Registration

Student Guide to Waitlists

During registration, after a course section has reached its maximum enrollment limit, the waitlist option will become available. This option allows you to add your name to a queue to register for the course section if a seat becomes available. Note: You are not permitted to waitlist for a section of a course if you're already registered for another section of the same course. USF uses waitlists as one tool to track actual course demand.

To see courses that have a waitlist, you must uncheck "limit to open sections ONLY" in the search parameters.  This will provide a list of all sections offered in a term including open, full, and full with a waitlist available.  

You can take classes at any USF campus. You may want to consider searching all campuses to see if your course is available elsewhere, especially if you are interested in taking the course online.

Courses with a waitlist can appear to have an open seat, and while there is technically an open seat, that seat is reserved for the next person on the list. For this reason, do not drop a course for which you are registered until you know for sure there is a seat available in the course.  

 Some important notes:

  • You must meet all prerequisite, co-requisite, and registration requirements to be eligible to waitlist.
  • The system will not override time conflicts. Therefore, if you are registered for a class that already exists for that time slot, you will not be allowed to waitlist the class.
  • Being on a waitlist does not guarantee registration for the class. It is recommended that you register for an alternate class in case the course never becomes available to you.
  • Students on a waitlist for existing sections of a course are not notified when a new section is added to the schedule, therefore you are encouraged to regularly search for new sections.
  • Waitlists are closed and cleared at 11:59 p.m. on the Monday before the start of classes. After that, you may register for previously waitlisted course sections that have seats available. Waitlists will be closed and cleared for the following terms: 
    • Summer A & C - May 6, 2024
    • Summer B - June 17, 2024
    • Fall - August 19, 2024
    • Spring - January 6, 2025

How to manage the waitlist option:

  • In order to add yourself to a waitlist, you must select “Waitlist” from the pull-down menu on Student Self-Service (formerly OASIS). Don’t forget to click “Submit Changes”.
  • Once you become the first person on the waitlist, you will receive an automatic e-mail notification letting you know you can register for the course in Student Self-Service when a seat becomes available.
  • You must register for the course within 24 hours of the e-mail notification; otherwise, you will be dropped from the waitlist and the next person will move to the top of the list.
  • If you no longer wish to be on the waitlist, you must drop the course through Student Self-Service using the Drop/Add menu. 
  • Watch the video tutorial for additional help.

Still have questions? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions page for quick answers and helpful information.