During pre-registration, although we display and record your class enrollment limit, an unlimited number of students are allowed to preregister for it. No priority is given to when a student preregisters for a course. After preregistration concludes, the Registrar's Office contacts faculty members whose class has overenrolled. The faculty member has two options:
Some faculty who are only a few students over their limit (fewer than 5) might choose to close their class to further enrollment, but keep all the preregistered students knowing that students shift their schedules in the first week of the semester. If you choose this option, you cannot hold a lottery on the first week of classes, except if additional seats open up. In this case, all the preregistered students must be admitted to the class and a lottery for the remaining seats can be held among those students who "shopped the class" on the first day.
If the faculty member decides to lottery their course, they may choose to lottery the course and keep a waitlist or simply drop the additional students. The waitlist may be as short or long as the faculty member likes.
The Registrar's Office distributes rosters showing student information, including prerequisites, class year, and major/minors for information while running the lottery. Lottery results can be entered by the faculty member using the STAR Lottery system in Virtual Bryn Mawr. The Registrar's Office is also more than happy to run the lottery for the faculty member.
Lottery Critiera
The lottery may be held according to almost any criteria the faculty member wants. Some of these criteria include:
There are also a few critiera that can't be used for a lottery:
After the lottery has been held, the Registrar's Office posted the lottery results on the website for students to see. Students that are dropped from the course have their registrations dropped for them. Students who were put on the waitlist remain on the roster. (Note: There is no designation on the roster to show who is waitlisted and who is enrolled. The faculty member must refer to the lottery website)
Once the lottery is posted, you must follow your lottery when classes begin. Any student on the "enrolled" list on the lottery page, must be granted admission into the class. Waitlisted students have next priority if spaces open up. If you still have available seats on the first day of classes, a secondary lottery can be held among those students who were shopping the class. Secondary lotteries must be held prior to the second class meeting. In all these situations, if a student does not show up on the first day of class, they forfeit their seat in the class even if they still appear on your roster.
If you have any questions about lotteries or what to do if you class is overenrolled, please contac the Registrar's Office.