Let the games begin!

September 3 to September 13, 2024. The fateful days known as your first-ever shopping period. The shopping period is when you are able to add and drop courses without penalty, so that you can test out or “shop” classes you may or may not want to keep on your schedule. After September 13 you will no longer be able to add a course, but you will still be able to drop courses until October 8.

By September 3, you’ve hopefully made some choices on what classes you want to take, but, unless you’re incredibly lucky, your schedule probably has some snags. Maybe you can’t decide which classes to drop to stay within 18 credits. Maybe you got waitlisted for the one lab you’re okay with taking, Introduction to Psychology (we’ve all been there, keep your head up). Maybe you took a risk signing up for a class that you think might be way too difficult, or way too boring. But, by September 13, you will have had a chance to work out all of these issues. You will hopefully be able to narrow down your course choices and beg your way off of some waitlists. So how do you do that?

How do I choose what classes to shop?

You can start big or small. This one is kind of up to you. There is nothing stopping you from making a list of every class you might want to take, pulling up to all of them, and then narrowing them down. The issue with this method is that Barnumbia course registration (SSOL or Self-Service) platforms won’t let you register for two classes that meet at the same time, but you can still try them out on different days if you feel so inclined. You also can only technically register for 19 credits and you can only be on three waitlists at once. So basically, you can’t hold your seat in every class. 

You can also just create the schedule you think you’re going to stick to for the semester, go to those classes, and if you don’t like them for whatever reason, switch them out. The issue here is that you might not get into your replacement classes because you’ll be registering later than a lot of people.

Whichever way you choose to go about the shopping period, you should definitely go to your waitlist classes. If you’re trying to get into a class, show initiative by showing up. Chances are, someone that is registered for the class isn’t going to show up, so you could take their spot.

Regardless of how you approach the shopping period, you should absolutely show up to the first class of everything you are registered for!

How do I get off a waitlist?

Ah, the dreaded yellow box on your schedule! The first thing I recommend that you do is check your position on the waitlist, and check how many seats there are in a class. To do this, go to the registration tab of SSOL. If the class is a 70 person lecture, and you’re in the top five on the waitlist, you’re probably good and don’t need to do anything. Most likely, five people will drop the class and you’ll be in. 

If the class is a seminar, you’re lower down on the waitlist, or if the waitlist is instructor-managed, the second thing you’ll need to do is send an email to the professor. Here is a tried and true email template, courtesy of Bwog’s internal editor Jess Tsang, that I have used on many occasions:

Dear Professor X,

Hope you are doing well. My name is X, and I am a first-year at X College. I am interested in majoring in X major, and I am passionate about X thing related to course. I would love to take your course, X course. This course is a culmination of my academic and personal interests, and would allow me to fulfill requirements for X major. I look forward to X thing from the syllabus you look forward to. This course would allow me to grow my passion for X thing related to course. I would love to get off the waitlist to take this class. 

Thank you for your consideration, 

Your name

One thing that’s great about being a first-year is that you haven’t declared a major yet. This way, you can say you’re interested in majoring in the subject of the course even if you’re not, because the professor has no way of knowing. If you don’t want that on your conscience, then don’t do it, but no one will call you out on it. Sometimes a course will have special instructions in SSOL, for example you might have to fill out a Google Form or email the department instead of the professor. If that’s the case, follow those instructions.

The third thing you need to do is show up to the first class. After the class, go introduce yourself to the professor, tell them you sent an email, tell them you enjoyed the first class, and ask them if there’s anything else you’ll need to do to get off the waitlist. If there is, you should do that, but at this point, you’ve done pretty much everything you can, and you’ll probably just have to wait and see if enough people drop the class for you to get in. Sometimes, in seminars, they’ll raise the occupancy cap if enough people that didn’t get in want to take the class, so don’t lose hope even if you think no one will drop.

If you are waitlisted for a class, you should be okay with the reality that you might have to take it the next semester. Have a backup or accept that you might have one less class than you planned for. It’s not the end of the world, especially as a first-year.

General advice:

• Unless you’re trying to pursue a difficult major or are pre-med, use your first semester to test out your interests. I went in wanting to do a double major in Anthropology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and I’m now majoring in Classics (Greek/Latin). I never would have found Classics if I didn’t take Greek for fun my first semester.
• If you’re on the waitlist for a Barnard FYS or FYW, you’re not getting off of it. Find a new one.
• Think about completing your gen ed requirements first. You might change your mind about your major and any requirements completed for that would be nullified.
• If you’re really interested in a class but are concerned it will be too difficult or tank your GPA, you should stay in it. You’re at an academically rigorous school, so you shouldn’t let rigor hold you back. A low grade is not the end of the world.
• Don’t stress. You have so much time to complete everything you need to.
• Check out this Bwog article to help you axe some classes.
• Some classes require that you go to either the first class or every class in order to keep your spot in the class or get off the waitlist. This information will likely be on SSOL, so make sure you check! 
• Shopping period is a tiring 2 weeks. As a first-year, you’ll feel exhausted and overwhelmed. Please know that shopping period is not indicative of how your academic schedule will pan out for the rest of the semester.

Good luck, shoppers. May the odds be ever in your favor.

What type of shopping we all wish we were doing instead of this via Bwarchives