<p>Does it matter at all what position you are on a manual waitlist? Also, what are the chances of clearing the Math 1A waitlist if there are 310 students? Is there any chance this class gets expanded? I noticed the other two 1A classes have 400 and 350 students, respectively.</p>
<p>also, when are manual waitlists usually updated?</p>
<p>bump…anyone?</p>
<p>Both posters - manual waitlists are by definition fully customizable policies that a department can apply to any class they host. A manual waitlist has one or more people who have authorization to look through the waitlist and select people to move to registered status. The customizable aspects include:</p>
<ul>
<li>what preferences or policies to apply to choose the next person to move into the class</li>
<li>when to look at the waitlist</li>
<li>when to make moves</li>
</ul>
<p>A department might be concerned that a class that is in heavy demand might be an essential course for students in a major to complete, but due to the high demand there is risk that majors in the department might be delayed in graduating or be unable to complete their degree. If that is the driver for picking a manual waitlist, then the preference is likely to be based on both major and class level - those closest to graduation in the major are presumed to be at most risk of impact if they can’t get into this semester’s class - or it might involve reviewing records with the department advising group if the class and size of the major pool are both small enough to allow a labor intensive review of the degree plans and current status of all the students. This is pretty rare, but possible, because the high demand classes are usually associated with majors that have large populations which makes it infeasible to read all those records. </p>
<p>A manual waitlist might be implemented as part of a more comprehensive control over the class - with Bio 1A and 1AL as the most well known example - where someone from the department will also scan the registered student list and remove people who don’t fit their criteria. The manual waitlist is to ensure that nobody can jump back into a space or skip over people they would prefer to see registered. </p>
<p>A manual waitlist can also be implemented by someone who is concerned about fair access to a class, or a balanced demographic of student types by major, class level or whatever. </p>
<p>Manual waitlists are usually updated during the business day, if a department staffer is assigned or a GSI is processing this during unassigned hours, but for the convenience of the updating person it certainly could take place in the evenings or weekends or whenever it is most convenient for them. There is no place I know where you could find out the times when it is processed, one just has to look from time to time to see if they have moved. It is possible that a department could list the policy for clearing the waitlist and state the intended processing times. I haven’t come across an example but it seems reasonable that it could happen. </p>
<p>The maximum size of a class is usually determined by fire code. That is, the available rooms to conduct the lectures have maximum legal occupancies set by fire code and that constrains the size of the class to some lesser value, to cover GSIs, professor, and unregistered visitors. The only way to increase that max is to find a different room with a larger capacity. If it is a class with existing registered students, then the days and times can’t be changed which further constrains the pool of rooms. Since space is limited for large lectures, classes like Math 1A often have big waitlists and can’t easily jam in additional students. Sometimes the constraint is staffing - the number of GSIs available to assign to discussion sections - both due to budgeting to pay them and to raw availability of unassigned grad students. However, it is easier to add another discussion section than to move the lecture room, if the enrolled size of the class is still below the max due to shortage of slots in discussions. </p>
<p>The math department has often found ways to get more students into classes; these pop up at the beginning of the semester. Always worth trolling the schedule system looking for new sections to appear, because if one is opened it is possible to jump in with telebears before the department begins moving students from the waitlist, scoring a spot, but usually this is only possible for those not on the waitlist at all. </p>
<p>Departments like math whose courses are essential starting steps for many majors try hard to find solutions, as the colleges don’t want to have students spending extra semesters to complete degrees. It increases load on already strained resources, adding even more people per year who need space in classes, advisors, etc. The pressure is on for the foundation classes to be sufficiently available to avoid impacting the colleges. I have read many reports here of people who were cleared into foundational math classes with what appeared to be grim waitlist positions. Personally, I would go to the classes and keep up on the assumption that I will more likely than not be registered in the class within a few weeks.</p>
<p>Great info and advice. Thank you.</p>