somebody who comes for their advising and course signup late in the summer as it gives somebody who comes earlier. As each group of incoming first-years hits Grounds in July and August, another slew of seats is made available by the registrar. In the meantime the course will be declared “closed” even though it hasn’t reached its total enrollment.</p>
<p>Email the professor to indicate your interest; if there’s an automated waitlist, put your name on that too. After the last advising session any remaining seats will be made available, so keep checking and pounce on any that turn up on SIS. And as a last resort, show up for the first class meeting and try to talk yourself in; in my department (not ECON) anybody who doesn’t show up for the first class meeting (or email the instructor ahead of time with a good excuse) is dropped and those who do show up are allowed to take their places. There is a lot of movement in course registration in August/early September.</p>