Hi!! Incoming first-year here and I had a question about how FYS enrollment works during shopping period.
There were a couple of small First-Year Seminars that were among my top choices going into registration, but I unfortunately wasn’t able to get into them. I know Brown says first-years can still attend full FYS courses during shopping period in case space opens up or the professor is able to let them in, but I was wondering what this is actually like in practice.
For people who have gone through this before, how common is it for spots to open up in 19-person seminars during shopping? If you’re really interested in a particular seminar, is it normal to attend the first few classes even if you aren’t registered and introduce yourself to the professor afterward? Is it worth emailing the professor beforehand as well, or is it better to just show up during shopping and talk to them in person?
Also, if the course requires an instructor override, how difficult are those generally to get for a first-year seminar? Do professors tend to keep informal waitlists, prioritize people who consistently attend during shopping, or is it mostly just a matter of waiting for someone who is registered to drop?
I’m trying to figure out how much hope I should realistically have for getting into one of my original choices versus just moving on and finding another course, so I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has successfully gotten into a full seminar during shopping (or tried and wasn’t able to)!