r/csun • u/trelionme • 3d ago
Advice
I had a late enrollment date and I’m #10 on the waitlist. The class is full (50/50). I asked my advisor, and he told me to contact the department chair for a permission number. I contacted the department chair, but he said he can’t give me one because the class is full and told me to ask the professor. The professor told me the waitlist will automatically add the next student, but she’ll cut it off soon. All three know that I’m graduating this spring and this specific course is a requirement for my major.
What should I do now?
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u/shyprof 2d ago
I'm surprised you had a late date as a senior; that's odd. Are you in the system as graduating in spring?
Long rambling answer below as my coffee kicked in, but TL;DR, your options are:
- try the professor one more week (show up/see if anyone has dropped/beg politely);
- take the course in spring before you graduate;
- try to get a course substitution.
Professors are in charge of permission numbers, not chairs (unless no professor assigned/"staff"). Your advisor didn't give great advice. It wouldn't have helped much anyway, but I'm just wondering if your advisor is new or not very good. Is this your major advisor (usually a professor in the department) or a general advisor?
Waitlists disappear tomorrow. Professors are supposed to screenshot them if we want to refer back later. We are allowed to enroll a few students over the cap as long as we don't exceed room capacity for fire code (and we're supposed to go in waitlist order, although I skip the line for seniors and haven't gotten caught yet). But we don't have to, and every extra student is more work. 50 students is already a lot. Professors are paid per class, so more students is just more work without additional compensation (just fyi; not your problem!). Will the course be offered again in spring?
You could keep showing up and begging (do not be pushy because the prof could get defensive; just look sad and pathetic and be like "just hoping . . . " and do leave if they tell you to). But probably you should take a different class that counts for something this semester and plan to take this course in spring. Sorry. Be sure you have priority registration for spring as a graduating senior.
If the course is not offered in spring, speak with your major advisor about a course substitution to keep you on track to graduate on time. Basically, they look for "similar enough" courses you could take instead to fulfill the requirement. Not ideal and sometimes they are lazy and don't want to do it. Be persistent. We've done all kinds of weird substitutions that probably shouldn't have counted just to get students through. If it's a general advisor, you could ask to speak with their supervisor, talk to your major advisor, department chair, or go to the office of the dean of students. If you've exhausted all that, try [ryan.marlin@csun.edu](mailto:ryan.marlin@csun.edu), maybe, I think this falls under his purview.
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u/Wrong-Resident-295 2d ago
Contact the dean of department if not go above their head
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u/Powerful-Singer3192 1d ago
They can sometimes waive a course I have heard down the grapevine…definitely keep pushing
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u/Alarmed-Repeat-1516 2d ago
hope you get off the waitlist, if not take it during winter or spring! also if it’s the last option you can finish your degree during summer 2027 but still walk the stage during spring 2027!
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u/Main-Poncho-64 3d ago
Unfortunately, not much you can do
Just hope they offer that course as a winter course; otherwise, you can walk early and "graduate," and then come back and finish that one course you still need. Otherwise, you're delayed for graduation for a semester or two.
Try looking into priority registration, just in case, for future courses!