Waitlist FAQ for LSU Faculty & Administrators


General Information

The on-line Waitlisting feature allows LSU Students to add their name to a Waiting List for a FULL section of a class that they want to register for.

FIRST: The Student will join a Waitlist through the myLSU Portal.  (View Join a Waitlist for a Course for detailed instructions.)

THEN: The Student will be moved off the Waitlist and added to the Course as space becomes available. 

Joining a Waitlist DOES NOT guarantee a seat in the class, it just gives a student the ability to hold a spot in line should a seat open up.
 

Join a Waitlist

The Waitlist function is ONLY available for Sections of Course that are FULL. In order to be presented with the option to join a waitlist, you must first Attempt to ADD the desired course to your schedule.

How to Schedule & Drop Courses?
 

Frequently Asked Questions

What sections of courses will be Waitlisted?

Waitlists will be utilized for courses numbered below 6000. In addition, courses numbered 6000 and above can now be waitlisted at the department's discretion. Waitlists will not be accessible until a section’s enrollment maximum is met. All lecture/lab courses and courses that meet at different class periods are eligible to be waitlisted. In addition to these courses, all held, linked, and permission of department sections cannot be waitlisted. Variable credit and courses that can be repeated for credit are also unable to be waitlisted.

How does Waitlisting work?

Each Waitlist contains 100 slots which can be filled by students attempting to add the full section. When a student enrolled in the section drops the course, is purged, or otherwise changes their schedule, the student in the number one slot on the waitlist will be added into the section. Check the Registration Calendar for each semester / term for deadlines regarding joining Waitlists and being moved off of Waitlists and into classes.

Are students moved off Waitlist and moved into courses as soon as spaces become available?

No, the process is not interactive. This is done through a batch job that is run at 5:30 AM, 12:00 noon, and 10:00 PM, each day. Therefore, if departments add seats to sections for which waitlists exists, the VSEC and VCST screens will show the sections are full because the waitlisted students will take seats the next time the batch program runs.

What can Administrators do with Waitlists?

Administrators can view entire Waitlists to see which students have reserved a spot and their positions on the Waitlist.

Administrators can add and remove students from a Waitlist or temporarily freeze a Waitlist in order to check the eligibility of students on the Waitlist. While a Waitlist is frozen, we will continue to move students off of the list and move them into the course, but NO NEW STUDENTS can join the Waitlist.

Administrators can request a report of the names of students who were on any given Waitlist but DID NOT get into the course.

What can Students do with Waitlists?

Students can join a Waitlist for any course they DO NOT currently have scheduled.

Students can ONLY join one Waitlist per course and there is a maximum of three active Waitlists per Semester.

Students are unable to see the entire Waitlist, but they may check their placement on a list in the myLSU Portal.

In addition, students can also request that the system automatically drop a class if adding a waitlisted course would cause a time conflict in the student’s schedule.

What can Instructors do with Waitlists?

Instructors can view the Waitlists for the Courses that they are teaching, using the VWLT (View – Waitlist) Screen. 

Instructors will not be able to alter or edit the Waitlists in any way.

Will Residential College courses be Waitlisted?

Residential College courses WILL NOT be Waitlisted because LSU Staff manually schedule Residential College courses for the Residential College students.

When are Waitlists available?

Waitlists are available to students throughout the registration process. When a section is full, a Waitlist is automatically created and may immediately be joined by students.

What if I DO NOT want to Waitlist my courses?

We automatically set the Waitlist Flag on the USEC (Update – Course Section) Screen to “Y” for classes numbered below 6000.

If departments DO NOT want to Waitlist courses, they can reset the flag to “N.”  (The Flag MUST be set BEFORE students join the Waitlists.)

Can I raise or lower the number of students allowed to Waitlist my course?

Initially each Waitlist contains 100 slots. Departments can lower the number of slots, but not raise the limit. We encourage departments, however, not to lower the limit so we gather more accurate unmet course demand data.

Can I still "Override" and get a student into a class?

Yes, departments can still Override students to get  them into classes.

Departments can Add and Remove students from a Waitlist, but departments CANNOT change the student's position on Waitlist.  

When a department Overrides a student on the Waitlist into the Course, the student will automatically be removed from the Waitlist.

Can I add a student to a Waitlist if the student DOES NOT meet the Prerequisites for the Course?

If we have implemented interactive prerequisite checking for the course, departments cannot add students to the course’s waitlist.

Can I shut off a Waitlist?

Once a student joins a Waitlist, the Department CANNOT shut off the Waitlist without obtaining permission from the Office of the University Registrar.

A Department may temporarily Freeze a Waitlist, during which time NO students can Join or Remove themselves from a Waitlist. This may be necessary if departments need to check the eligibility of students on the list.

What students are eligible to Waitlist courses?

All students may have up to three Waitlists active at any time per term. Students can waitlist even if they have not yet scheduled any other classes. However, students will be prevented from joining waitlists if they do not meet the prerequisites being checked interactively or if the course has other stipulations such as Majors Only that the student does not meet.

If a student joins a Waitlist, are they guaranteed a seat?

No.  Joining a Waitlist DOES NOT guarantee a seat in the Course.

If a seat in the class never opens up, they will not be moved off the waitlist and into the section. It is up to the student to decide when they can no longer wait for a class and have to schedule an alternative course instead.

Do Waitlisted Courses count towards a student’s credit hour max?

No, Waitlisted courses are not used to determine if students have reached their credit hour maxes.  Waitlisted Courses ARE NOT used to assess fees.

What happens to Waitlisted students if their Courses are purged?

If a student has their courses purged for non-payment or for being scholastically dropped, they will be automatically deleted from any waitlist they were on.

How can students join a Waitlist?

Students can join a waitlist via the Schedule Request Link in the myLSU Portal.  In order to be presented with the option to join a Waitlist, students must first attempt to Add the desired course to their schedule.

When joining a Waitlist that conflicts with a previously scheduled class, the student has the option to have the conflicting class automatically dropped to make room for the Waitlisted class.  (Select the "WD" option.)

How will students know if they are added to a class?

Students will automatically receive an e-mail message notifying them that they have been moved off a Waitlist and into a class. Therefore, students need to check their e-mail regularly.

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