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Waitlist Information

Waitlist options for Spring 2020 registration are available for interested departments.  Departments should work with their scheduling contact for assistance requesting the use of waitlists.

REMINDER: Students are not guaranteed a specific position on the waitlist and being on a waitlist does not guarantee a seat will be made available in the course.  Students should monitor their TAMU email account regularly to check for waitlist notices.

Waitlist notification process day and time are subject to change*


Departments may elect to use the waitlist functionality for their course offerings.  If elected, a student may be offered the opportunity to add themselves to a waitlist for a course that is considered at capacity.

If seat(s) become available, a student on the waitlist may be notified via email notification and will be given the opportunity to add themselves to the course.  Once a student elects to add themselves to a waitlist, they are responsible for monitoring their TAMU email daily as prompt action is required, otherwise the notice may expire and notice would be sent to the next designated person from the waitlist.   

Notification schedule
  • Notices will be sent at approximately 11pm on the following nights and students would have to take action before the notice expires approximately 4pm the next day:
    • Notices will only be sent on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. 
    • Students who receive a notice are required to add themselves to the class.  Students are not automatically added to a course if offered a seat from the waitlist. 
Note: Students can drop themselves from a waitlist during any valid registration period.  Students do not have to wait to drop from a waitlist, especially if they know they no longer wish to be on the waitlist.  We encourage students to remove themselves from a waitlist if they no longer wish to be given consideration should a seat become available. 

General Guidelines:
  • Waitlisting does NOT guarantee a seat will be offered in the course.
  • For courses offering a waitlist - if/when a seat 'opens up', the class schedule may display the class not being full, however, any available seat will only be provided to students on the waitlist.  DO NOT DROP A CLASS in an attempt to get a seat in a class with a waitlist.  This may result in you losing a seat you had in your dropped course AND not being able to add the other course because it is being offered to others already on the waitlist. 
  • Waitlisted courses do not count towards enrolled hours.
  • All pre-requisite, registration restrictions, and registration holds apply to whether or not a student can waitlist a course.
  • Students can sign up on a waitlist for departments offering the waitlist option AND if the course* is full.
  • Students are NOT automatically enrolled in a course from the waitlist. Students must take action to enroll.

Student FAQs

Waitlists are a queue that allowing you to wait for a seat to open in a class. If the participating course is full, you have the option of joining the waitlist. If you are on the list and a seat opens up, you may be provided with an option to register for the course. There is no guarantee a seat will be offered to any particular student on a waitlist.
Registering for a place on the waitlist for a class is similar to registering for a seat in the class.

When registering for courses in Howdy, and a course is full,  you will see a "Registration Add Error" and you will have the option of electing to be on the waitlist in the Action drop down menu. The schedule will now display this class status as “Wait Listed”.
Once added to a waitlist, students are responsible for monitoring their TAMU email for a waitlist notification of open seat(s). The email notice will contain an expiration date and time by which action would need to be taken. Notices are generated at approximately 11pm and students would have until approximately 4pm the next day to take action and officially register for the course.
If you do not take action and register during before the expiration date/time listed in your notice, then you will no longer have access to register for the course and you will no longer be on the waitlist. Notices may then be sent to other students waiting for an available seat.

If desired, you can add yourself back on the waitlist, however, you will not be guaranteed the same position in the queue.
You may not be able to add to a waitlist for the class, if:
  • It is not a valid registration period (registration is closed per the registration schedule)
  • The department of that course is not offering a waitlist for the course.
  • You may have a hold on your account preventing registration or signing up for waitlists
  • You may not meet the course pre-requisites or restrictions
You are able to drop yourself from a waitlist the same way you would drop from a course you are actually registered for. Go to Howdy and access Registration and select to drop the course.
 

You can tell whether or not a course has a waitlist available by using the Advance Search option on the class schedule in Howdy. Each course that has a waitlist option will have a 'Course Attribute' associated with it.   

The Waitlist course attribute code to use is: "Waitlist Available"

 

No. Adding to the waitlist does not guarantee a student a specific place on the waitlist, nor will it guarantee one would be offered a seat in the course.  
Yes! The waitlist process will send notification emails to your official TAMU email about your waitlist status and notices generally expire at approximately 4pm the next day after the notice was issued.