Department consent & course waitlists

If you get a “Department Consent” error when adding a course on Quest, it’s likely that the course has a waitlist (see below). You will not be able to add that course unless given consent by a CS advisor, given that you are on the waitlist or are a special case. 

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. See above for exact dates.

For Fall 2024, 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.

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 Undergrad Community (on LEARN) 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. 

A waitlist is created for the students who chose the course during course selection and did not get in. This usually happens when the demand for this course was greater than the number of available seats. Students on the waitlist are sent an email informing them of this (see below), usually before enrolment appointments begin.

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. 

Waitlists are only used to manage students that have participated in course selectition 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. The removal of department consent on a course will be posted above.

Once removed, then the course will be available on a first-come-first-serve basis. 

If you course selected or 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 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 the CS advisors 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.