Wait List Policy and Procedures

Automated Wait Lists

Wait lists at UC San Diego are automated. When a seat becomes available in a course, the next eligible person on the waitlist will be automatically enrolled. If you do not meet the class requirements/prerequisites or have other enrollment holds the waitlist system will not add you to the class. Classes can be waitlisted until the end of the second week of classes.

Resource: How to Wait-List a Class

Special Circumstances and Late Adds

At the end of the second week of classes, instructors teaching upper-division courses may choose to enroll students over the enrollment limit for the class. Each professor will decide how many students they would like to enroll off the waitlist, and send the list of students' names to the Undergraduate Coordinator who will submit a Late Add request on behalf of those students. 

Instructors teaching HILD courses may not add students over the enrollment limit because that would put the department in violation of our contract with the TA Union. Students on the waitlist who need the course to graduate are encouraged to monitor all sections for available seats. We also recommend that students speak to the instructor about the necessary conditions for adding the course after the add/drop deadline should a seat become available.