Waitlisting for Discussion/Lab Sections Associated with a Lecture

Waitlisting is a registration feature that allows students to join a queue for enrollment—a waitlist—for a discussion/lab section that has reached its maximum enrollment.

  • Waitlisting is only an option during the registration period. Waitlists are removed after registration closes and are not an option during add/drop period.
  • Not all discussion/lab sections are set up with the waitlist option.
  • The corresponding lecture does not have a waitlist.
  •  Yale Course Search requires simultaneous enrollment in both the lecture and the discussion/lab section.

Register for the Lecture

  1. Log into Yale Course Search.
  2. Search for and select the desired lecture then click ADD TO REGISTRATION WORKSHEET.
  • The blue worksheet icon shows you are not yet registered in the lecture. This will change once you register for a discussion/lab section.
  • If the lecture is full there is no option to register.

Register for the Associated Discussion/Lab Section

  1. Log into Yale Course Search.
  2. Search for and select the desired discussion/lab section then click ADD TO REGISTRATION WORKSHEET.
  3. If the discussion/lab section is full, look in the Registration Options panel to see if the section has the waitlist option. If it does,  select Yes from the ADD TO WAITLIST IF CLASS IS FULL dropdown menu. Then click SAVE CHANGES.
  4. The course will show in the Worksheet Contents panel. The hourglass icon indicates you are on the waitlist.
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  • If the discussion/lab section does not have a waitlist option, either remove the lecture from your worksheet or select a different section.
  • The hourglass icon indicates that you are not yet enrolled in the discussion/lab section. When you get and confirm a seat in the discussion/lab section, you will be enrolled in both the lecture and the section at the same time.

Checking Your Position on the Waitlist

  1. Refresh the Yale Course Search page.
  2. Open your registration worksheet.
  3. Select the waitlisted discussion/lab section. The section details screen will display your position on the waitlist.
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Claiming Your Seat in the Discussion/Lab Section

You will receive an email when a seat becomes available in a waitlisted discussion/lab section. When you receive the email, you have 24 hours to claim your seat.

  • You will not be added to a course off of the waitlist if adding the course  puts you over 5.5 credits. You will need to remedy this by dropping enough credits to be added to the course.
  1. Log into Yale Course Search.
  2. Open your registration worksheet. The act of logging into Yale Course Search and opening your registration worksheet is the only way to claim your seat in the discussion/lab section.
  • You will see the waitlisted section’s hourglass icon has changed to a checkmark, indicating you are registered. You will also see a checkmark confirming your registration in the associated lecture.
  • You can only be enrolled, or on a waitlist, not both. The system will not allow you to be enrolled in one discussion/lab section and on the waitlist for a different discussion/lab section for the same lecture.
  • Notifications to students to add themselves to a course off of the waitlist ends 24 hours before the registration period closes. This allows notified students a 24-hour window before registration closes to claim their seat off of the waitlist.
  • Students should register for a different course if they have not received notification of a seat in that 24-hour window.

Final Steps

If you don’t have a seat in the discussion/lab section, decide what further action to take:

1. Remove the lecture from your worksheet.

    OR

2. Register for a different section (with seats) or join the waitlist for a different section.