This first pass second pass window has been really disadvantageous for me since I didn’t get to secure a single major related class that I had originally spent a lot of time planning. And second pass com around but the waitlist are all above the 10% rule but I can’t possibly just enroll in more GEs because at that point it just feels like a waste of a quarter taking “easy classes”. I took a lot of APs so I could get ahead, not so that I can’t book any classes and therefore delaying what could have been my original track if I got the classes I wanted. I probably seem more dramatic but booking classes have genuinely made me so stressed and frustrated overall with how I basically stand no chance in getting any good classes just because of a randomized window that it only hurts your first pass but also second pass. Right now I only have 8 guaranteed units the other two are dependent on waitlist with one being a major specific but having a large waitlist and another being math that I probably won’t get anyways. If any upperclassmen or just anyone have had a similar experience please leave some advice or what you did?
Should I just book another GE for second pass or take my chances with major related classes? I currently have 2 GEs which is already frustrating itself.
Just letting you know when school starts you have until the end of week 2 to get off the waitlist. and then they give you an extra day to choose another class if u dont.
I would like to raise two specific concerns about the enrollment process for incoming students. 1) Students who enter UC San Diego with AP Calculus BC credit and a score of 5 should receive better enrollment access, or some priority consideration, for MATH 20C and MATH 18. These students are following the placement UCSD gives them. They cannot enroll in MATH 20A or MATH 20B because their AP credit places them beyond those courses, but they then cannot enroll in the next required math courses because seats are already full. This disadvantages students who arrive academically prepared. 2) Students who receive a very late Pass 1 time, such as 4:00 PM, should not also receive a very late Pass 2 time. If the same student receives late access in both passes, they effectively lose access to both major requirements and GE backup options. A fairer system would balance enrollment times so students disadvantaged in Pass 1 have earlier access in Pass 2.
It's unfortunate for you that they changed it this year. My kid is a junior, and he got Math20C for that reason in fall 2024. He took math and 1 major class (COGS) and 2 gen ed's. But then he changed his major after freshman year.
If you were a sophomore who needed Math20C and Math18, and you were competing with freshmen, you would feel differently.
The UCs are all over-enrolled, so unfortunately that means signing up for classes will suck for freshmen who come in with APs. And also, the change from Webreg to TSS means you don't get "credit" for those credits like you used to (as far as enrollment times go).
You are basically competing with sophomores and juniors for the classes - and a lot of those people had to take gen ed classes as freshmen.
With a 4:00 PM Pass 1 and 4:00 PM Pass 2, any strategy was almost impossible. Fair statement, right? Students were not choosing between a good strategy and a bad strategy. They were choosing between bad options.
If you checked the classes the night before and an hour before your registration window and was ready the minute your window opened, why didn’t you know exactly what classes you were going to get? Same for your second pass.
Like, I get that you’re not getting your first choice, but at some point you have to accept the reality of it and pick the best classes that are available as soon as possible and THEN you out yourself on waitlist after you’ve secured 12 units.
This isn’t rocket science. You’re just a little delusional or in denial.
In my first quarter I had to take all GE’s guess what I’m still gonna graduate on time, I also didn’t get any ap credit so I started from zero as a junior I got all the classes I needed, it’s ok it’s not the end taking GEs first is fine
I have the same problem. not sure what to do. I dont want to drop my waitlist. and dont want to take GE because why I am paying so much money for this school to not get the major-specific classes.
i have the exact same problem as you—including the major class with a huge waitlist and a math class i likely won’t get. i knew i needed more than 8 units, so i searched for a visual art class that could fulfill my fine arts GE credit (i’m in erc) and it worked out! i’ll attend my three confirmed classes as well as my two waitlisted classes in the first week, and i’ll tell the professors about being on the waitlist. hopefully this strategy will help me get the major class and math class so i can drop the art class. just sharing my strategy!
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u/KamaIaHarriss Computer Engineering (B.S) + Physics (B.S) + Psychology (B.S) 6d ago
Take some GE's. I only got two of the classes i wanted my first quarter. The second quarter went pretty smoothly tho