CS course enrollment during Add/Drop period

During the Drop/Add period, we drop the enrolment caps by approximately 15% of the total enrolment number for the course to give advisors room to handle special cases. We will return the enrolment caps to their actual size during the second week of classes after we have had time to help students that fall under our special cases.

For Spring 2021, enrolment caps will return to their actual size on Thursday, May 13, 2021 (exact time unknown but usually during business hours). 

After the enrolment caps are returned to their actual size, the remaining space may continue to have reserves on the course, which will be removed usually the following day.

We will consider this question for each course on a case-by-case basis, in consultation with the instructor and in consideration of available teaching resources. If we are able to offer more seats, then we will offer them to the students on the waitlist first before opening up the course on a first-come-first-serve basis.

If you get a "reserve error" when adding a course on Quest, this means that a portion of the class’s enrolment is reserved for a particular group of students and you don't meet the reserve capacity requirements for that course. You can tell that a course has set aside a number of seats for a particular group of students on the Schedule of Classes, directly beneath each section that has a reserve capacity assigned.

Reserves will be removed by the Registrar's Office on Monday, May 17, 2021. The exact time is unknown, but the reserve restriction is usually removed during normal business hours. Once reserves are removed, then you can enroll into the course using Quest. Note that spaces in the course will be available on a first-come-first-served basis if the class section isn't already at its enrolment capacity.

If you get a “department consent” error when adding a course on Quest, it’s likely that the course has a waitlist (please see below for more information). You will not be able to add that course unless given consent by a CS advisor. 

Please note that courses that have a waitlist will not be available on a first-come-first-serve basis unless department consent has been removed. Department consent will only be removed once we have exhausted the waitlist. 

A waitlist is created when the demand for this course was greater than the number of available seats. Department consent has been placed on this course, and no one will be able to add the course without the permission of CS advisors. Quest may show that there is space in the course but this number is not accurate because the process is manual.

I didn't course select/pre-enroll for the waitlisted course. What do I do?

Waitlists are only used to manage students that have course selected/pre-enrolled in the previous term. If you didn’t participate in course selection, then you will need to wait for the list to become exhausted and department consent to be removed. Once department consent has been removed, then the course will be available on a first-come-first-serve basis. The removal of department consent on a course will be posted below and on our CS Blog. 

I course selected/pre-enrolled for the waitlisted course. What do I do?

If you pre-enrolled for a course and didn’t get in, then you are already on the waitlist. You have been placed on a waitlist for this course, along with all other students who requested this course during course selection, but did not get in. No other students will be placed on this list. We will fill any spots that open up in the course from the waitlist. Our selection will be random, so we are not able to tell you your place in line. If a position opens up for you, then we will contact you.

At this time, there is no need for you to take any action. However, you must respond to us when we contact you once a space does become available; otherwise, we will assume that you are no longer interested in the course. If we do not hear from you when we contact you, then we will remove you from the waitlist and offer the space to another student. Please be sure to check your junk mail on occasion.

If you have decided that you no longer want this course or you no longer meet the prerequisites, then we would appreciate if you would let us know (csadvisor@cs.uwaterloo.ca) as it would help the other students on the waitlist.

If you have decided to take another CS course instead of the one in which you are on the waitlist for, then please contact us (csadvisor@cs.uwaterloo.ca) for assistance. Note that the course you choose must be one that is not waitlisted, as we will not add you to another course's waitlist. 

Please note that if you have requested another CS course, but was not successfully enrolled and you did not receive an email informing that you are on the waitlist for that course, then you should contact CS advisors for assistance.  

For Spring 2021, some courses have waitlists and department consent has been placed on these courses. Waitlists are only created when the number of students who course selected/pre-enrolled into the course is greater than the number of spots in the course.

Spring 2021 courses with waiting lists:​

• CS330 - Department consent removed April 8, 2021
• CS449 - Department consent removed April 19, 2021
• CS480
• CS492

Students who want to be enrolled in courses that have a waitlist, but did not participate during course selection, will need to wait until the waitlist is exhausted and department consent has been removed. A post will be made on the CS blog when/if department consent is removed on courses with a waitlist. If you receive a message from Quest about needing department consent, then this means that there is still a waitlist on that course. 

We will not override you into any CS courses unless you meet our specific special case guidelines listed below. We do not make exceptions to this rule! In general, we also do not override prerequisites for our courses. 

1. Students who participated in course selection but something went wrong because of:

• enrolment capacity in a course *
• a time conflict *
• an academic enrolment block was applied after course selection
• dropping or failing a course after course selection

2. Students who could not select courses because of:

• a recent transfer to CS

• their status as international exchange students

• hospitalization

• an S&P or ELPE decision or related academic matters

*Please review more information regarding waitlists.

Students in Engineering who wish to take CS courses must wait until the second week of the term and if there is still space available. See the full FAQ 78 for guidelines and eligibility requirements.